Reviews

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maritza Moulite, Maika Moulite

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issianne's review against another edition

3.0

This book was doing a lot. It had mixed media. It had exile to Haiti. It had sick parent. It had magical realism (?). It had hard hitting info about Haiti (absolutely loved that). It had the smallest bit of romance. And personally, it felt pretty jumbled due to all of that. The pacing was also a bit off due to the fact that the authors would skip scenes that I felt would’ve built plot and progressed character development.

msrcreation's review against another edition

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2.5

This is one of those mix of good and bad that just didn't work out in the end. The good: I loved what we did learn about Haiti and every time food was mentioned I was drooling. It all sounds so good. I really like Alaine's personality. She was a good main character to follow. Any moments that were focusing on Alaine and her mothers relationship. The bad: Too many things happening. There are so many plot points that it became too much to keep up with. I became bored with most of the story and was just hoping for the parts I liked to come back. The romance. I don't know if I could tell you the love interests name. I love a good romance no matter the book but this one felt unnecessary. The format. I really enjoy multi format books but it didn't help this one. I did listen to the audiobook so that could have affected that but it didn't help the many plot points having it be in multiple formats. If this would have been focused more on the mother-daughter relationship I could've seen myself absolutely loving it but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it like I hoped.

maddness22's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This was a lot heavier than I expected it to be. There's a lot of love for Haiti and it's a fun exposure to the country and culture, particularly through the lens of an American teenage girl visiting her parents' land for the first time. Her voice occasionally gets aggravating, especially as it leans into the typical YA heroine voice, and the pacing is a bit off with the mixed storytelling technique but overall it's not a bad time. Just don't expect a light hearted YA troubled teen romp as told through emails and letters as I was expecting.

tishywishy's review against another edition

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3.0

I've been in love with this cover from the first time I saw it. The fact that this book is based in Haiti jumped the 'hell yes' factor for me. I've been craving more fictional stories that center the Caribbean. The book was interesting with a good premise and Alaine was engaging, witty and funny. All was well (a solid 4.5 stars) until the last 100 pages - then everything went sideways. The story had somewhat unnecessary scenes and actions. I think the book had a bit too much going on and lost its ways trying to tie up all the loose ends.

knod78's review against another edition

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5.0

This completes Task 17: Read an own voices YA book with a Black main character that isn’t about Black pain, of Book Riot's Reader Harder Challenge.

I wasn't expecting this book to reach into my soul straight to all of the feels. The book synopsis for this book didn't do it justice, which I think makes this book special. To be honest, I actually didn't take to this book when I started it, because of the writing style. It is quite honestly all over the place. it's done in school project style entries, but also included letters, texts, newspaper articles, dream scenarios, etc. Again, all over the place.

But then the book took us to Haiti and I fell in love with the story. There were so many twists and turns and this book was not at ALL what I expected. I loved Alaine and her sarcasm; she reminds me of well me. I loved the food talk; I just wished they included more recipes. I felt for her mother and her dad. I felt for Alaine. And this book actually made me want to visit Haiti one day and I never thought that would be possible.

My only gripe would be that it was hard to focus with the writing style and I kind of wanted more information about the grandmother.

I so recommend this book and I can't wait to read more from this author.