this was exceptionally good

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted – Jayne Allen

Infertility issues, black women. Family, interpersonal relationships, fiction. 

Rating 10/10

Tabitha finds out that she has an infertility issue that she has to address sooner rather than later. Not only that but she finds out her boyfriend, Marc, isn’t ready for any family life nor marriage. He breaks up with her. Tabitha goes to her friends and family to help her. She gets the dream promotion at her work. She comes to terms that she will die exhausted but she will live her life to the fullest. 

I enjoyed the writing of this novel. The flow was so perfectly done. The plot and narrative felt surreal. I’m glad that this book covered a very heavy subject with some lightness and comedy. There was a great balance. Not a lot of books cover infertility issues because it is so stigmatized. We should unstigmatized sexual wellness. There was another topic that was covered here and it is racism. There is a lot of systematic and institutionalized racism in this country that has made people of color scared of the police. When Tabitha got pulled over by the cop and was very afraid for her life, I nearly cried because police are supposed to make everyone feel safe. However, with the rising numbers of police brutality against people of color, police have become even more feared more now than ever. With that said, please contact local representatives and tell them that we need police reform. I’ve done my part by calling daily and I want my followers to do the same. My website is a hate-free zone. This is a peace zone.

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loved this sci-fi fantasy novel

Black Sun – Rebecca Roanhorse 

Science fiction, fantasy, fiction.

Rating 9/10

Xiala is a disgraced captain that was about to get punished when she is given a task that guarantees her freedom and a stable job. Escort someone or rather a special passenger. Serapio was blinded by his mother in hopes of her son becoming one of the Gods. Unfortunately what she was doing was abusive to her son and cost her son’s eyesight. He needs to be taken back to his homeland and Xiala must take him there. 

This was rather interesting and intriguing. The novel discusses disability as an empowerment for which Serapio has lost his sight and can’t see but his other senses are heightened due to that. Also this novel goes over and discusses a lot of how the indigenous peoples are mistreated and how they are viewed by others. These topics were presented as science fiction and fantasy which is great. There is a lot of lore explained as well as a diversity of different perspectives. The writing was phenomenal and the characters don’t feel artificial. They feel as if I know them personally.  I enjoyed this novel a lot and think I might just get the sequel whenever it comes out. 

tiktok made me buy this series

The Cruel Prince – Holly Black

Fairies, sisters, orphans, princes, courts, courtiers, young adult, fantasy, fiction.

Rating 9/10

Jude and her sisters were taken away from the human world and witnessed someone kill her parents at a young age. This person takes care of them out of respect and care for the young girls as well as keeping them away from the human world by keeping them in Elfhame. She goes to school with the rest of the nobles’ children. Often, she gets bullied by the princes and princess. She is approached by Prince Dain who wants her to become his spy and in exchange protection. Jude pledges herself to him. Her work begins with spying on Prince Balekin and she learns an awful a lot. Jude will learn that being a spy was more than she had thought she made a deal with. This comes with a lot of revelations and a dangerous road ahead for Jude and Cardon.

I saw this on TikTok and wanted to give it a read. I am so glad that I had done so. I enjoyed reading this novel and somewhat understand the hype. Also, the fact that this is different than the usual young adult fiction I read was a fresh breath of air. The idea of a human living in the faery world and being a part of something life altering was intriguing. It would make sense for the human to be a spy in the faery court. She is unseen and seen as unimportant so no one will think nothing less. I do love the author’s thought process and how she beautifully developed the world as well as the characters. A lot of thought went into creating this and there are so many twists that are subtle yet shocking.

a worse evil lurks

Thirst: Black Blood – Christopher Pike

Vampires, fantasy, young adult, fiction.

Rating 10/10

Sita revisits Los Angeles due to the sudden rise of horrific violence. Not wanting to be away for a while because she wants to be there to help Ray, her new lover she turned vampire to save his life, feed. He reminds her of her husband she had long ago, Rama, who looks eerily alike to Ray. She wants to know what is going on until she comes across some barely inexperienced newborn vampires. It is impossible because she ended Yakasha in the fire. Or did she. She goes back to Seymour to check in on him and to talk with him. He offers that maybe Yakasha is not truly dead. Sita later finds out there was a body recovered from the explosion and that same body went missing as well as Eddie Fender, someone who took care of the bodies in the morgue. Sita plans to hunt him down and end not only the newborn vampires he has created but including him.

This second novel in the series was very well thought into and detailed that made sense to the plot of the narrative. We meet some new characters as well as see a new romance budding. Some people might say it’s out of guilt that there is a romance but Sita acknowledges that Ray is not her old husband Rama. I love their chemistry. However, this was thoughtfully made and connects to the first novel. I remember that this part made me officially stay with this universe that Christopher Pike has created.

Sexual Reawakening

Little Black Dress – James Patterson with Emily Raymond

Book shots, thriller, mystery, horror, fiction.

Rating 7.9/10

Jane suffered a horrible divorce two years ago, going to therapy, and being celibate for that time duration. When she sees a pretty little black dress, she decides to buy it and go out on the town. She has some adventures and her last causes some chaos.

This was a good book shot novel. Not the best but wished there was a bit more drama or more thrills in it. I did appreciate this novels story and the thought of a dress causing this woman to have some sexual adventures. This would’ve worked better as a novel rather than a book shot.

Watch Out

Arkham Horror: To Fight the Black Wind – Jennifer Brozek

Mystery, horror, thriller, Arkham Horror, fiction.

Rating 7/10

Doctor Fern gets a new patient who has nightmares that leave symbols or glyph shaped wounds across her back and legs. Josephine begs Doctor Fern to help her since the previous doctor couldn’t help. Fern goes and tries to find ways to help Josephine and tests out a few therapies to help Josephine. It’s the Black Wind claiming power. Fern has never faced this before and is unprepared to go against this being.

I saw this shelf at a game store and its based from the Arkham Horror Game. However, this is a stand-alone novella that can be read without playing the game. This was a pleasure to read and it was so thrilling I finished the book in a day. Given that this book is small but has a punch of mystery, horror, and thrilling elements. I kind of wished that this novella was longer but it’s a novella for a reason. I enjoyed reading this book. I recommend this book for anyone who’s into this genre.

College Student Killer on the LOOSE

Black & Blue – James Patterson with Candice Fox {Bookshots}

Mystery, thriller, fiction.

Rating 8/10

Detective Harriet Blue loves to serve justice when justice is needed. Sometimes she takes matters into her own hands. At a college is a killer hunting down the female student population at the college. Harriet takes matters into her own hands to hunt down the killer. What she finds is much more sinister than she had ever thought she would come across in her entire career.

I had fun reading this bookshot and had reread it in one sitting because the story is so intense and fast pace. Mysteries are supposed to be fast paced and page turners. This bookshot satisfied my need for a good mystery. Highly recommend this one to everyone who’s into mysteries.