2.5 ⭐️s

I have very little words for this epic force of a book except to say two things: 1) I wish I’d read this sooner and 2) I need the movie or limited series expeditiously.

This book is spicy and there is definitely romance, but it also deals with grief and what happens when grief grips an individual so strongly in its grasp that there is no way to fight to get out, so you succumb and allow it to swallow you whole until someone is able to pull you from its claws. That is the story between Halsey and Blakely, but there is also lots of laughter to be had from the guys (Posey and Silas are hilarious.) and lots of love and support from the friends who become family when the family we have no longer fits into our lives anymore.

This was the second book in the series that I’ve read and I enjoyed it way more than Silas and Ollie’s story. A quick read with some heavy topics, but a good story.

Calling this book the “Black Harry Potter” or referring to it as “if Harry Potter went to an HBCU” was a bit of a stretch. I wish I hadn’t heard any of that before reading, but such is the eye rolling nature of BookTok and here I am…

Anyways, this book was steeped in Blackness and magic and for that, I liked it. It gave me more Hillman University vibes than Hogworts and the only similarities between Harry and Malik is that they were both males born with incredible magic that they didn’t really understand the full power of, while also navigating the real world even though they belonged to another world made for people like them.

I think I might have probably enjoyed this better if I hadn’t listened to it, but I was not the biggest fan of the narration at all. It reminded me of times where I taught young Black men who were incredibly disrespectful to most everyone and oblivious to help when it was being offered. I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t filled with a little toxic masculinity from Malik and given he was 17 with a complicated family history, I tried to give him grace for that, but it still made him somewhat of a complex and a bit unlikeable main character to me.

It looks like there will be a sequel, so I hope he comes back a little more mature and less emotionally damaged/has some time to heal from the scars and trauma he experienced, although, I’m not entirely counting on it.

Solid 3.5 ⭐️s.
FMC trying to find herself after losing her mom and not entirely sure what she wants to do with her life professionally…definitely hit close to home. The romance was good too.

Dare I say it, but Penny was the problem—pregnant or not. You continuously leave a man who tells you he has abandonment issues, while also telling you that he is not going to leave you/is there for you…all because he won’t call you his girlfriend?! Please.

I won’t lie, I didn’t expect to like this book about a middle aged white woman who goes through a divorce and has to navigate life learning how to co-parent, while seemingly being somewhat of a boss in her career/dealing with infertility struggles and getting back to the dating scene. Buuuuttt…I am a sucker for second chances and when broody Jack Sander returns to Beatrice’s life, I was drawn into this story set against an Irish backdrop. Another good, random KU listen

3.75 ⭐️s

Wow. So first, this was waaaaaayyy different than the movie. After reading that the author had to basically whitewash the story to make it more palatable to audiences, I have to say I understand and feel sorry that she needed to do that in order to get this story out there.

The movie was great and I loved Anne Hathaway, but after reading the book, I’m afraid it simplified and kind of trivialized the story of Hayes and Solène. Their relationship was way more complicated than just the age gap hanging over their heads and I don’t think the movie really captured the complexities of Hayes’s character at all. I also think it would have added more to the story to have the conflict between him and Oliver play out on the screen.

Nonetheless, I really liked the story—age gap aside. These two loved each other deeply despite the obstacles until they physically couldn’t be with each other anymore, but the love was still there and while listening, I honestly hurt with them. It was never going to be a happy ending, which is the tragedy of it all, but not because of the age gap, which is what the movie is mostly about.

I hardly EVER read a book after viewing the tv/film adaptation, but in this case, I’m glad I did because this was a solid read.