If you had a TikTok account during the pandemic then you know Drew Afualo. You know her laughter. You know her advocacy for women and femmes. Drew’s mission is to face bigotry head on and watch it collapse as fast as she dishes it out. 

Loud is part self help guide part memoir. Her entire life she has stood up to the bullies and advocated loudly for those she loves. Her adulthood is no different, she is still standing up for those who have been marginalized and put down by society. In Loud Drew takes us on a journey of how to unlearn the harmful ideologies that the cis heteropatriarchy have place upon us. Showing us just how outdated and rooted in colonialism and white supremacy these ideologies are. She shows us how to advocate for ourselves and to stop centering life around terrible men. Reminding us that no matter what our body type, race, gender or sexuality we deserve the very best love there is. 

Drew is extremely honest and candid in this book. At times I felt like I wasn’t reading a memoir, but catching up with old college friends. Reminiscing about the men who we’d destroy at bars who thought they had a chance at hitting on us. Or discussing how fiercely we love and protect one another. I found myself tearing up more than once reading this because it houses such powerful messaging that I think is vital to, not just younger generations, but to anyone who considers themselves a feminist. 

Loud is out July 29, thank you netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Green dot follows mid 20s Hera as she navigates life in only the way people in their 20s do. Shes had a dull life post college and is looking for something, anything to bring that spark back to life. 

And then she meets Arthur. 

Arthur is a coworker of Hera’s in their cold news outlet office. He’s older than her and holds the spark she’s been looking for…one problem though, Arthur is married. 

Hera finds herself captivated by Arthur in an all consuming lust turned romance. She finds this odd, as she has only previously dated women, but something about him grabs her and won’t let go. 

I am not going to lie to you, I was 40% through my audio arc of this (thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio) when I decided I loved it and needed to own a physical copy. 

Green Dot is humorous, sharp and deeply emotional. It takes us on a journey of wanting something so badly that we know isn’t going to end well for us, but we let it consume us whole anyway. It hurts in the same vein that Normal People or Acts of Desperation hurts, a love affair that makes you drop your entire life for one person. I think a lot of women and femmes can relate to this concept. The patriarchy has trained us from a very young age to put men’s needs over our own and to make ourselves available for them no matter what. I cannot speak highly enough of this book recommend it anymore. It’s smart and funny but will also make you feel things you probably haven’t felt in years (if you’re in your 30s like me) Green Dot is out now! 

She’s a killer is a story follows near genius Alice who lives in the same home as her mother, the two communicate to each other via Morse code. Alice has an imaginary friend named Simp who is constantly playing the devils advocate in Alice’s mind. Alice hasn’t seen Simp since she was 7 years old and a fire destroyed her family home, she worries if Simp has something more sinister planned this time around…

Alice meets a man named Pablo, a wealthy man who has fled to New Zealand as means for survival, who she thinks is going to change her life. But then she meets Pablo’s 15 year old daughter who is an actual genius and Alice begins to question her own intelligence. 

This book is described as being a mix of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Killing Eve and that could not be more accurate. This story will keep you on your toes and surprise you in ways you weren’t expecting at every turn. It is extreme it is in your face. It’s abrasive but in a really fun and entertaining way. I overall really enjoyed this story and the radical thoughts and actions within it. I do feel the ending was a bit rushed and I wish that was fleshed out a bit more! 

Thank you to Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for this Audio Arc in exchange for an honest review 🤍

“But if I’ve learned anything it’s that I don’t want to be consumed. I have teeth of my own”

Sugar, baby tells the coming of age story of Agnes a mixed race 21 year old who’s headed nowhere fast. She lives at home with her extremely religious mother who she also cleans houses with for a living. She yearns for something more than the small town she comes from. She has a chance meeting with Emily, the daughter of one of her clients and becomes enthralled in her world. Emily is a model and a sugar baby and lives the decadent life Agnes can only dream about. After she gets caught in a lie her mother kicks her out of the house and she moves in with Emily and her other model/sugar baby friends. She gets swept up in their lifestyle, but these women are all wealthy and can afford to fail Agnes cannot. Thrown from relationship to relationship Agnes sees if she has what it takes to live the life of a sugar baby. She quickly learns it’s just as isolated as life was before. 

This read hit very close to home for me so I took it in slow bites. Reading this book was like holding a mirror up to my own face and staring at my reflection for far too long. I grew up in the same religiously controlled household that Agnes did. I wasn’t allowed to watch certain television shows or listen to certain music as they were signs of the devil. I too had “The End Times” trauma drilled into my head. No one could hurt me like my mother could and no one could shame me like she could. She had god on her side. I know what it’s like to find the escape of drugs, sex and alcohol as an attempt at healing. I know what it’s like to live your life in the male gaze for so long that you eventually go mad and take your body back. Thinking you need constant validation only to discover you’ve held the key to that all along. Agnes journey is a bit more extreme than my own but it’s not without its parallels.