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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I feel as though this is a "it not you it's me" book. I can't tell you anything negative about I just never really felt that hook or felt invested in the characters.
One of my problems that I have noticed the last couple of years is that I do not like contemporary books that deal with "curses" on family (I haven't found one that I really loved).
It feels like this could be really enjoyable for somebody else bit for my it just felt a little bit flat.
One of my problems that I have noticed the last couple of years is that I do not like contemporary books that deal with "curses" on family (I haven't found one that I really loved).
It feels like this could be really enjoyable for somebody else bit for my it just felt a little bit flat.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I appreciated the Caribbean representation in YA, but outside of that, I didn't connect with much else. The writing was good, but the story felt familiar enough to other YA. I look forward to reading more from the authors.
✨book #28 for diversity bingo 2019: read a book set in the Caribbean
✨book #19 for the around the world challenge: read a set in Haiti
“You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t let anything stifle your ability to move on.”
I am so disappointed in this book. I broke my book buying ban just for this book (well, granted it was for a book I am a literal junky) and what does it do for me? Absolutely nothing. Well, maybe that's a bit overexagerated, but this was definitely a situation in which, unfortunately, the cons heavily outweighed the pros. But let's start positive with the pros and go down from there.
First off, I love the epistulary style of writing! I've only read a couple of mixed-media books, never mind one with text messages, news articles, diary entries, and even notes pinned to the fridge. What I loved most about this was that it wasn't here just for the sake of being different; you actually needed to read these other medias to understand what was going on in the book. It was an interesting and passive way to convey information to the reader, and it's something I'll be looking for in my books in the future.
I'm not going to expound much upon this point, but I just wanted to mention the representation here. If you're interested in reading this book you probably already know that it features a Haitian-American as the main character and actually the majority of the book is set in Haiti. Not only that but her parents are divorced, and her mother (mild spoiler) has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.
But unfortunately, this is where the good things I have to say about this book end. I think the biggest problem for me is that it just wasn't interesting enough to capture my attention. Even from the beginning I was bored, waiting for something to happen that never did. It was just monotonous string events that all lead to the ending, where, big surprise, I was left more than underwhelmed.
I also just didn't have a chance to forge a connection with the characters here, particularly Alaine, which was a real problem because I could tell the reader was made to sympathize with her, but I just couldn't, always on someone else's side. I think the mixed-media angle gave the novel a disadvantage in this respect because I feel it was in large part due to the impassivity that naturally accompanies things like online articles and random notes that I wasn't able to forge a deeper connection with any of the characters, or the place for that matter. Plus, we don't even get to know much of anything about the other characters besides what is given to us in ill-timed info dumps. Even Jason, the kind-of-love-interest-kind-of-not is so bland that I retained literally zero information about him.
I also just thought the writing style itself, aside from the epistulary aspects, were not up to par. Everything was just so lifeless, devoid of emotion or even thought sometimes. And at the parts where it was injected with something, it was usually a childish sense of giddiness, which is not the tone I was expecting from a book that is, in large part, about colorism and colonialism in Haiti. Another small note, when there's more than one author I usually comment on if I can tell between the two, but honestly, by the time the 1/4 mark hit, I was just trying to keep going. I couldn't be bothered to notice things like that.
So yes, obviously this book wasn't for me. I think that my dismay at such a huge letdown was only augmented by the fact that I had such high expectations. I will say though, if you were similarly disappointed by this book but are still interesting in reading about comparable themes, I would check out [b:Love From A to Z|40148146|Love From A to Z|S.K. Ali|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545943011l/40148146._SY75_.jpg|62283756] by [a:S.K. Ali|15615126|S.K. Ali|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1561960438p2/15615126.jpg] because she also explores racism and living with a chronic disease, although in this case it is MS.
Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
___
pre-review:
we all know i have a tbr goal but guess who has a serious addiction✌️
✨book #19 for the around the world challenge: read a set in Haiti
“You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t let anything stifle your ability to move on.”
