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shanaetheflyest's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
5.0
I just finished A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. When I read the last words on the page of acknowledgements, I closed the book and held it to my chest.
What an incredible journey? What a magnificent story?
My little reader heart is so full.
Immediately Tia Williams pulls you into the story and you want nothing but the best for the FMC, Ricki Wilde. Then she takes you on a different journey and you're hopeful for the MMC Ezra. Through the pages, Williams unfurls a magical tale of love and loss that you just cannot put down.
About 40% into the story, readers learn that Ricki and Ezra have so much in common and one quote really sums it up:
What an incredible journey? What a magnificent story?
My little reader heart is so full.
Immediately Tia Williams pulls you into the story and you want nothing but the best for the FMC, Ricki Wilde. Then she takes you on a different journey and you're hopeful for the MMC Ezra. Through the pages, Williams unfurls a magical tale of love and loss that you just cannot put down.
About 40% into the story, readers learn that Ricki and Ezra have so much in common and one quote really sums it up:
"I'm afraid that I don't belong anywhere. Do you ever feel like that?"
"Every day," he admitted. "I look like something I'm not. And I never feel at home."
Ricki struggling to define herself outside of her family's daunting legacy. Ezra struggling to create a legacy for himself, despite losing his entire family. Two beautiful people looking for home.
Williams doesn't just rest on the fact that A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is just a fantastical story. No no no. She just has to make you feel it with every bit of your being with the most beautiful writing I've ever seen in a romance novel. Ezra is the ideal MMC:
Contemplatively, Ezra slowly ran his fingers along his jaw. "You live as long as I do, you think you've felt all the feelings, seen everything there is to see. It's hard to be surprised. But, Ricki, I've never experienced anything like you. You knock me senseless."
"For a long time, i thought I knew what my calling was. My grand purpose. But when I met Ricki, I knew I was wrong. I was a fool, thinking I was born to do anything grander than loving her."
I mean...what?!
But just when you think A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is all heavy feelings and flowery language, it gets really funny, too. Ezra's puns, Ricki's random facts, Ms. Della's sense of humor, and, even, Tuesday - they're all hoots.
The characters have so much depth, are so well written, and are incredibly diverse. For the entire 340 page ride, you find yourself rooting for everyone's success. And in the end, with the epilogue, which is just so perfect, you find that everything works out perfectly.
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is beautiful, captivating, thought-provoking and emotionally charged. This might possibly be the best romance novel I've ever read and, somehow, it manages to top Seven Days In June, which I thought was spectacular. Tia Williams has become a must-read author for me. Her work is just getting better and better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, War, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, and Stalking
sariereads's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Cancer, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content
aoifeprettypurplepolkadots's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Cancer
karina_dreamsinwords's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
“It was their song. Her song. The one he’d been writing for her forever.”
No doubt about it a 5 star read. Review to come but just know I was sobbing in the end 😌
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Racism, and Hate crime
Moderate: Grief, Miscarriage, Death, and Cancer
Minor: Drug use
crazybookishcool's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual harassment, Death, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Suicide
belarna's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
A Love Song For Ricki Wilde is a heart wrenching romance spanning 100 years with a focus on found family, curses, soulmates, and a little history too.
I found the story to be quite slow to start. Also, I wasn’t surprised at all by anything in this story? I felt like everything was very easy to predict, but surprisingly that didn’t affect my enjoyment. I went into this story knowing nothing (outside of the title and the stunning cover), and I wasn’t disappointed. Overall, A Love Song For Ricki Wilde was a sweet, heartwarming tale that had me rooting for everyone in the story. If you’ve read from Williams before, or simply crave or want to try reading a magical realism romance, this is for you!
I am so grateful I got to read this early. This is available now - out today, Feb 6!!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide
Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, and Terminal illness
Minor: Infertility, Drug use, and Pandemic/Epidemic
inked_in_pages's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
“A bloom that looked like a flower but was really a weed: born to erupt into fluff, floating wherever the wind blew.”
On it’s face, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a beautiful love story about a young woman trying to find her way in the world and a young man forever trying to navigate the world. Both Ricki Wilde and Ezra Walker are tied to what has been created for them by the people in their lives despite knowing that what is expected for them is not their truth. This novel is about finding your place in a world full of expectations and creating your own beautiful love story among those expectations.
“Love well. Eat well. Fuck well. And leave the world better off than you found it. That’s success.”
There is not much I can say about this novel that will do it justice. Tia Williams is a mastermind of beautiful love stories for characters that have the cards stacked against them from the beginning. Ricki Wilde and Ezra Walker are two characters that are the definition of facing the odds and continuing to persevere…in love, life and in their faith for one another.
“The beauty you create in the world. Your optimism, your brain. Your fascination with being fascinated. The way your face fits perfectly under my chin when we’re sleeping. Your tenderness, whether your focus is on the care of a single flower, or... me.” His gaze was unwavering. “Ricki, you’ve turned me upside down. For so long, I’ve lived life like it was something to endure, to push through. But with you? I know how precious it can be. And I refuse to live in a world without you in it.”
