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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment
I'm not sure what rating to give this one. I enjoyed this. It took me a bit to get used to the writing style. But I liked it. Idk I think I just need to think more about it
A book I had never heard of until I was challenged to read it for the Trope-Ical Readathon on twitter. Learned a bit about Haiti which was nice.
*ARC provided by Inkyard Press via Baker & Taylor ARC program* There is a lot to like here, especially a novel about Haiti that centers Haitian people in the story. I found the writing a bit clunky, and am not sure that the expository format was the best one for this story. I'm still not sure how to feel about the curse & voudou aspects. Overall, it was an interesting read, but not my favorite.
I received this as an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Alaine’s mother is a leading political journalist, who is always breaking the leading story. This leaves very little time for actually interacting with her daughter. Alaine wants to follow in her mother’s journalism footsteps and asks her mother to come to school for career day and surprisingly her mother is planning on coming. Alaine’s mother asks her classmates to watch her show before she comes, which turns out to be a disaster. On the show that the school is watching, Alaine’s mother slaps one of her guests, on camera, live. Alaine’s mother quickly retreats to her family home in Haiti. After Alaine pulls a stunt in response to the bullying over her mother’s faux paus, she is quickly sent to serve out community service in Haiti near her mother. Alaine finds out that her mother is suffering from early on-set Alzheimer’s and they must use what little time they have left to grow their relationship. While in Haiti, Alaine interns for her aunt’s charitable organization and works to save her mother by breaking a family curse. There is a lot going on for this family.
This book was real, but was funny. Alaine never lost her sense of humor, even while she was dealing with a difficult set of circumstances. It was fantastic seeing all of the pieces and parts of Haiti, instead of just focusing on the best and worst aspects. I enjoyed this novel and am willing to read any future items by these authors.
Alaine’s mother is a leading political journalist, who is always breaking the leading story. This leaves very little time for actually interacting with her daughter. Alaine wants to follow in her mother’s journalism footsteps and asks her mother to come to school for career day and surprisingly her mother is planning on coming. Alaine’s mother asks her classmates to watch her show before she comes, which turns out to be a disaster. On the show that the school is watching, Alaine’s mother slaps one of her guests, on camera, live. Alaine’s mother quickly retreats to her family home in Haiti. After Alaine pulls a stunt in response to the bullying over her mother’s faux paus, she is quickly sent to serve out community service in Haiti near her mother. Alaine finds out that her mother is suffering from early on-set Alzheimer’s and they must use what little time they have left to grow their relationship. While in Haiti, Alaine interns for her aunt’s charitable organization and works to save her mother by breaking a family curse. There is a lot going on for this family.
This book was real, but was funny. Alaine never lost her sense of humor, even while she was dealing with a difficult set of circumstances. It was fantastic seeing all of the pieces and parts of Haiti, instead of just focusing on the best and worst aspects. I enjoyed this novel and am willing to read any future items by these authors.
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The book was okay. Definitely some funny moments from Alaine that I caught myself literally laughing out loud but got a little boring in some spots. What I loved the absolute most about this read was the vocabulary!! I live for a book that I can learn from! I was lucky to read this on my kindle that gave easy access to highlight for definitions. I was expecting a peak moment that I didn't get but I enjoyed it overall.