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meesha_mo's review against another edition
5.0
This book is beautifully and honestly written. The family dynamics are so realistic and I liked that the issues were resolved - although not necessarily conventionally - at the end.
francinesisterreads's review against another edition
2.0
DNF. I enjoyed the first part of the story, when Alaine was in the US. Really liked learning about her relationship with her parents.
It all fell apart for me once she got to Haïti. I felt it needed some serious editing, as the storytelling, especially the sisters' story became labourious.
The modern day story of Alaine, her aunt etc. just fell flat for me and felt frivolous. I put this book down in July 2021, and have had zero desire to pick it up again.
It all fell apart for me once she got to Haïti. I felt it needed some serious editing, as the storytelling, especially the sisters' story became labourious.
The modern day story of Alaine, her aunt etc. just fell flat for me and felt frivolous. I put this book down in July 2021, and have had zero desire to pick it up again.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
”Oh, and I learned that growing up means that we’re not always in control. But it doesn’t mean that we are completely powerless either. In fact, each of us must come to the realization that life actually lies somewhere in the middle.”
I will be honest, I fell in love with the cover of this young adult novel. There has been a trend in romance that the covers of contemporary stories are illustrated in less customary ways. As Bookriot quotes, “the cover art for many new books (are) abandoning the traditional romantic paintings of lovers and landscapes for colorful, Instagrammable illustrations with a more playful style.” (See this article: https://bookriot.com/2019/08/20/illustrated-romance-book-covers/) As a person who really doesn’t do Instagram, I had no idea that that was the why for this change. I just knew that I liked it.
When I saw the cover for this book, it fit this new model and I downloaded the ebook from Libby without reading much about the storyline. Although I was surprised with the way Aliane’s story turned out, I had fun meeting her, her mother, her aunt and learning some things about Haiti.
I am always a sucker for epistolary novels and I liked that in this case the Moulite sisters used email and texts. Given how young their main character is, the writing style is just right.
I would recommend this book to high school aged women who like learning about new things and who are looking for a bit of adventure in their books.
I will be honest, I fell in love with the cover of this young adult novel. There has been a trend in romance that the covers of contemporary stories are illustrated in less customary ways. As Bookriot quotes, “the cover art for many new books (are) abandoning the traditional romantic paintings of lovers and landscapes for colorful, Instagrammable illustrations with a more playful style.” (See this article: https://bookriot.com/2019/08/20/illustrated-romance-book-covers/) As a person who really doesn’t do Instagram, I had no idea that that was the why for this change. I just knew that I liked it.
When I saw the cover for this book, it fit this new model and I downloaded the ebook from Libby without reading much about the storyline. Although I was surprised with the way Aliane’s story turned out, I had fun meeting her, her mother, her aunt and learning some things about Haiti.
I am always a sucker for epistolary novels and I liked that in this case the Moulite sisters used email and texts. Given how young their main character is, the writing style is just right.
I would recommend this book to high school aged women who like learning about new things and who are looking for a bit of adventure in their books.
questsandcrimes's review against another edition
5.0
Alaine is spending a few months in Haiti working on a school project after she was suspended for...The Incident. Her mother is also spending a few months in Haiti after an incident of her own. Alaine plans to use this time to form a new relationship with her mother, break her families curse, and maybe flirt a little with the cute intern at her aunts tech company.
This book
This book
krystal_idunate's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mrs_bookdragon's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the story line and the character development in this book. My electronic copy had formatting issues and so sometimes I got confused with the letters. But overall, an entertaining read.
bookofcinz's review against another edition
4.0
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine is the Moulite Sisters' love letter to their dear, dear Haiti and I am happy to hear it won’t be their last because I want more of this!
In Dear Haiti, Love Alaine we are introduced to Alaine, a 17 year old Haitian American living in Miami with her father while her mother works her high profile Television job in DC. Alaine is a confident young lady, she knows exactly what she wants for her future and is willing to work at it. She is sarcastic, funny and rumbustious- not your typical teenager but she is fine with that.
Alaine attends a private school in Miami where a lot of the attendees are very rich and privilege. During one of Alaine’s school project things went left and she is asked to take a leave of absence (not a suspension because you know the family donated to the school over the years so they are afforded this privilege). For her two months absence Alaine will visit live in Haiti and work at her Tati Estelle’s non-profit organization.
Alaine is not sold on living in Haiti but embraces the experience for what is it. She also gets to spend some time with her Mother who is recuperating after having a show down on national television. Alaine makes best use of her time trying to uncover and learn more about Haiti and the family curse she grew up hearing about. This curse will change Alaine in ways she is not prepared for…
First let me say, it is not every day I read a book written by Haitian sisters that flowed seamlessly. I thought it would going to be choppy but Maika and Maritza did a solid job in writing this book together. I loved the character of Alaine, she was believable, real, very interesting and laugh out loud funny at times. I also loved that the authors gave the main character emotional range while making it realistic. A solid job for character development.
I have always had a soft spot for Haiti. I think the World does not give Haiti and Haitians the respect they deserve for being the first free Republic in history and actually fighting for that freedom. With that said, I was so happy that majority of the book was set in Haiti, I learned so much about the culture, I even have a itinerary for when I do visit. I loved hearing about all the historical facts… yoew, Haiti is just so rich with history.
