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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Killing Dorothy? WHAT?!

Dorothy Must Die – Danielle Page

Young adult, fiction, fantasy, adventure, retelling, witches, flying monkeys

Rating 10/10

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page is an intriguing page turner that will ensure to keep one on edge. The title sort of tells all but its way more than that. In this epic retelling of our favorite place, Oz, comes a new girl from Kansas named Amy Gumm. She is carried off into Oz by a tornado. One would think, “This is going to be the same exact story as Wizard of Oz”. Wrong. Dorothy was corrupted by Oz magic and its up to Amy to undo what Dorothy had done. Meaning that she has to remove the Tin Man’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s brain, take the Lion’s courage, then and only then, Dorothy must DIE. Amy must be prepped in all things Wicked from training fighting styles to dinner etiquette and lady like mannerisms.

When I saw this at the library on the book self I was intrigued by the mysterious title. Since I am a bibliophile (someone who really loves books) I always love to go on adventures with books. This book was an incredible trip. Just because it’s a young adult book doesn’t mean only for that age window. I would recommend it as a children’s book and for any adult who loves everything and anything that is related to Oz.

Paige, Danielle. Dorothy Must Die. (Dorothy Must Die Series, #1.). Harper, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2014.