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hillysreads's Reviews (381)
Mexican Gothic was the first horror novel I've read in a very long time. I used to read R.L. Stine when I was in middle school but haven't picked up a horror book since then. Mexican Gothic is nothing like R.L. Stine though.
Homecoming will go down as one of my favorite books ever written. I rarely cry while reading books but I bawled like a baby reading this book. From beginning to end, every page, every character, every story was extraordinarily written. I honestly do not feel that I can do a review that would do this book justice so, this review is not going to be like the other reviews I write.
Homecoming is a book you need to experience for yourself. I truly believe this book should be required to be read in all high schools across the US, across the world. Every character's story was impactful; I can't even put into words how these stories made me feel as a black woman knowing that my ancestors had similar experiences. This one hit me at my core & rocked it hard. Words cannot express how much I loved reading Homegoing & how much I loved and felt for each character, their stories, and experiences.
If you haven't read this book yet, I highly recommend you read it ASAP and keep it on your bookshelf to re-read one day. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Homecoming is a book you need to experience for yourself. I truly believe this book should be required to be read in all high schools across the US, across the world. Every character's story was impactful; I can't even put into words how these stories made me feel as a black woman knowing that my ancestors had similar experiences. This one hit me at my core & rocked it hard. Words cannot express how much I loved reading Homegoing & how much I loved and felt for each character, their stories, and experiences.
If you haven't read this book yet, I highly recommend you read it ASAP and keep it on your bookshelf to re-read one day. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I think this may be the first book that I've read where I hated it at the beginning but by the end of the book, I absolutely LOVED it. I have been contemplating for a few days on how I want to write this review. Fair-warning; this book is not for everyone. I have seen a lot of mixed reviews on this book and I can understand why. Literary fiction is already hard enough to get into and understand but this book is dark, disturbing, and distant.
SYNOPSIS from Goodreads:
Luster sees a young black woman figuring her way into life as an artist and into love in this darkly comic novel. She meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage. In this world of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics, Edie finds herself unemployed and living with Eric. She becomes hesitant friend to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie is the only black woman young Akila may know.
Edie is a hard character to like at first, the decisions she makes are WILD and I didn't understand her thought-process at first. She made decisions that would end up hurting her mentally. As I was reading this at work on my lunch break when I first started it, I had my mouth hanging WIDE open thinking 'WTF am I reading?!?!?!?' Especially at the part where this man she is having sex with, calls her a racial name during sex. WTF. I had to keep at home lol
AWKWARD is the perfect word for this book. I don't think I’ve ever felt so awkward while reading a book before until reading Luster. The relationship between Edie and Rebecca (Eric's wife) is interesting but awkward. Edie was just an awkward person all around, she would do things that make you feel so uncomfortable. The books are like dark and dirty thoughts that no one would actually dare to say out loud and that's what makes it so uncomfortable.
But the lessons that Edie learns, the character growth and development is purely amazing; the realizations that she has about her situation and life, in general, are hard lessons learned. Edie does some self-reflection; her past experiences when she was a child impacted her greatly and how she views life and herself.
Edie is an artist and I love how the author incorporated Edie's growth through her artwork. Her artwork was depressing and dark, she was finding out who she was through her work.
I also loved the relationship between Edie and Akila, I feel like they needed each other, Eric and Rebecca didn't have a clue on how to raise a black daughter but Edie was there to help and support Akila.
When I started this book, I was convinced it was going to be a DNF, but after the first few chapters, I started to understand Edie and why she was so distant and awkward. This book was phenomenal.
SYNOPSIS from Goodreads:
Luster sees a young black woman figuring her way into life as an artist and into love in this darkly comic novel. She meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage. In this world of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics, Edie finds herself unemployed and living with Eric. She becomes hesitant friend to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie is the only black woman young Akila may know.
Edie is a hard character to like at first, the decisions she makes are WILD and I didn't understand her thought-process at first. She made decisions that would end up hurting her mentally. As I was reading this at work on my lunch break when I first started it, I had my mouth hanging WIDE open thinking 'WTF am I reading?!?!?!?' Especially at the part where this man she is having sex with, calls her a racial name during sex. WTF. I had to keep at home lol
AWKWARD is the perfect word for this book. I don't think I’ve ever felt so awkward while reading a book before until reading Luster. The relationship between Edie and Rebecca (Eric's wife) is interesting but awkward. Edie was just an awkward person all around, she would do things that make you feel so uncomfortable. The books are like dark and dirty thoughts that no one would actually dare to say out loud and that's what makes it so uncomfortable.
