dlrosebyh's Reviews (773)

If black people become white, what would it do for America's racial issues? Would everyone be content? The satirical frolic Black No More by George S. Schuyler provides funny answers to these and other topics. The protagonist of Black No More is Max Disher, a stylish black insurance rogue who undergoes a technological metamorphosis to become Matthew Fisher, a white guy. Matt devises a scheme that enables him to marry the white woman who turned him down while he was black and rise to the position of leadership in the white nationalist organization known as the Knights of Nordica. A hilarious investigation of race and all of its self-serving meanings, Black No More. Become them if you can't defeat them. A lively Introduction is provided by Ishmael Reed, one of today's best black satirists and the author of Mumbo Jumbo and Japanese by Spring. 

Many of the world-famous masters of black literature were born during the fertile artistic age now known as the Harlem Resurgence (1920– 1930), which serves as the template for the current renaissance of black writers.

I first believed that this would be a major letdown. I wasn't really engrossed until the final fifty pages, which went above and beyond my expectations. The critical book Black No More addresses politics, racism, discrimination, and hate crimes all at once and without bias. Simply said, everyone is battling for equality. This book really does open your eyes to everything.

Ever wondered how X-Men or the MCU written by Jane Austen will look like? Well, then, you found the perfect book.

England, 1882. Evelyn is uninterested in society's standards. She then disregards her parents and heads to London to look for Rose after she inexplicably disappears, escorted by the handsome Mr. Kent. However, they are not the only ones trying to find Rose. Sebastian Braddock, a reclusive young man who believes both of his sisters have unique healing abilities, is also looking for her. Until she learns that Sebastian's bizarre stories about remarkable people are real—and that her sister is in far greater danger than she initially thought—Evelyn is persuaded that Sebastian must be insane.

This book moved along quickly while still being engaging. What happens when you combine Jane Austen with the X-Men, two of my favorite things? Utmost excellence.

This book offers the ideal balance of romance, adventure, and comedy, which may sometimes be lacking in fantasy stories. The antagonist in this novel wasn't particularly strong, which made the ending a little underwhelming in my opinion.

The line between what's real and what's pretend begins to blur when a soldier with a troubled past and a struggling musician agree to a marriage of convenience for the military benefits. Then tragedy strikes, and the line between what's real and what's pretend starts to blur in this smart and unexpected romance.

Luke Morrow and Cassie Salazar are very unlike to one another. Cassie, an intelligent woman who lives in Austin, Texas, works evenings at a bar to support herself as she pursues her career as a singer-songwriter. Luke, an Army recruit who is preparing to report for duty, takes solace in the rigid discipline of the military. However, an accidental meeting at Cassie's pub alters both of their lives.

Since being given a diabetes diagnosis, Cassie has been overwhelmed by medical debt. When Cassie runs into her old friend Frankie, who has joined the Army, she offers him a deal: if he gets married, she'll get better health insurance, and they can split the increased income that comes with having a "family." However, when Frankie declines, Cassie's attractive but annoyingly intense friend Luke offers to marry her in his place. She is unaware that he has his own pressing motives for getting married. In this heartwarming love story, Cassie and Luke have to put aside their differences in order to make their union appear genuine. Unless it eventually transforms into one.

I saw this movie since I found out there was a book version; like most bookworms, I like to read the original work before seeing the movie adaptation. Having said that, I did not enjoy this book at all. I found it to be problematic, so please bear with me since I am going to RANT.

With all the god-tier tropes like the one-bed trope and marriage of convenience, it is evident that this book is being promoted as a romance novel. The blatant racism, misogyny, and its harmful stereotypes troubled me more than the tropes, even if they were entirely true to the plot.

This novel is precisely what you would expect from a republican-liberal fanfiction. Someone in the book made the statement that he intended to "hunt down Arabs" since they were marines heading to Iraq, and I can still clearly recall that. Additionally, I recalled that the male lead gave the female lead disturbing "nicknames" like "liberal nut." Let's not overlook the fact that he feels superior to others simply because he is a marine. Surprise! He is pro-gun as well! He embodies everything that Trump fans are. doing the "I love America 🤠🇺🇸💙❤️" shit. Proof? He thought Cassie's mother was an illegal immigrant. And that my friends, IS racism. Let’s also not forget how Cassie was stereotyped into, “Ew! I hate men! They can go kill themselves, women for the win!” type of feminist. However, you know what pissed me off? When she gave up her feminism for a FUCKING MAN. She completely forgot what she was fighting for, and it’s so fucking disgusting.

Animal Farm is a book about a group of farm animals that overthrow and chase away their exploitative human rulers in order to establish their own egalitarian community. The revolution is eventually overturned by the animals' cunning and power-hungry leaders, the pigs. The pigs construct a government even more repressive and merciless than that of their former human rulers, concluding that "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" (with its amendment to the animals' seventh commandment: "All creatures are equal").

Now I see how essential this book is; I loved the message and everything, but it's dull otherwise. That's all I have to say. I get the frenzy, but the book isn't for me, or is it because I read it for English class? We'll never find out.

PSA: Never trust a pig. :)

1887, London. Orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her global travels in search of scientific inquiry—and the odd amorous dalliance—after burying her spinster aunt. Veronica is as comfortable hunting butterflies as she is fighting off suitors, and she plans to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

But fate has other ideas for Veronica when she foils her own kidnapping with the assistance of an intriguing German aristocrat who gives her refuge in the hands of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian. But before the baron can tell what he knows about the conspiracy against her, he is assassinated, leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an enigmatic assailant as hesitant companions in quest of the wicked truth.

This was given to me by a friend since I was seeking for historical fiction mysteries after reading so many modern ones. As a mystery reader, I believe the storyline might have been thickened. The finale was also quite predictable. By 35% of the way through the book, I knew what the finale would be, which is always a bad sign in mystery books. I'm not sure whether I like or dislike Veronica, but I also don't want to read six more novels only to learn more about her, so I'm not sure how I feel about this book.