Overall I really enjoyed this book- why not a five star? I felt that the book could have been a bit shorter and tighter. I felt there were a lot of sub-plots and characters that didn’t add to the overall plot but took away from it. I felt the book could have been shortened by 50-80 pages had we focused mostly on Alaine and her core family. I also felt the ending fell apart a little.
Regardless, this is a great YA read, that’s packed with history and filled with a character that will keep you entertained! Truly it was a delight reading this!
What I learned reading this book
“Jean-Jacques Dessalines: Called for the massacre of Haiti’s white minority, which resulted in several thousand deaths. He became emperor of Haiti in 1804 and was assassinated in 1806. Fun fact: Haiti’s theme song (that is, national anthem), La Dessalinienne, is named after him.”
Dutty Boukman: A slave who was born in Jamaica who eventually became an early leader of the Haitian Revolution. On August 14, 1791, Boukman (along with a vodou priestess named Cécile Fatiman) led the religious ceremony at Bois Caïman that served as the catalyst for the Haitian Revolution.
In Dear Haiti, Love Alaine we are introduced to Alaine, a 17 year old Haitian American living in Miami with her father while her mother works her high profile Television job in DC. Alaine is a confident young lady, she knows exactly what she wants for her future and is willing to work at it. She is sarcastic, funny and rumbustious- not your typical teenager but she is fine with that.
Alaine attends a private school in Miami where a lot of the attendees are very rich and privilege. During one of Alaine’s school project things went left and she is asked to take a leave of absence (not a suspension because you know the family donated to the school over the years so they are afforded this privilege). For her two months absence Alaine will visit live in Haiti and work at her Tati Estelle’s non-profit organization.
Alaine is not sold on living in Haiti but embraces the experience for what is it. She also gets to spend some time with her Mother who is recuperating after having a show down on national television. Alaine makes best use of her time trying to uncover and learn more about Haiti and the family curse she grew up hearing about. This curse will change Alaine in ways she is not prepared for…
First let me say, it is not every day I read a book written by Haitian sisters that flowed seamlessly. I thought it would going to be choppy but Maika and Maritza did a solid job in writing this book together. I loved the character of Alaine, she was believable, real, very interesting and laugh out loud funny at times. I also loved that the authors gave the main character emotional range while making it realistic. A solid job for character development.
I have always had a soft spot for Haiti. I think the World does not give Haiti and Haitians the respect they deserve for being the first free Republic in history and actually fighting for that freedom. With that said, I was so happy that majority of the book was set in Haiti, I learned so much about the culture, I even have a itinerary for when I do visit. I loved hearing about all the historical facts… yoew, Haiti is just so rich with history.
Overall I really enjoyed this book- why not a five star? I felt that the book could have been a bit shorter and tighter. I felt there were a lot of sub-plots and characters that didn’t add to the overall plot but took away from it. I felt the book could have been shortened by 50-80 pages had we focused mostly on Alaine and her core family. I also felt the ending fell apart a little.
Regardless, this is a great YA read, that’s packed with history and filled with a character that will keep you entertained! Truly it was a delight reading this!
What I learned reading this book
“Jean-Jacques Dessalines: Called for the massacre of Haiti’s white minority, which resulted in several thousand deaths. He became emperor of Haiti in 1804 and was assassinated in 1806. Fun fact: Haiti’s theme song (that is, national anthem), La Dessalinienne, is named after him.”
Dutty Boukman: A slave who was born in Jamaica who eventually became an early leader of the Haitian Revolution. On August 14, 1791, Boukman (along with a vodou priestess named Cécile Fatiman) led the religious ceremony at Bois Caïman that served as the catalyst for the Haitian Revolution.
izumisano's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the Moulites' new voice in this debut novel. Alaine's sassy nature and observational comedy heightened the story. Bahni Turpin brings Alaine's world alive with her narration, not only doing realistic French Haitian accents, but her easy conversational reading of Alaine's diary entries (I appreciate her saying "strike that" for the redacted thoughts) felt like I was listening to a friend recount her life adventures. There were times that Alaine's personality would border on the grandiose, giving it a tv movie quality (a la Disney Channel), and the ending started to take a weird turn, but the Moulites pulled it all back together for the finale.
jreid00's review against another edition
4.0
About 30 pages in, I asked myself, "Am I going to be able to finish this?" Alaine Got. On. My. Last. Nerve. But after stepping away from it and going back it with a fresh set of eyes, I loved this book. Like, lovedddddddd it. Yes, Alaine and her extraness irked me , but I couldn't help but enjoy her as a narrator. I loved the email/text message/news article inserts, but I wish there weren't so many of them; it was hard to stay into the plot when it cut away to 3-4 pages of media every few pages. The whole curse plot... eh, I wasn't a fan of how it was wrapped up, but it kept me into it until the very end. And Jason? Usually, I'm all for the romance, but I genuinely forgot about him a couple of times.
Overall: This was a great book. Couple of missteps, maybe, but a great book nonetheless.
Spoiler
I still don't think she took the whole "I nearly killed a kid trying to get back at a mean girl and nearly got expelled/sued" situation seriously enoughOverall: This was a great book. Couple of missteps, maybe, but a great book nonetheless.