husnaibrahim_'s Reviews (393)

‘As the cart turned towards Oriskany, Helen realized that three generations were finally going to be together, and heading towards their own destines, free of the dreadful institution that had enslaved them all.’

I really liked this book and I was very reluctant at first because of the authors race. I didn’t want to read a book about how white people treated black people as though they aren’t humans and then went on to be their only hope to freedom especially from an author that might not be able to do it proper justice, but this turned out okay. It was nice to see how the women played a major role in this. Yeah they mostly got help from the people against slavery but the fact that they also took major steps towards their path to freedom was really nice to see. 

I also liked that we were reading this from two different perspectives. Imari’s and Helen’s. It was nice to see Helen’s growth and her path towards going against the rules of the society that ultimately put the whites above anyone else. But I mostly really liked Imari and Maggie. I would love a second book focused on their individual pasts and their journey towards their growing a familial relationship.

Overall it was a good read but it wasn’t necessarily perfect. Some parts felt really out of place and tone deaf but it somehow worked because of the extreme conditions during that time. You could also tell that this wasn’t written by an author of colour in so many instances and that sort of robbed off in the way you viewed some of the things that happened. I also felt like the ending was really rushed and not done properly. We could have had at least two more chapter to wrap it up but atleast we got to see that idiotic doctor killed off so that’s a plus.

This is my second time reading this book and I have to say I enjoyed it way more than I did years ago. I loved Elizabeth and Abigail individually and together; so smart and so dedicated to living. I also loved that the ending wasn’t too rushed and was done right but I just wish there was more time to handle the chemistry between Abigail and Brooks because that felt rushed in the beginning.

I’m actually so sad I didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would. It just had so much potential when it came to the main leads. I mean Venessa was a 40+ black woman who got the better end of the divorce settlement. 

The way she handled herself after the divorce and her journey towards healing and finding herself was all great. Which was why I thought we would get to see some really great connection, chemistry and understanding between her and Micheal but it all felt lust-driven. It was a good book really. I liked the whole small town sheriff and the rich divorcee thing going but the book as a whole is definitely not for me.

This book was so cringy. It was also really predicatable in a cringey way. I really hate miscommunication in books but if it’s going to happen, it should at least be done well. I saw it coming before it even happened and I also just knew the reconciliation was going to be too much. It felt too much yet underwhelming on it’s own.

I can understand if they wanted their friends to know about the whole fake dating thing and why they weren’t together anymore. I also understood when Giana told shawn about it since he was caught up in the middle of all the mess. What I couldn’t understand is why the whole campus and sports media needed to know their business???! 

I mean if Clay had been trying to apologise to her and thought that doing it during the press conference would be the perfect time, i would have understood it since he didn’t have anyone to talk him out of it. But how is it that he sat down with his friends and they came up with that as a way to apologise? Just no! It was literally so hard for me to get through that chapter because the secondhand embarrassment was too real. 

That aside, I liked Giana and Clay together and individually. They were really good for each other but their relationship just wasn’t enough to get me to actually like this book as a whole. It was a cute romance book and I could see how others would have enjoyed it. It just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was such a fun listen really. I liked almost everything about it. The light banter, the dashing demon-dragons, the fake Goddess and the whole demons being slaves to humans thing and so on. I just wished we got to see more of her friends and family towards the ending since Fallon sort of crashed in on them. Plus I got the impression that Felix was going to end up with her best friend from the village.

I really loved this book. It all just felt like I was listening to a Brymo song! As a West African, usually when I read books by South African or East African authors, I am only able to connect to a certain level and not just culture wise. While I do enjoy them, it always feels like how you feel when talking to a distant cousin that lives in a different state from you. You have so much in common and are able to acknowledge that but you are also completely different in many ways. 

With this book however, it was very different. The music element just drew everything closer. I loved that we had the tizita competition in Ethiopia but I also loved that we were following the story through a Kenyan-American brother. He was able to pull of being culturally aware yet clueless to many of the African social cues. This wasn’t one of the best books I’d read this year but it was certainly one of my favourites.

This is one is definitely top five in the series for me!

I wish I knew this book was a two-part series, then I would have gone into it not thinking I’d figure out who the killer was by the ending. Yes we did get to find out who the earlier Eumenides was but I’m still frustrated with how it ended. 

I think it was a good book but I just felt there were so many things that could have been done better or handled differently. They were the police for God’s sake but it just didn’t feel like it!  It felt like they were all just too trusting and not doing enough. Even detective Pei that was meant to be our lead hero and capable investigator seemed at a bit too shallow. I can see how a lot more people would enjoy and think this a great book but it fell short of many things for me. 

The only thing I’m looking forward to in the second book is how captain Han would be punished because I really didn’t like him at all and was really glad when Eumenides outsmarted him, again. I’m honestly not even really concerned or bothered about who Eumenides is or if he is taken down. It’s all just messed up for me.

I actually thought that I would hate this book. I went in thinking, how can you marry your best friend’s murderer with the intention of killing him but then end up falling in love with him?

It was really funny how almost throughout the book Sharzhard was seriously trying to convince herself that she was being discreet about her hatred for Khalid, about how she’s going to kill him and her developing feelings for him. It was just too obvious to see and I think that was perfect because it showed shazi isn’t as smart and tough as she seems to show. Or maybe it’s a way to show you can’t really cheat fate? I will say that Khalid was a pleasant surprise. I mean I knew the book had the romance element so he wasn’t going to be totally unpleasant but he was just too sweet.

At some point I was thinking it’s too soon for him to already love her but I think that’s just what made this book better. It’s a bit blissful and slightly unrealistic but the Persian elements of this story lets it work well. Shazi is also supposed to be a force to recon with so of course it would be easy for people to love her. I think that’s what the author was going for and it’s actually ridiculous but that’s what kind of made me continue reading the book. I kept thinking well this isn’t very realistic or very bright of her but then it’s a fantasy book anyway. 

Also I wasn’t a big fan of Despina at first if I’m being honest. It was easier to tolerate her as the book progressed but I just found her really rude right from start. I’m hoping we get to see her more in the second book because I liked her well enough but I need more time with her I think. Khalid though? I loved him. He wasn’t perfect but at the same time he was, in almost every way. It was also easier to like Jalal and the Rajput but I’m also not sure what to feel about Rahim just yet. What I’m really sure about is my dislike for Tariq. I hope Tariq’s character isn’t redeemable in the second book too so I can freely hate him.

What I’m now really eager to find out is if it’s really Shazi’s dad that caused the fire and how Rey is going to recover from this especially because Khalid still has atleast 20 more dawns and 20 more brides to deal with.