bookswithlee's Reviews (669)

I might have just read my favorite book of the year.

I loved this book so much! I’ve been having a thing for books written in verse lately, and this book did not disappoint.

There is something about a book that can say so much with a few words. Sometimes less is more. I don’t always want to be told what is going on, I want to feel it. I want to be able to feel the story and this is one of those stories that did that for me.

I loved learning about the different cultures and tribes and the ending came out of nowhere! Was not expecting it. Loved it!!!

I definitely will be following this authors work!

CW/TW: car accident, grief, physical abuse, child abuse, chronic illness, death, death of parents, racism, bullying, abandonment

4.5/5 stars

I picked up this book having never heard of it and quite honestly I didn’t read the synopsis, I saw the cover filled with colors and diversity and I knew I had to read it.

What I liked about this book was the authors ability to tell a story that was both balanced between fantasy and real life events.

Although the cover is beautiful and the book is no doubt fantasy, what I took away from it is that this book was written as away to highlight how girls of color have been silenced and mistreated by others for years. While this book is full of trauma and potentially triggering content, I thought the author did a great job balancing this trauma with joy, and happiness. In the end the book highlighted how strong, amazing, and beautiful women are.

I would like to note that it doesn’t appear that the traumas were placed in this book to dump on the readers or to pull on heartstrings. It felt as though it was meticulously placed as way to echo much of reality in an authentic way. I sometimes struggle with trauma being placed in stories as a thrill factor, twists, or to elicit favorable emotional reactions and this book did not do that.

There were a few things that I didn’t particularly like about the story. The first half of the book was slow and felt like an information dump at times. I had a hard time keeping up. On top of that, there is about 10-11 different characters. This is something that I struggle with that in books as I can’t keep up with what information I need to remember. However in this story, it was largely done because the “wild ones” are meant to be one entity, which I liked. It give me freshwater/bunny vibes.

Overall I enjoyed this book, but it’s definitely going to require a reread. I think if I had time to really flesh out and process some of the details I might be able to rate a little higher.

CW/TW: misogyny, sexual violence, kidnapping, sexual assault, rape, suicide, trafficking, death of parent

Have you ever picked up a book that on the surface you know you should love? It checks off all of your favorite tropes and has everything you typically love, but it just falls a bit flat? That was this book for me.

I thought for sure this was going to be a five star read for me, and if I had to rate only the last 40% of the book it would be.

This book is essentially a girls love letter to slasher films. The main character Jade loves them and is determined that those films will become the reality of her life. She focuses a lot on “final girls” almost to the point of obsession.

I think what I struggled most with was how slow paced this book was. It’s a really slow burn. It’s was bout 60% through before it started to speed up and grab my attention and then it was great!

If you like slow burns, you’ll like this, if not you might not like it.

Good book, but about 200 pages too long.

TW/CW: self harm, attempted suicide, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse

I loved this book so much I finished it in a day which is rare!

I went into this book not knowing anything about it, but I loved the cover and saw so many people on social media raving about it, so I thought I would give it a try, and it did not disappoint! Y’all, I was racing to get to the end!

Our main character has the ability to grow plants with a single touch, we learn this at the start of the book and it gave me that “a-ha” moment as the cover stated to make sense lol

What I liked:
-The representation in this book is amazing! Pansexual, LGBTQIA Rep, Black main character.
- very easy engaging read. Definitely one that will keep you engaged
- the overall plot is so good! This book is true black girl magic!
-the balance between fantasy, mystery, with even a bit of romance is great!
-found family is a bit trope in this book and I’m here for that!
- the character development felt authentic

What I disliked:
- the beginning was a bit slower. I felt like at the start it was engaging and then it slowed down, but by the end there’s so much information you can’t keep up!
- it ended on a cliff hanger but of course it did….this doesn’t count against the books rating in my eyes, but still…lol

Overall great book! If you’re a fan of Legendborn you’ll likely enjoy this book as well! Even if you don’t, the cover is enough to buy this book to admire it


TW/CW: Self-injury, Death of a parent, Murder & attempted murder, Poisoning

I am at a lost for words…this book was both good and bad at the same time. Good in the way that it sheds some light on the limitations of social systems that are meant to protect children, but instead fail them. However there is a lot of potentially triggering content some of which felt a bit much.

I will say, unfortunately nothing that occurred in the book was particularly shocking. I’ve read reviews that critique how realistic this story is stating that it felt fictional. 1. This is a work of fiction and 2. This story isn’t something that is unheard of. I’ve witnessed situations like this before unfortunately.

Having read all of TDJ books at this point, I feel as though TDJ tries to shine light on social injustices to children especially little girls of color. I enjoy her books; however her books are not for everyone as they typically focus around trauma.

Overall- I enjoy this book. It was sad, but an important read.

TW/CW: infant death, child abuse, racism, fat phobia, LGBTIA+ phobia, rape, group rape, attempted sexual assault, ableism, gaslighting