Reviews with content warning for Death - Dear Haiti, Love Alaine

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maritza Moulite, Maika Moulite

10 reviews

pucksandpaperbacks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

CW: HP and JKR reference, Alzheimer's, ableism, miscarriage, sexual harassment
A great debut full of family drama and family history. The main character was such a realistic teen as she made teenage-like mistakes and I liked her growth throughout the story seeing her learn about her mother that she has a rocky relationship with. I also liked and thought it was a smart writing decision to have the book written in epistolary format since it has to do with the media and as she finds the diary entries that lead her to more information about her family's history.

As this is co-written, I thought it was a unique approach because most co-written words have dual POV but this has a single POV. I'm excited to read more from these authors!

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antidietleah's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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luminareads's review

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adventurous emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was pretty good. The beginning was funny, but the middle and end dropped that tone a bit which was disappointing. I liked Alaine's voice in the book, it was clear and distinct, and I thought that using letters and documents to help tell the story was a unique touch. The ending was okay, not my favorite and I doubt I'll reread this book anytime soon but overall, it was a pretty good book. My main complaint is with the cover of the US paperback, the clear film on my copy kept peeling back along the edges and as someone who likes to keep all my books looking perfect this was a distraction.

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moonytoast's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I'm so happy that I happened upon this book by chance.... There were so many moments where I was surprisingly on the edge of my seat, which isn't a frequent occurrence for me with young adult contemporary fiction. I won't go into details, but I think the Moulite sisters weave a lovely, engaging epistolary novel about coming of age and family. Recently, I've been wondering if I'm just too old to enjoy young adult contemporary fiction as much as I previously did, but this book proved me wrong.

My favorite aspect of this book was the writing style. I've made it no secret that I generally prefer third person narration, but Maika and Maritza Moulite use the first person point of view to their advantage and create a Distinct Character Voice™ that helps to further build out Alaine as a protagonist.

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sarah984's review against another edition

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emotional informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I really liked the idea of this book, but the execution was lacking for me.

First off, things I liked. It was interesting to see a YA where the main character has divorced parents who still have a decent relationship. Both parents were supportive in their own way and had interesting stories. I liked the idea of Alaine going to Haiti to understand her history, and the way the country and culture were described was great.

Things I didn't like: Alaine is supposed to be 17 but she's very immature and babyish so it makes her relationship with a "college boy" seem skeevier than it is. The idea of her including the flirty slack messages in her final project is absurd. The embezzlement plotline felt unnecessary and the culprit is the one person who acts suspiciously. The adults all have interesting stories that are barely delved into. Rosaline in particular is more plot device than person. The tone in general is a wild pendulum between silly teen antics and very serious subject matter

(not just the mom’s Alzheimers but another character dies out of nowhere and this is handled in an absolutely bizarre manner).

The whole family curse plotline felt kind of pointless (especially having so recently read <i>When You Trap a Tiger</i> which did this better) and I would have liked to see more of Alaine’s work with the Patron Pal app and kids instead.

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erin_curry's review against another edition

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emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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noyastan's review

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emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really loved Alaine's voice, her snark and sarcasm and how she always mixes her stories with other fictional tales, getting wrapped up in her writing! I loved reading from Alaine's POV and getting to sit in her head, seeing her writing and her feelings unfold. I also liked how the authors combined emails, texts, newspaper articles with Alaine's narration.

Alaine takes an unexpected middle-of-the-school-year trip to her parents' home country, Haiti, when a school presentation goes wrong, and spends her time there trying to counter a family curse and understand her distant mother.

While I appreciated the expansive family drama, Alaine's complex relationship with her mother, addressing the difficulties of coming to term with Alzheimer's/illness, and the mystery of the curse, I did not love the ending. Part of it is because some aspects seem rushed, many things getting all wrapped up in the last few sections, but also one huge part that seemed not only unnecessary but cruel. If the novel had ended a bit differently, I would've probably enjoyed it more, but alas.

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