The swoon. The steam. The absolute perfection that is this novel cannot be given it’s full justice by a simple reader review. This is a love story and a story about Black History in a way that is both full of joy and requires the reader to reflect. I will recommend this to everyone I come across. It’s stunning, just like Ezra believes Ricki to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Grief
babeinlibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: Miscarriage, Addiction, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Classism, Terminal illness, Cancer, Cursing, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment
purplepenning's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
"An intriguing genre-bending story" is what I blandly started to write, which is true but bloodlessly inadequate. This story is stacked and packed with creativity and vitality, with sparkling historical fiction, steamy contemporary romance, time-addling magical realism, dark drama, and characters who are hilarious, powerful, misplaced, wise, awkward, desperate, passionate, generous, and nuanced. It celebrates Black history, Black resilience, Black art, Black joy, and timeless Black love in a tale spun of music, voodoo, lush flowers, fashion, Harlem, leap years, found family, wry commentary, and fated love. Like its protagonist, it may be a bit much for some, but dang — I'm going to be over here thinking and rethinking on it for days and weeks to come, wondering what voodoo allowed Tia Williams to get *gestures expansively* all that into one impressively coherent love story.
I just talked myself into 5 stars. I'm tired of being stingy with minute measures of approval when people are pouring this kind of love, energy, and complexity into their work.
I just talked myself into 5 stars. I'm tired of being stingy with minute measures of approval when people are pouring this kind of love, energy, and complexity into their work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Abandonment, Chronic illness, and Drug use
Minor: Bullying, Drug abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Body shaming
okiecozyreader's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
If you start this book, you have to promise me you will read until page 230 or so before you decide anything about it, please? No DNF at 80 or 100 pages because you will miss all the fun, and this one turned out to be so.much.FUN!
I really would recommend going in blind though, because knowing would spoil the fun, so just know, even if you love it - or if you don’t - that it’s going to be the best kind of surprise.
Tia Williams definitely surprised me with this one. I loved Seven Days in June and she continues the chapters with dates in this one. Most of the book takes place in February - the month of February - so if you start it on February 6th, when it comes out, you might get to read February 15th on the 15th and so on. I feel like that would be so fun. It’s not a valentine read, so if you don’t get it to read it in February, no worries, but I love it when the dates or seasons match.
The main character of the book, Ricki Wilde (hence the title) comes from a wealthy family of funeral home owners. She has always wanted to make flower arrangements. She meets the witty Ms. Della who quickly adopts her as her chosen granddaughter and offers her the bottom apartment of her Harlem brownstone to create a flower shop. She keeps running into the mysterious, musical Ezra, who quickly announces their paths shouldn’t cross. Except they do.
“To me, love is like listening to an album. Some people skip to their favorite songs and ignore the rest. Other people listen to the entire album over and over, until it’s familiar and cherished and they know every note by heart. That’s how Dr. Bennett and I loved each other. He was music I could listen to forever.” P 15
If you love music, flowers, love and found family, this is a perfect February read! And the pearl bracelet iykyk - but you gotta read the book!
Thank you to The Gloss and Grand Central Publishing for an advance copy of this book. (Funny story, I wrote them requesting a NetGalley copy and they told me they weren’t giving any more away… and then a couple days later, I got this one from The Gloss. Destiny??)
#tiawilliams #alovesongforrickiwilde #februaryreads #theglossbookclub
I really would recommend going in blind though, because knowing would spoil the fun, so just know, even if you love it - or if you don’t - that it’s going to be the best kind of surprise.
Tia Williams definitely surprised me with this one. I loved Seven Days in June and she continues the chapters with dates in this one. Most of the book takes place in February - the month of February - so if you start it on February 6th, when it comes out, you might get to read February 15th on the 15th and so on. I feel like that would be so fun. It’s not a valentine read, so if you don’t get it to read it in February, no worries, but I love it when the dates or seasons match.
The main character of the book, Ricki Wilde (hence the title) comes from a wealthy family of funeral home owners. She has always wanted to make flower arrangements. She meets the witty Ms. Della who quickly adopts her as her chosen granddaughter and offers her the bottom apartment of her Harlem brownstone to create a flower shop. She keeps running into the mysterious, musical Ezra, who quickly announces their paths shouldn’t cross. Except they do.
“To me, love is like listening to an album. Some people skip to their favorite songs and ignore the rest. Other people listen to the entire album over and over, until it’s familiar and cherished and they know every note by heart. That’s how Dr. Bennett and I loved each other. He was music I could listen to forever.” P 15
If you love music, flowers, love and found family, this is a perfect February read! And the pearl bracelet iykyk - but you gotta read the book!
Thank you to The Gloss and Grand Central Publishing for an advance copy of this book. (Funny story, I wrote them requesting a NetGalley copy and they told me they weren’t giving any more away… and then a couple days later, I got this one from The Gloss. Destiny??)
#tiawilliams #alovesongforrickiwilde #februaryreads #theglossbookclub
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer