Listen. Goffney is one of my favorite authors. Her characters always feel human, and she gets the big emotions teens have very well. The stories are refreshing and usually include a unique facet.

Here, we have a mother with very toxic parenting, but it’s not black and white. The mom, who is horrid no joke, isn’t a caricature. You see how some parts of her love her kids, but she’s very barbed and her relationships aren’t healthy. 

The book also doesn't make excuses for her poor parenting either. It just acknowledges her as a fully dimensional character. In real life, there are problematic people that we still love. I liked how the book handles it. The resolution:

Nikki decides to give her mom another chance after her mom tries to be emotionally vulnerable. But she hasn't forgiven her and knows she has Mal's family and her singing career as a back-up. How it goes now all hinges on the mama.

I loved Mal! I was concerned the book would have him lead on a girl, but that loose end is resolved quickly. He’s who the book boyfriend girlies should be looking at. You can see it wasn’t just physical, his connection to Nikki. He put his money, his words, and his heart with her. He STOOD ON BIDNESS this whole book. He's almost too good to be true. Also,

The book doesn't go here nor did I want it to, honestly. But Mal likes to feel needed. I think he genuinely likes being able to take care of Nikki emotionally and financially.

In the future, when she gets on her feet and can take care of herself, I wonder if he'll feel unwanted and act out, especially when she's a big star. Or maybe he's mature and if they break up it ends amicably

Not that i'm wishing that on these very sweet fictional characters, but i've seen it in IRL"

Often a main character is a singer (or loves books/a writer), and it falls flat. But I truly believed in Nikki’s connection to music. I also enjoyed the sister relationship and the tense family dynamics.

5 STARS, BABY!

First, I LOVE this cover (shoutout to the artist @green446004 (instagram) and fantasy Black people. Let’s go!

But the pacing and storytelling weren’t for me. The writing felt heavy on the telling and was too fast-paced. But the last third of the book picked up until it jumped the shark a little bit. I thought the book would take place in one location and was surprised when it moved to somewhere unexpected for the brunt of the book.

With the worldbuilding, the fae/different types of fairies are established to be very dangerous. There's a serious class issue and they all have unique magical traits, view humans as beneath them, and are execution-style scary supposedly. But, it didn't make any sense the way and how quickly Lore would mouth off. She wavered between being afraid of them to not caring. Can or cannot these people smite you where you stand???

I wanted to like Asher and Lore more, but their connection felt like we were on a speed-run. The core building of their relationship mostly happens offscreen, so the romantic strides felt unearned. I couldn't get into their banter either. Also, the ending...

I don't even know even more. what? whole time he's been living a lie??? did he get lost in the lie? why did he let the relationship go romantic if he was just using her?

i didn't want to mention them making out after finding out the human women are being forcefully impregnated because I thought it was a final hurrah/going out with a bang because they might die. but nah, it makes sense. y'all are acting horny after hearing that??? because you're a doggone villain!

The second male lead, Finndryl was rude and standoffish, but he was the strong, quiet type. These are the main types who have undying loyalty to the fmc when they get their act together lol. He and Lore kept getting on each other's nerves for the smallest things, but I liked him better because we got to see him slowly defrost. Then, freeze again. Slightly thaw. And freeze again.

Unfortunately, the majority of the character interactions felt like I was being "told" things. Let it marinate. Lore's friendship with Grey didn't have much time, but I believed in their relationship way more than the one with Asher and later Isla.

The editing process probably cut a lot of things which made the book pacing feel too fast. I don't like needless filler, but I think it would've made me more invested in the characters. One scene I liked in particular was when Lore gets pushed in a swing. Just a peaceful moment that let the story breathe.

Still, I'd check out book two! I'm ready to see Lore gain mastery over her skills. I also want to see the Finndryl route.

2.5 stars

Drinking Games:

 Yes, wade through the rivers of purple prose with me. Two books in and nary a liberation to be found. The men here are all in-universe handsome and mystified by Alizeh. We’ve got a tortured sad boy who originally wanted to be a magical nun vs conceited narcissist who thinks everyone is beneath him. Alizeh is still unremarkable. She is kindhearted but not much else.

People are always on the brink of death here but never actually dead. Cyrus is strung out akin to a drug addict for Alizeh. If she bats her eyes at him, he loses 75% of control over his entire body. Her putting a hand on his chest had him seconds from exploding.

BUT this book series is entertaining, so who are me to judge? I did rate this lowly due to the sheer repetitiveness of dialogue and character monologue. So much of this filler could’ve and should’ve been cut.

Also,

you just know a woman is writing this lol. In Cyrus' deepest desires/wet dreams, he fantasizes about eating Alizeh's kitty poetically so.

2 stars 

I really enjoyed the sci-fi world with black characters. The have and the have nots mixes with Cyberpunk and revolution. There's also backstabbing and manipulation galore. 

One of the fun bits of worldbuilding is The body modification, which was a signal of class the same way having a premium membership in a kid's virtual world was. 

The character interactions never went that deep for me, but I was interested by the Proxy and Prime relationships. More plot than character-driven. Jamal was such an agent of chaos haha!

3.5

 This is a story that would work better as an animated movie because it didn't seem fleshed out enough. Still, there are some beautiful scenes 

Firm 3 stars. Marie seemed so sterile and emotionally distant. She was smart but in her head a lot. Always overthinking and trying to be one step ahead of someone. AND FAILING!

Marie's jealousy and love for her sister were the most compelling part to me; Helene had her own issues. The theme of darkness and negativity within both of the girls and how it manifested had my interest but didn't get as much focus.

But the whole draw to Thomas Sankara never hit. I can buy a honeypot gone wrong, but she was so beyond obvious from day one. No sense of finesse or sensuality. I wanted to feel Marie fall for him and his ideals, but it was only told to me. I don't believe a lady this about her business is falling that quickly and easily.

I think this story excelled with the spy bits and the behind-the-scenes espionage and political sabotage, but it was weaker on the emotionally charged bits.

I’m so intrigued with Macht and the lore of demons in this world. I can't wait to see how the story is going to progress.

In one of the quests, the trio looks for Himmel's memoir/journal. I wanted Himmel’s memoir to explicitly state his feelings for Frieren (what a shock that would’ve been), but alas it wasn’t meant to be lol 

Very cute! Some practical simple tips to have an awesome life. You can tell that Avant-Garde's parents really support her dreams and contribute to her strong sense of self.

Fine. Dolly is resourceful and smart as a whip. The majority of this is her being a businesswoman and the various white mens infatuated with her (varying in power imbalances from much to little to none). Wealth becomes a security blanket for Dolly, helping keep the nightmares, the past, the racism, and the feelings of inadequacy at bay.

Don’t be put off by the length. Each chapter is bite-sized.

I was very impressed by what the author was able to infer from historical documents. But I wanted more about how Dolly started training her workers than all the mens.