jaduhluhdabooks's Reviews (333)

Rich. Powerful. Beautiful. 

I’ve been sitting with a lot of Morgan’s words and they resonate so deeply with me and this season and truthfully past seasons of life. I feel like I’ve been on an exhausting journey of healing and a lot of the excerpted words reminded me that the journey is life long, but not always so tumultuous. That the weight is heavy, but the burden is not always present. That the cycles can be broken, regenerated into something fuller and steadfast. That weaknesses is strength and strength is weakness. That goodness and gentleness and kindness to yourself are necessary and need to become mandatory practices of being. 

Sitting with these parting words:

“Move on but hold on to beauty and truth. 
Darkness has no chance at defining you. 
And you may raise your hands in Spirit and in Truth
Knowing deep within your soul
You’ll look back on days like this
With blessed, warm relief 
That in the darkness you still chose
To see the Light in everything.”

“Sometimes strength is waking up and choosing to breathe another day. Sometimes strength is getting out of bed.
Your “strong” might not look like her strong, and that is more than okay…”

“To breathe is brave.
It takes courage to live through heartbreak.
Breathing is no small feat.”

Powerful and enriching words, indeed. 
Enjoyed these reads. This practice of mindfulness. And the accessibility of the words, understanding, reflecting, and resonating.

Re-read 2024… and it’s STILL the most perfect book I’ve ever read. Ugh. No one does real, raw, and romance like my girl Kennedy.

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2023 Review:

It might actually be the most perfect  book I’ve read to date. 

Kennedy’s writing is exceptionally beautiful. The way that she captures grief and writes your own narratives of pain onto paper, I mean, she gave me language for so much of my battlings, with life, depression, hope, desire, and joy. 

Yasmen, is such a dynamic character that we get to see her woven back together after life altering destruction and the reality of saving yourself and wanting to keep intact the life you had before is REAL. But depression makes us sacrifice, especially if we’re fighting to live. In those moments, us choosing to remain alive is a victory, even if it cost us some part of our old selves. Our old lives. 

Si, ugh - I mean. The way that Kennedy rips a part the convoluted narrative of mental health in the Black community, especially surrounding Black men. The need for therapy and how essential it can be to name, feel, and experience your emotions, instead of keeping them bottled and assuming you can just pray then away or ignore them. It’s a hard truth to tackle, but one Kennedy does exceptionally well by examining Kassim, Josiah, and Yasmen. As well as how important it can be to have a therapist who looks like you and has similar generational experiences that can be understood at a level maybe another wouldn’t be able to. 

The pacing of this books is incredible. I felt as if I was truly in these grueling two years with the Ward family. From the complexity of co parenting, to managing new relationships when your ex-partner starts dating again, to the honesty you have to maintain with yourself and your children on all levels and the way that you NEED people, community, to help sustain what is changing and what has been preserved. 

I just, I could sit and think about this book for AGES. I loved every second of it. From the Black excellence to the Black girl magic and displays of Black boy joy, to the art of friendship, and truth of finding your way back to yourself, and to rebuilding broken things, into stronger and healthier bonds. 

It was magnificent. Ugh 🥹🤧

I mean - where do I begin. It was perfect. I laughed. I cackled. I cried. I sniffled. I resonated. I learned. I LOVED it. 

The challenges that society creates for Black queer folx is astronomical and Julian hits us with the 1-2 punch combo about these lived realities layered by race, socioeconomic status, and what “getting out” looks like, how education stays a disciplined pathway to attaining mobility in all areas: career, credibility, voice, and comfort. 

I resonated so deeply with Jay and Theo’s story. Best friends who live extremely different lives based on their socioeconomic status and how Jay, being a cis white male was afforded so many opportunities he could not understand why Theo, his gay Black best friend could not risk any wrong choice, and no longer  tolerate passivity from the one person in his life he should be able to count on to have his back, whether Theo is present or not. Integrity. Dignity. Care and compassion to the highest degree. Friendships are hard to navigate, but letting go of toxic relationships is a necessity if they do not attribute to nor feed your personhood and dignified your humanity. I mean … It’s the bare minimum. I cried for Theo in the turmoil, claiming reality of how this relationship diminished more of his light than it gave, and in the end when he chose himself. 

Ugh, I could talk about Luca for 80 years, so I will just say. Love love love and CALLED it. 

River, I adore them. I wept with them. Loosing a best friend when you weren’t ready (is anyone ever really?) is deeply heart wrenching and cutting in so many ways. But friends can also heal and I was reminded of that by River’s attempts and in the end, success to put themselves back out there and find people to love them as they were once loved. To find binding and footing in life and living once again. A brave and beautiful thing to do. 

Mikayla + Aleah - queens. Period. Point. Blank. You do you sis - fight the patriarchy and take the binary norms with you. 👏🏾👏🏾

Darren - yes. That’s what support looks like. 

I could talk about Theo and his dad for centuries so I will sum it all up by saying, single fatherhood is rarely talked about, but a hard and real thing to do. The support is raw and real and beautiful. And seeing a Black father be written and portrayed in such a way is healing for me.

I love Theo. I wanted the best prom for them. And I couldn’t have loved the ending more in my entire life. also so attached to all these characters (except Jay lol)

I thought this book was so beautifully written. Grief, capturing anguish, and deep seated fear of falling again and maybe not in the ways you had in the past. 

I will say, the twist caught me so off guard, but the characters are dynamic and in such a few pages, the author flushed out their qualms and journey’s us with them as they rediscover how to be alive and live in a world with consuming grief. 

To find wonder and hold closely to gentleness and let it cocoon you  in safety, because you’re worthy of that. Grief is not the ultimately holder of those things. 

Ugh - I loved it.