Feels a little white-centered at times and there were a lot of abortion regret stories; a little repetitive. But the intrusive thoughts content was really good.

I just loved this book, and the characters from beginning to end. 

It’s a bit of historical fiction that meets magical realism with a little X-Men on top for whipped cream. The story doesn’t skirt past the racism and sexism of the era. For instance, the story relays that a man called Iris a horrid name without writing it out but you could put together the pieces. None of it is done in a way that’s triggering. That’s so refreshing!

Oh, and the characters! Iris was a fun main character with some edge. She was so innocent, clever, and ruthless when she needed to be. A whole bunch of characters are ruthless and gutter actually. Jinn (so especially him, my handsome prince) and Max were so sweet! Jinn had banter with Iris, but it wasn’t the usual mean-spirited, degrading type. This is the type of

love triangle I want when both guys are lovely. Well, at least until everything went to hell

Max’s ragtime runaways’ group was also likable from their first introduction. I liked the whole gang.

Finding out the backstories of the big events and characters kept me furiously turning pages. The story unveiled the mysteries slowly in layers, but the narrative didn’t feel laggy. I ate every bit up. Every character here has their own demons to face, and it’s so enthralling to read. One mystery gets revealed just to beget four more. There are also some trope subversions that me surprised in a good way.

Only one thing kind of bugged me. Iris kept blushing, but she is black. I don’t think she was light-skinned either. But maybe she was physically blushing, and it wasn’t visible. Something small but I noticed. 

Either way, this book was quickly 5-star territory for me. And guess what? Ya girl already got book two! BAM!

Ending spoiler (seriously, don’t read unless you’ve finished the book):

at the thick of it, Adam is just suicidal and hurt (and, of course unhinged). If his family can’t be in this world, then it doesn’t deserve to exist to him. gosh, he’s such a little freak lol. Wanting Iris to bring about the destruction of the world. 

Also, this story reminds me of Henrietta Lacks

The plot was intriguing, but the writing felt very sterile and impassive. For that reason, it couldn’t keep my interest. The Lies of Ajungo is all plot, and I'm someone who is more partial to character-driven stories. But I liked how the story focused on lies being passed down and what a threat unity is to the powers that be.

There were also some found family/second family vibes here, but no time to get to know the characters. I didn’t feel the connection between any of them.

Ending Quote:

He thought about the story that would be told of this day and whether, when history was written, he would be the hero who ushered in the new world or the villain who destroyed the old one.”

Beautiful artwork. Confusing story toward the latter half of season one. And Cass(ia) got annoying with badgering Lucien/Grey for sex. Girl, it's giving 90-day fiance. "I want my sex now!"

 I’m starting to think literary novels just aren’t for me. Kenyatta “KB’s” narrative voice was good though, at times, she felt younger than eleven. The distance between her older sister and how it affected her was well done. It can be tough for younger siblings to reconcile when their older teenage siblings want nothing to do with them/considerable space, then add in trauma and you have an emotional explosion. 

The tone of this book was very casual and slice-of-lifeish. KB’s momma is sad all the time, Granddaddy is mostly quiet but comes around eventually, and Nia is boy-crazy and irresponsible. At some point, KB realizes her momma’s sadness is here to stay and that her dad was drug addicted. But that’s mainly in the background of KB’s musings. Her foremost concerns are making Nia her friend again and trying to befriend two white kids in the neighborhood whose mom doesn’t want them around KB’s “kind.” 

For the longest, I wondered why this was labeled adult fiction until two climatic points. KB has a freakout once she discovers what Nia does while sneaking out. The event is terribly traumatic for her. The images she saw and her sister being involved mentally break little KB. The other plot point is a very unsettling sexual assault by a minor done to another minor. 

The ’90s setting also contributed absolutely nothing besides being after the brunt of the crack epidemic. On a good note, I enjoyed the relationship between KB and her grandfather once he defrosted. 

While this wasn’t for me, I wasn’t bored, but I was always waiting for what was next. This all felt a little like journal entries if that makes sense. Any element that was introduced was concluded with a nice bow at the end. 

This was a really intriguing story.

I also liked the bittersweet ending

 GOSH, this one got confusing. It has two alternate stories that ultimately end the same in the end. The narrative voice is still crisp; the author’s in her bag with the middle school drama.