I am so disappointed in this book. I broke my book buying ban just for this book (well, granted it was for a book I am a literal junky) and what does it do for me? Absolutely nothing. Well, maybe that's a bit overexagerated, but this was definitely a situation in which, unfortunately, the cons heavily outweighed the pros. But let's start positive with the pros and go down from there.
First off, I love the epistulary style of writing! I've only read a couple of mixed-media books, never mind one with text messages, news articles, diary entries, and even notes pinned to the fridge. What I loved most about this was that it wasn't here just for the sake of being different; you actually needed to read these other medias to understand what was going on in the book. It was an interesting and passive way to convey information to the reader, and it's something I'll be looking for in my books in the future.
I'm not going to expound much upon this point, but I just wanted to mention the representation here. If you're interested in reading this book you probably already know that it features a Haitian-American as the main character and actually the majority of the book is set in Haiti. Not only that but her parents are divorced, and her mother (mild spoiler) has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.
But unfortunately, this is where the good things I have to say about this book end. I think the biggest problem for me is that it just wasn't interesting enough to capture my attention. Even from the beginning I was bored, waiting for something to happen that never did. It was just monotonous string events that all lead to the ending, where, big surprise, I was left more than underwhelmed.
I also just didn't have a chance to forge a connection with the characters here, particularly Alaine, which was a real problem because I could tell the reader was made to sympathize with her, but I just couldn't, always on someone else's side. I think the mixed-media angle gave the novel a disadvantage in this respect because I feel it was in large part due to the impassivity that naturally accompanies things like online articles and random notes that I wasn't able to forge a deeper connection with any of the characters, or the place for that matter. Plus, we don't even get to know much of anything about the other characters besides what is given to us in ill-timed info dumps. Even Jason, the kind-of-love-interest-kind-of-not is so bland that I retained literally zero information about him.
I also just thought the writing style itself, aside from the epistulary aspects, were not up to par. Everything was just so lifeless, devoid of emotion or even thought sometimes. And at the parts where it was injected with something, it was usually a childish sense of giddiness, which is not the tone I was expecting from a book that is, in large part, about colorism and colonialism in Haiti. Another small note, when there's more than one author I usually comment on if I can tell between the two, but honestly, by the time the 1/4 mark hit, I was just trying to keep going. I couldn't be bothered to notice things like that.
So yes, obviously this book wasn't for me. I think that my dismay at such a huge letdown was only augmented by the fact that I had such high expectations. I will say though, if you were similarly disappointed by this book but are still interesting in reading about comparable themes, I would check out [b:Love From A to Z|40148146|Love From A to Z|S.K. Ali|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545943011l/40148146._SY75_.jpg|62283756] by [a:S.K. Ali|15615126|S.K. Ali|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1561960438p2/15615126.jpg] because she also explores racism and living with a chronic disease, although in this case it is MS.
Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
___
pre-review:
we all know i have a tbr goal but guess who has a serious addiction✌️
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 Stars/5 Stars. I enjoyed this interesting YA Contemporary. The writing style was strong, the plot was unique but I struggled with the multiformat aspect. I'm looking forward to checking out more from these authors.
I love Alaine! She gets sent to Haiti after an unfortunate school presentation. While there she volunteers at her Aunt's non-profit. We follow Elaine as she navigates life, bonds with her Mother, and deal with old family curses. Alaine is smart, funny, and feisty. She is great character. I love the epistolary style of this book. Great debut!
3.5 stars. I really liked the epistolary style of this book, the different texts, emails, postcards etc made for a variation in pace. I appreciate how independent and sassy Alaine was as the main character. This book covered some more serious topics than I imagined and I appreciate how they were addressed in a sensitive but realistic manner.
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Something was missing for me. Unfortunate because i was sooo ready for it to be a fav. Not horrible but i feel like some bits were confusing to keep up with.
I listened to this on audio and wished I had a physical copy at points instead. I loved the story and characters and the narrator was great but I think I would have had a much easier time following it if I were reading not listening because of the format the story is told in. That is mostly what is keeping this from being 5 stars for me since I found myself losing track of the story at certain points and then having to piece it together, but even with that I really enjoyed it.