Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Black Girls Must Be Magic

This felt like a novella an author would tack on after the end of a book, rather than a whole book itself. It felt as if there wasn't much of a plot other than Tabby's pregnancy, since nothing else really happened. Even with her pregnancy, we sped through it - suddenly she was seven months along and there was not a lot between months two and seven. It was still cute and I still loved Tabby - I'll definitely read the third book, although I hope there's more to it than this one.

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heatherjchin's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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d0505's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

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aryn_back's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful slow-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

4.25

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onemorepagecrew's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative 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? No

4.5

In the second book of Tabitha “Tabby” Walker I opted for the audio book, and I am so glad I did. The narrator, Marcella Cox, brought Tabby to life and her inflections during the inner monologue was subtle and effective. In the first novel, I enjoyed meeting Tabby and the people in her life (there’s a review in a prior post) and in this second book I moved from “liked” to “loved” as we saw Tabby focus on what she wanted in her life.

The plot for this installment is centered on Tabby’s pregnancy and career. When we last left Tabby, she was struggling with infertility and taking medical options to increase her chances of pregnancy. She was working as a news reporter and dating Marc off and on. Her grandmother, grandmother’s friend (Ms. Gretchen), and her closest friends, Laila and Alexis, were her inner circle.

As the second installment develops, we see Tabby lean on her inner circle, when needed, and start to trust her own voice more and more. She’s navigating workplace microaggressions and racism, she’s evaluating what she wants in a life partner, she’s preparing to welcome a baby, and she’s processing the loss of a loved one. I loved the way the author gave voice to the inner doubt and Tabby’s process for weighing what she wanted for her and her baby’s life. I hope that Harper’s Collins announces the date for the third book soon – I can’t wait to read it.

Throughout the book, Tabby faces workplace discrimination and microaggressions for how she wears her hair. If you’re not already familiar with The Crown Act, I encourage you to visit their page and website to learn more and support their efforts to ensure protection against discrimination based on race-based hairstyles across the Unites States. There are still 36 states where these protections are not in place and the experiences Tabby had in this novel are unfortunately not fiction. Please sign the petition, email a senator, and join the efforts.

Content warnings: Grief, Pregnancy, Infertility, Microaggressions, Workplace Discrimination

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cydthekid15's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective medium-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

4.0

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bookswithlee's review

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emotional lighthearted 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

3.0

I had heigh hopes for this book and at times it exceeded expectations, while at other times it felt a bit underdeveloped.

This story continues to follow Tabitha who is now pregnant. We watch as she continues to find her identity through all the new hurdles in her life. We also get a twist at the beginning of the story, which is important to the story moving forward.

Let’s start with what I loved:

- I loved how relatable the characters felt. I felt like I was apart of the friend group and got invested in tabby’s story.
- As a Black woman I found myself relating to many of Tabitha struggles. Especially those related to her appearance
- I like how easy of a read this was. It’s very digestible with some light and fluffy moments

Here’s what I didn’t particularly enjoy:

- the ending seemed to happen out of nowhere
- The ending was very predictable and typical
- There was a comment made about Tabitha thinking the love interest didn’t think she was “strong enough” for natural birth. Anyone who has children is strong no matter how the baby is born and that was never addressed. There were other things surrounding birthing that I didn’t particularly like.

Overall I still would like to read book 3 as I’m just hoping this book just has second book syndrome and it can only get better from here. I still enjoyed this book and would recommend for others for the positive elements listed earlier.

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