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2.73 AVERAGE
2.73 AVERAGE
Better than the previous book, but that’s not saying much. Sister Souljah, how many decades do we have to wait for Winter to grow up? Stop talking like she’s a hood nigga? It’s one thing to be from the hood, but I was really hoping this book gave inspiration. Instead it gave the same Winter. The one consumed with beauty, status and money.
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was enjoying this book at first. However, the second half is a bit all over the place and I feel like some things were never resolved in the story.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book lacked in plot, left disappointed. Expected more of the story; winter meeting midnight again, winter reconnecting with her family. Read quickly but still was lacking in plot
Love After Midnight is the third book in The Coldest Winter Ever series by Sister Souljah. There was a time when Winter Santiaga was that bitch. Allow me to re-introduce this classic character. Winter was the oldest daughter of a Brooklyn drug kingpen. Reigning hood loyalty until everything fell apart. Fast forward fifteen years and Winter was released from prison, only to be shot and sent to hell in the sequel, Life After Death. (A book that I DNF'ed with no regrets.)
In this third installment titled Love After Midnight, Winter is brought back to life with a mission to find out who shot her while trying to capitalize on newfound fame as the star of a reality TV show and creator of legitimate businesses.
I expected Love After Midnight to be a redemption novel. It started off better than the sequel but quickly became hard to follow, disjointed and confusing. There are no smooth transitions between chapters. New characters are introduced but not fully developed (or truly named). Winter's narcissistic antics and shallow behavior is almost comical. I don't even know what genre to categorize this book. The best I can describe it is urban fiction with themes of fame, revenge and relationships.
I can no longer try to figure out Sister Souljah's purpose for this series. Is it to prove that fame comes at a cost? To point out the difference between heaven and hell on Earth? To jumble readers' brains? Love After Midnight is written like Sister Souljah wrote random dialogue and narrative on index cards, shuffled them and transcribed to paper with no clear direction. The ending even seems out of place and incomplete, not in a traditional cliffhanger kind of way.
This review feels very much like a break-up. Very "it's not you; it's me." The whole time I was reading Love After Midnight, I was thinking that I'm no longer interested in Winter's shenanigans, ghetto princess behavior, hood friends and nonsensical actions. Girl, grow up! Evolve. Learn. Listen. Mature. I want to see Winter win but it's time I hop off this journey. This series is no longer for me.
Happy Early Pub Day, Sister Souljah! Love After Midnight will be available Tuesday, October 8.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
In this third installment titled Love After Midnight, Winter is brought back to life with a mission to find out who shot her while trying to capitalize on newfound fame as the star of a reality TV show and creator of legitimate businesses.
I expected Love After Midnight to be a redemption novel. It started off better than the sequel but quickly became hard to follow, disjointed and confusing. There are no smooth transitions between chapters. New characters are introduced but not fully developed (or truly named). Winter's narcissistic antics and shallow behavior is almost comical. I don't even know what genre to categorize this book. The best I can describe it is urban fiction with themes of fame, revenge and relationships.
I can no longer try to figure out Sister Souljah's purpose for this series. Is it to prove that fame comes at a cost? To point out the difference between heaven and hell on Earth? To jumble readers' brains? Love After Midnight is written like Sister Souljah wrote random dialogue and narrative on index cards, shuffled them and transcribed to paper with no clear direction. The ending even seems out of place and incomplete, not in a traditional cliffhanger kind of way.
This review feels very much like a break-up. Very "it's not you; it's me." The whole time I was reading Love After Midnight, I was thinking that I'm no longer interested in Winter's shenanigans, ghetto princess behavior, hood friends and nonsensical actions. Girl, grow up! Evolve. Learn. Listen. Mature. I want to see Winter win but it's time I hop off this journey. This series is no longer for me.
Happy Early Pub Day, Sister Souljah! Love After Midnight will be available Tuesday, October 8.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Hated this. There’s NO plot. I’ll just reread TCWE
Chaos and Negativity
This was the second book in this series that I ended the book saying “girl…..what?!?”
This one was definitely better than the last one. I was along for the ride and up until the end I was so confused. I’ve read all the other books and will probably read more if they come out, but i’m not excited about it lol. It’s like a car accident that that you can’t stop watching.
This was the second book in this series that I ended the book saying “girl…..what?!?”
This one was definitely better than the last one. I was along for the ride and up until the end I was so confused. I’ve read all the other books and will probably read more if they come out, but i’m not excited about it lol. It’s like a car accident that that you can’t stop watching.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Winter is and will always be the stereotypical hood chick we all loved from The Coldest Winter Ever. But this being the third installment even after the disappointing sequel I wanted more.
The last book with all “the last stop before the drop” mess lost me. In Love After Midnight, Winter is back seven months after being shot and waking up from a coma. It did take me a minute to get into the story but once I did, I was invested in what I thought would be Winter being the bad boss “b” taking the entertainment industry by storm. Winter figuring out the mystery of who shot her and having some growth and maybe even finding love.
That isn’t quite what happened. There’s no real plot that comes together. Just Winter running around being Winter. As childish as ever. Making the worse decisions ever. She has not grown and will not grow which I guess is the point. At her big age she remains self-absorbed, selfish and materialistic. Zero attempt at any kind of character growth. She’s such a hater of her own sisters and family. Like for why?
So many potential storylines that could have been explored, like her relationship with her estranged brother? Also, Pretty?? There was so much more there not explained. And how do we gloss over the shooting at the club and who was shot (don’t want to spoil the story by saying who). And we are no closer to knowing who shot Winter. The ending with FKR left me confused. The ending was very open ended but I’m not seeing the point of more if Winter never has any growth like not even a smidge a teeny tiny bit?
When I look at it from the perspective of “Winter is who she is” and will never have growth I guess it is what it is. Because Sister gives other characters growth and Winter is just Winter. Stuck in time, Pretty said it best “You really are still a teenager.” I didn’t mind the 90’s feel that’s the timeframe in which the book takes place. The breakdown of every outfit had me rolling my eyes though. All in all, an okay read if you just want a continuation of Winter’s antics with no self-reflection, accountability or growth.
Thank you Netgalley and Atria for the eBook.