Thoughtful patchwork of Black diasporic life. Interweaving displacement, medical racism, enslavement, migration, barrel children, and homelessness with family love and care. Although the structure can feel a bit confusing as we jump around the different interweaving story, the payoff is touching. Weir manages to be empathetic and generous to people experiencing many different sides of being away from/parted from/left from family. 

Thanks to Netgalley for access to advance copies of the e-book and the audiobook.

This is a really helpful starting point if you know very little about neurodiversity. It’s clear and explains multiple positions about language and helpful accommodations. It’s one for teachers and colleagues and family members who have no idea what anything is. 

If you are solidly informed about neurodiversity, there is a lot less in here for you. I also found that there was repetition of odd details like the examples of famous people who are neurodivergent. Depending on your politics, you may also not enjoy some of the “role models” like Elon Musk and Richard Branson. 

Emelumadu’s writing style is very to my taste. We get intergenerational magical realism with fantasy but also contemporary drama. I thought the concept of the leopard was really cool and you get both the horror and the adrenaline following the characters as they make difficult choices. Original and compelling. You FEEL for the protagonists. Book maths = Emezi’s Pet + Makumbi’s The First Woman.

If you love literary fiction and stories about Black diasporic life, then I would look this book up. It weaves multiple characters’ lives together into a bigger reckoning about their shared and personal experiences. I’m always wary of a book that is blurbed as “funny” but I genuinely chuckled at the sardonic and witty undertone that cuts through some really sad and messy things the characters go through. I keep thinking about the opening of the chapter “Independent Living”, which had me smiling wryly to myself on the tram. Escoffery manages to hold a lot of emotive material together by slipping between voices and feelings in a very natural way. Clearly an author to watch. 

This is between a 3* and a 5* read for me so I settled in the middle. It’s an amazingly clear and concise book about ADHD and has TONS of activities to help those of us with it figure life out a bit more easily. Accessible font and layout. Loved the chapter summaries at the beginnings of sections.

I would say that this book definitely walks a line between managing neurodivergence and “wellness”. Most of the time it is well judged but there are several places where I think you could feel vulnerable or like any minor infractions of diet/caffeine are traits of ADHD. That is not what is meant at all and the section on dependence (“vices”) is really carefully handled. But I did wonder “is this written by someone who is either naturally or choicefully slim?”

At the beginning of the book, she says to read the book how you like. I’m going to suggest that it is best to dip in and out because there is a lot of advice and suggested activity and I personally (ADHD person) got overwhelmed reading all the myriad of ways I might hack my life. I will return to specific chapters going forwards and maybe work through it via audiobook.

A beautiful poetry collection. I love his turn of phrase especially in the shorter form poems. For some reason, I found myself disconnect from the number of ties to cricket because they don’t resonate with me personally but I will definitely buy more by Kunial. These are lyrical, beautiful, pastoral, and playfully sad. 

This is a delightful pacy epic YA. It's incredibly rich for a debut but does have A LOT of ideas in it which might have been thinned into two books. That said, my main criticism is that I would like to pick up the next book now, please. It reminds me of The Wind Singer and Girls of Paper and Fire series, which are both favourites of mine. Think intrigue, messy families, ongoing peril, magic. Can't wait for Part II. 

Thanks to Hodderscape for access to an audiobook ARC. 

I loved the Daughter of the Moon Goddess and I loved The Heart of the Sun Warrior. This is an emotional 5* read for me even though the execution is a little bit patchy occasionally. Because this picks up from Part One, I’m not going to say much about it apart from that I was satisfied with the outcome.

My favourite thing about both these books is that they are episodic. There is very little down time like a fantasy tv procedural (the animated Avatar: the Last Airbender springs to mind). As such, you have a drama or a task or a battle and then you find out what the next one is and that happens. It is beautifully described but it is not invested in world building and that suits me a lot. 

Genuinely moved in places. Thoroughly entertained. Excited to revisit them