jaduhluhdabooks's Reviews (333)

This was literally insane. Like. Pierce. You’re a poet by all means poetry needs to be. The words that each character left us with and how Darrow himself is just formed by them. The poetry is  in the plot and the structure of relationships, as they unfold and how Darrow values each of them. I mean, the depth of Darrow’s character literally leaves me in tears. 

AND THE TWISTS. FROM THE LITERAL BEGINNING OF THIS BOOK TO THE END. 

I —

No one couldn’t seen the last 200 pages coming. Not the end. Like. Just. I WAS AUDIBLY GASPING. Also, the narrators for these books are just TOP TEIR. TOO GOOD. It is making my consumption of these stories 10x more enjoyable. Ugh. Literally started morning star right after because I was like - I MUST KNOW WHAT OCCURS.

This book was supposed to be my first hockey romance of the year and I’m so sad that I literally picked this one. 

The main characters were soooo annoying and like unbelievable and the timeline and pacing was like huh bc what the junk. And the characters were unbearably childish and there’s too many toxic things in this book from people’s relationship with food, to communication, to like how insecurity is actually internalized and shows up. Like. No. 

All of it. Also - there doesn’t need to be a sex scene every 10 pages like. 

Ugh. Defffooo not for me.

No because … all you girlies who have been waiting A YEAR AND SOME CHANGE for book three!? I’m sorry to you. That’s so wild. 

The scream that I SCRUMPT !? Could be heard across the cosmos and even though I thought u knew everything I STILL DIDNT KNOW IT ALL. AND HOW DOES SHE KEEP DOINNG THIS TO US. WHY DO THESE GIRLIES ALWAYS HAVE TO LEAVE THEIR LIL MATES IN ORDER TO GROW. HOW ABOUT NO.

Also I screamed so loud at the ending it’s not even funny. The way the Sarah weaves all the little details of her most beloved characters together without revealing anything…just letting our little minds be reminded of our small unhealthy attachments to them and then BOOM, the ending sentence. It’s wild. I can’t wait. I want to cry. 

Let’s get it. Flame and Shadow is gonna be CRAZY.

Cole Arthur Riley takes the soul of a Black person and heals it with words that are balm to wounds that have closed over time and time again, but never really found safety in rebinding the roots and the skin there.

My heart has been nourished with how Riley entertained poetry to prayer and how inviting the space is for all who seek solace and comfort in knowness. 

As someone who grew up in the church, was recklessly deceived by it, and has been searching for a way back, these words found their way home to me. I cried, I smiled, and I remembered and I cared about who I was then and who I am becoming. I have since found communities that are rich in faith and care, but this was different. This was whole and these responses when done individually were rectifying, so I can only imagine how whole they are in community.

Cole is attentive to heart and mind and body and combines them all to create a narrative that welcomes and soothes and binds. I felt rebounded and that is a solidifying feeling. To feel safe in your Black skin again. To know that you are indeed made beautifully and wonderfully, not mistakenly nor less than how differently is supposed to show up. I feel bold and new and proud. I feel whole.

I just love cardan with everything and this is how you write a “villain” - misunderstood and perfectly perfect in every way. Like. Ahhh. I just love him and these little novellas of his background and love for miss Jude I just I SCREAM. I SCREAM.

Ok I slept on it after finishing this book and I’m back to write the review. I love Kerry Washington. I love Scandal. I am honored to have sat and listened to her story. Her vulnerability in sharing her relationship with food and the journey she embarked upon to desensitize the stigma’s around mental health, OCD and Anxiety, and body image are powerful things. Things that I find myself taking moments to think more clearly and specifically about as I discover my own relationship with myself, compulsions, food, and my body. Her self discovery and wondering of her familial history and reclaiming her relationship with her parents, all of it is well written and spoken and I appreciated listening to her story told my her.

I think I struggled with Kerry’s lack of acknowledgement around her socioeconomic privilege. To have not one but two parents who hold post secondary degrees, to have been afforded attendance to exceptional private schools and acting guilds that essentially set up her career and to have had the opportunity to go to college and choice to pursue a career path that was not specific to providing heavily for her family upon return is loud. I struggled with how little she called back to skin tone and colorism in the field of acting and Hollywood politics, because it is an important thing to acknowledge as someone in her steed and with her wealth of knowledge. I just was disappointed maybe?  As someone who is an active advocate for Black women, this felt…I don’t have the word but like less. More could have been given to the narrative of what it is like and how it is hard when you factor in colorism and educational privilege and even familial relationships…parental support, confidence, connections…and while I don’t think that she should have to carry that image nor tell that story for all Black creatives in the field, I think by proxy and nature of her roles and her activism, there is a level of wondering why it does show up more loudly in her words? 

Overall, a solid memoir that I think was well written and told and maybe the organization of the book as a whole could’ve been better, but Kerry is fun and full of life and it shined in this book as it does on the screen in her roles.

listen. This is one of SJMs BEST developed arcs in plot, character, and organization. Everything was chefs kiss. I mean. 

IT WAS. SHE IS. THE MOMENT. two things…if you found yourself oddly attracted to the fox in zootopia, I would like to humbly acknowledge that we were correct to feel such things for an animated beast, because HUNT ATHALAR IS HIM. Anyways.

I felt the crux of every friendship in the novel. The beauty of loyalty can shine when well written and I found myself shedding a few tears at a time from the pure display of friendship and love that exists in found family. I also just DEEPLY love Bryce and her character develops so wonderfully throughout this book. Like I went from appreciating her to LOVING her and she’s true to her nature from the first page to the last. Loyalty to her people and herself.

Ugh - I’m scared. I just want this book to be a stand alone and move on with my life. I’ve got my HEA and I’m fine. But alas, I will be returning to the second book and third in the coming weeks. 

#prayersup 😩

I mean this was soooo cute. Also it was healing to read male leads who showed emotional intelligence, say and spoke from their feelings in healthy ways, and invited other characters into that. Like. Ugh. 

Also can I just say THIS is how you write a well communicated third part conflict !? Like I was here for the dialogue and understand how the fight could lead to dismissing what was occurring, but nobody ran, they both talked, and in the end she gave him space to digest her words but she didn’t run and she didn’t say it was over, she said “let me know when you’re ready” because it doesn’t have to be final !!! That’s beautiful. Anyways. Rant over. Soap box pushed to the side. Thank you and goodnight. lol.

*cue that one tik tok sound* 
“now that’s what I’m talking bouttt”

“Then break me, Jacks” - it was the most glorious ending and also like, did it need to be with whirlwindy? Yes. I think I would’ve lived to see Aurora burn with Apollo. 

And I’m saddddd like what happens with Dane and Lala? What happens with Castor?? I wanted happy endings for them just as much as I did for Jacks and Eva!! 

Anyways. I live sir. Ate it up and if I saw Apollo on the knock of these north woods, he’d catch a quick 1-2-3, out with the lights, on me.