So many stories so little time. There are so many of these stories that I hope to become a book series. I love it!

Well all I can say is that Karma comes on time every time.

This comic novel was a perfect example of someone you like not getting the hit that you adore them. I knew right away that Deja liked Josiah! I saw myself in Deja a lot. Being extroverted and people are drawn too her only for her to not get the person who she actually likes.

#relatable

Also the pumpkins, the theme of the book, and the graphics were amazing. The setting of Halloween and Fall is my entire mood. Rainbow Rowell, this was great and a great way to showcase diverse characters and diverse bodies!

I’ll be honest. I really don’t care much for YA Fantasy books but I must admit the book really took off half way through. I did find it hard to get into this book.

I think I’m going to read the second book. I want to see how Jade and Kazi love story turns out. I usually try to stay away from typical love stories but this one feel forbidden and intriguing to me. I hope that Jade and Kazi get to a point in their relationship where honest dwells and trickery diminishes.

I had to finish this book for a book club that I am in. But I am soo happy that I did. Alaine discovered and did things that had me shooketh but I kept on listening. Dealing with multiple levels of grief and self discovery is something I enjoy reading.

Learning so much about Haiti, history, language, and culture was refreshing. I enjoy reading books with diverse voices and this one was great. It’s also a quick read in my opinion.

I’ll say this again. I was not sure if this series was a love story. It’s sort of is but it is mainly about sticking to your morals and exposing people for the villains that they are. I constant kept thinking did Bin die?!?! If he did I can’t handle it!

The character development is really thoughtful in this book. I almost wish it was a novel and not a graphic novel because I wanted more. I didn’t want it to end. Cyrenic didn’t need to be sleepless to devour his life to Poppy!

This BOOK is a must-read! MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR PENCILS, PENS, AND PAPER READY.
I want every one of my white friends (specifically) to read this book and do the prompts. I fought hard to not cry while reading this book because I felt most of the things the author spoke about in regards to BIPOC this work is important and it NEEDS to start now. I am done with the BS excuses. Do the work and don't expect any cookies for you doing anti-racism work.

Confronting the ways in which I am anti-black due to white supremacy was also difficult but necessary.

As always, I love to read a book with characters who look like me. The backstory behind historians and their critical part in the Wanjiru culture was very intriguing. I wish I got more of a back story on the Historians. I would love a book that focused on the Historians and understanding the knowledge that they shared generation after generation. Of course, we were introduced to some of the knowledge but I wanted more. The parallel to humans' relationship with creatures in the ocean was very foretelling. I think this book at several times hinted at climate change and our relationship with mammals.

I am still stuck (in a good way) by the description of the birth of one of the mermaids. The way the author described the scales had me in awe and I couldn't think of anything less than black gold. I think I need to re-read this book. I felt lost at times and want to give it a re-read.

UPDATE:

I re-read this book and kept thinking to myself... all the burdens that the first historian put on Yetu. I constantly was conflicted with the choices she made that I had to rewrite it. I put on my therapist had on the second read and picked up things I didn’t catch with the second read. This book is so complex that it just is. There was no need for more to be said because we (Black people) are living it. We share the burden and i don’t know if that’s better or worse than instilling it inside one person.

The constant mentioning of anxiety caused me to think about intergenerational trauma and how it plagues generation after generation. The book repeatedly referred to “it’s in our DNA.” That anxiety is there and woven into who we are. Yetu’s Aba ignorance of the world was heart breaking, to be shielded from your history and only get glances periodically only to forget is heartbreaking. To constantly forget who you are is heartbreaking. This book transformed me and caused me remember.

Usually, when I read a book from my hometown, New Orleans, I don't expect much. I usually can't relate. Most books are just filled with allure, mystery, and fun. New Orleans can be all those things but that is not the bulk of my experiences growing up in New Orleans. I know how it is to be raised there. There are some truths in the south that are harder to face than others. Those truths are built-in anti-blackness, racism, colorism, white supremacy, and the absence of black fathers.

As I listened to this book on audiobook, I wanted it to end. Not because I thought it was boring or didn't have value. I wanted it to end because I was triggered and understand the loss that Jesmyn described. I too have felt many of the emotions she has felt in regards to an absent father. I too have had a difficult time attending a school in a predominately white institution. I too want to protect my nephews from them streets because dem streets ain't loyal.

With every loss, she felt, with every promise broken, with every pain she felt... I was with her. I won't pretend and say that I understand her life because I can't. She is her and I am me. I pray for my brother every day. The rawness in this book took my breath away. This is the first book that is honest about the realities of growing up in New Orleans. I love my city but I am also afraid of consequences that my city has on the ones I love the most.

I feel like I can not give this book any other rating but a five. I just went on a roller coaster ride. This is why I enjoy reading books and not reading the description of the book prior. Freshwater.... you did it. This book follows the character Aba and the god-like spirits that live within her. However, these god spirits are mischievous and do not care about human flesh. THEY TAKE THEIR COMMITMENTS SERIOUSLY! They enjoy torturing the humans they inhabit, with the end goal being to get the human to end their life.

I found myself mostly upset with Asughara (god-like spirit) the most. I felt this spirit inside Aba was a vindictive, toxic, and highly narcissistic character. I also thought, to the western world, specifically psychology, Aba would present as having psycho-affective or schizophrenia disorder. As I went further into this story, I paid closely attention to Asughara. Often times, when a person experiences trauma, their memories are pushed further into the psyche... which leads to protective, and survival skills manifesting at the forefront of their minds. The entire time, I kept thinking to myself "Asughara kept saying that she will never leave and that she will always protect them (Aba and the other spirits)." Only for me find out that Asughara was protecting her from traumatic memories but in the most toxic way as possible.

The metaphors of the snake, shedding, other snake-like things creeped me out but I was here for it. I loved how Aba and her god-like spirits viewed gender fluidity. I didn't like how her god-like spirits just took over her body and forced her out of her of having autonomy of herself. Which is why I was rooting for Aba hard at the end of the book. This book is heavy on mental health, depression, suicidal ideation, attempts, and other triggers. But this book's take on spirits from a non-western point of view was GOLD. I am impressed that no one committed Aba to an institution while she was in America. I don't agree with what the god-like spirits did to Aba in the name of "protecting her." I often felt like they were hurting Aba more often than not, due to their lack of empathy towards humans. Although, they thought they were benevolent gods (eye-roll). This book was beautifully written and challenges westernized identity & psychology in ways that should be questioned.