little_red_dragon's review

1.0

“An unforgivable amount of what needs to be said among family always remains unspoken.”

When I picked up Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, I was hoping for a fun, coming of age novel with a spunky main character. That is not what I got. Alaine is spoiled, immature, and only thinks of herself. And she stays that way. I thought that she would grow and mature throughout the book, but if anything, she only gets worse. She goes through life like a wrecking ball and never stops to think or consider the consequences of her actions
Spoiler even when she gets somebody killed
.

I was so angry at her that I hate read the end of the book. Just skip this one. It's truly not worth it.
kie's profile picture

kie's review

3.75
adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
_lalabear's profile picture

_lalabear's review

DID NOT FINISH: 50%

Wasn’t all that interesting 
adventurous emotional funny lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
bookmarkedbybennett's profile picture

bookmarkedbybennett's review

4.0
adventurous emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

thisbookbelongstosk's review

4.0

**Thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for this ARC of Dear Haiti, Love Alaine in exchange for an honest review**

With stories like this (second generation ex-pat visits the motherland), I want history, culture and a bit of adventure. This book gave me all of that and more.

A sassy teenaged protagonist, a beautiful and complex setting, family drama, rich history, political intrigue, generationally repressed trauma, a curse, and even a brief foray into romance; this book has a lot going on. In many ways, some of these elements seem unnecessary, but the authors are able to balance these themes in a way that flows and is easily readable, even if there were many plotlines that seemed to wander carelessly in and out of the narrative.

In this regard, some of the events that were brushed aside could have used a little more detail (especially near the end), but I still really enjoyed this book.

Most of my enjoyment comes from Alaine, our narrator. Her voice is young, relatable, and rarely serious, even when the moment calls for decorum. She is strong despite her insecurities, her determination to help her family is admirable. Her honesty and her humour are both a delight and relief throughout the book.

The magical realism was both interesting and frustrating to me; interesting for obvious reasons and frustrating as we never quite get a direct answer regarding the superstitious elements of this story. I'm not sure whether I liked certain ambiguities.

Also, the romantic storyline seemed to fall apart at the end. Granted, it wasn't the main focus of the book, but I'd have liked at least a little more closure on that piece.

I think this might be closer to a 3.5* book, but I'm bumping it up to 4*.

I have some complaints, but I flew through this book and really enjoyed my time in this story, even if it wasn't perfect.

Plus I always love the epistolary style of conveying the story through diary entries, letters, transcripts, emails, articles, etc., so bonus points for that!
resslesa's profile picture

resslesa's review

3.0

Bahni Turpin as narrator can do no wrong but the story was a bit more convoluted than I wanted and overall I liked the voice of the character at first but then it became whiny and then a plot twist that seemed rather outrageous and the voodoo parts seemed overall disjointed.

hannahnicole124's review

4.0

4.5*