Just wow. Beautiful, powerful, hopeful.
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The Girl with the Louding Voice is about Adunni, a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl, who dreams of getting an education. Sold by her father to be a third wife to a much older man, Adunni’s dream is in danger. A series of events - filled with tragedies and abuse, unexpected kindnesses and moments of sheer horror - change the trajectory of Adunni’s life, but not that of her desire to continue her education. Despite everything, Adunni manages to stay positive, grounded, kind, and truthful.
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The Girl with the Louding Voice is as good as everyone is saying. I hope that Abi Dare plans on writing more; I know I will read her work.

I finished Future Home of the Living God this morning, and it was a tough read.
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Cedar Songmaker, an adopted woman who is pregnant during an evolutionary backslide, is doing what she can to protect herself and her unborn child. As people panic, and the world around her starts to turn on itself, Cedar is forced to go into hiding. On top of this, her pregnancy has made her curious about her biological parents and family history.
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This story is multilayered, beautifully written, and, honestly, pretty terrifying.
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Maybe it is because I am a mom, and it wasn’t too long ago that I was pregnant.
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Maybe it is that people turning on each other and losing their humanity is hard for me to internalize.
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Maybe it is that the narrator, Cedar, was so calm and oddly rational during the whole, unthinkable process.
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Maybe it is how this book ended.
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Whatever it was, this is a book that is going to stay with me for a while.

So, The Holdout. I have some mixed thoughts about this book.
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Overall, I did enjoy it, and it was well written. I liked the alternating story lines (past and present) and the story’s focus on the impact and aftermath of a jury’s decision. I was engaged by this story and wanted to know how it ended. It was a relatively quick read, with decent character development.
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However, I was not at all surprised by, and had in fact already surmised, the ending. That was a minor let down, but whatever. I also had a difficult time really connecting with any of the characters; I didn’t really care what happened to any of them, but I did want to know how everything turned out for them.
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All of that being said, I have read all of Graham Moore’s novels and will continue to read what he puts out.

I finished listening to Oona Out of Order this morning, and I cannot stop thinking about how insane it would be to experience time, well, out of order. Oona handles this about as well as anyone could. I can’t say I agree with many of her decisions, but it is easy to say what you would do when you haven’t had to deal with it yourself.

I finished listening to Dead to Her a few days ago. I have put off reviewing it because I didn’t really like it.
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Here’s what didn’t work for me:
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•I did not care about any of the characters. At all. The whole book.
•So much jealousy. Like all characters were entirely driven by jealousy. That is a bit hyperbolic, but it’s not too far off.
•I knew who did it early on. Never thought it was anyone else. Took away a lot of the suspense for me.
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So why did I finish this book?