But the lessons that Edie learns, the character growth and development is purely amazing; the realizations that she has about her situation and life, in general, are hard lessons learned. Edie does some self-reflection; her past experiences when she was a child impacted her greatly and how she views life and herself.
Edie is an artist and I love how the author incorporated Edie's growth through her artwork. Her artwork was depressing and dark, she was finding out who she was through her work.
I also loved the relationship between Edie and Akila, I feel like they needed each other, Eric and Rebecca didn't have a clue on how to raise a black daughter but Edie was there to help and support Akila.
When I started this book, I was convinced it was going to be a DNF, but after the first few chapters, I started to understand Edie and why she was so distant and awkward. This book was phenomenal.
I usually struggle with literary fiction and I try to stay away from the genre because it’s so confusing to me. But Toni Morrison is quickly changing my mind.
As I was reading Sula, I’m not going to lie, I was lost AF. Every chapter Toni would switch it up majorly and she would lose me. The book takes place in a small town called Medallion, Ohio; the black people live in the “Bottom” side of the town. It starts out with a WWI veteran story, his name is Shadrack and he invents National Suicide Day because he is trying to cope with his fear of death from the war. Then the story switches up to Helena and her daughter Nel taking a trip down south to visit Helen's mother who abandoned her as a child, left her with her grandmother. Then it switches up to the start of Nel and Sula’s friendship. Nel and Sula have a very special bond and friendship. The choices they make cause great consequences.
Toni Morrison will give you bits and pieces of the story before it comes together in a full circle in the end. It’s like she walks around the plot instead of giving it to you straight. After reading other reviews on Sula, I started to understand what Sula was all about. It’s a very interesting story even though it’s confusing, her writing is beautiful and she can tell a powerful story that will stick with you. I enjoyed this one.
As I was reading Sula, I’m not going to lie, I was lost AF. Every chapter Toni would switch it up majorly and she would lose me. The book takes place in a small town called Medallion, Ohio; the black people live in the “Bottom” side of the town. It starts out with a WWI veteran story, his name is Shadrack and he invents National Suicide Day because he is trying to cope with his fear of death from the war. Then the story switches up to Helena and her daughter Nel taking a trip down south to visit Helen's mother who abandoned her as a child, left her with her grandmother. Then it switches up to the start of Nel and Sula’s friendship. Nel and Sula have a very special bond and friendship. The choices they make cause great consequences.
Toni Morrison will give you bits and pieces of the story before it comes together in a full circle in the end. It’s like she walks around the plot instead of giving it to you straight. After reading other reviews on Sula, I started to understand what Sula was all about. It’s a very interesting story even though it’s confusing, her writing is beautiful and she can tell a powerful story that will stick with you. I enjoyed this one.
Ask again, yes is full of emotions, family, love, family drama, mental illness, and much more. It starts off when the two main characters Peter and Kate are kids, living next to one other and are best friends., they both have a very special relationship. Their dads are cops and were partners at one point so their families know one another. One night, their friendship changes dramatically when an unexpected event occurs and Peter is forced to move away. They eventually find one another again but with that brings up painful history. The book takes place over a span of years and the perspective of the characters change throughout the book from both Peter and Kate’s families.
I was really connected to the characters throughout the book, that was one of the main aspects that I loved about Ask again, yes. The character development was great and each character grew throughout the book and had reflections about life and relationships. This book was really slow for me though, I kept waiting for something to happen, for the pace to speed up. The characters were engaging but the plot was kind of “meh”
I was really connected to the characters throughout the book, that was one of the main aspects that I loved about Ask again, yes. The character development was great and each character grew throughout the book and had reflections about life and relationships. This book was really slow for me though, I kept waiting for something to happen, for the pace to speed up. The characters were engaging but the plot was kind of “meh”
I’ve been sitting on writing up a review on Recursion for days, I don’t even know where to start because I still feel like my brain is sort of scattered from all that happened n Recursion. I feel like I went on a roller coaster
The Coldest Winter Ever is a classic, this was my first time reading it and omg y’all, Winter had me on my toes at the turn of every page.
Oh, guys I loved reading this book so much (I don’t think I’ll ever not love James Baldwins books) I finished this book last week and it’s still lingering around in my thoughts and probably will for a long time