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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
lighthearted
slow-paced
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-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
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay so I was excited about this book because it’s very Black and I was hopeful with the filters I set up on Libby to get something good.
And it was promising a first!
Porter is a tall, dark and handsome bad boy type with a ruthless reputation for doing what needs to be done to protect his family. That family has a complicated legacy of both social justice and organized crime, but all for the advancement of his people and neighborhood. He and his other fellow Robin Hood types gather for a meeting of the minds to discuss how they’re gonna step up their respective cities’ Juneteenth events and cultivate celebrations that give back to the community and educate.
All that is great but so then why is this book so corny?! Idk if it was the voice acting or some of the dialogue in general or what bc it felt so preachy at times and just ugh.
Then we meet Alana and of course she’s hot and her and Porter had a thing way back when but she hasn’t given him the time of day since like college so it’s a little suspicious when she pops back up after all this time to offer up her kitty on a silver platter! We get into why Alana does that but it’s just weird and kinda unbelievable. Basically sister has been a virgin since high school and has been burning a candle for Porter all this time. It’s made only slightly less pathetic bc she’s using her time with him as a means to an end and he’s been hung up on her since all that time too (although not saving himself by any means) but still.
I did appreciate that both of them learned a little something about self-worth and self-determination. Porter learns to find some confidence in his own path and break away from his father’s legacy. And it was so lovely that he and his father reconnected and shared their truth. His father has always been proud of him and Porter really needed to hear that after being lost for so long, living a life he never wanted and reconciling the darkness of his past as he moves forward to bring light and love to his city. Alana…learns something that escapes me at the moment so idk how well it sunk in. She’s a body positive educator but felt like her virginity was holding her back from her next career step so I’m gonna say she’s taking charge of her own sexuality.
Idk, the book was fine. Entertaining and sexy with positive social messages about the Black community. It’s mostly just gratuitous sex, which is what I sought out lol, but it also tries to balance an actual narrative with developed characters.
Pretty decent but the biggest miss is that if you’re gonna write a book that requires so much intellectual thought and social commentary, it needs to feel finished. This felt like a novella that started in the middle and just used sex to push us through the story.
Also the female voice actor was just not great. Not a strike against the writing but made the book harder to enjoy in general.
Also, we were at the end of the book and Green was still world building in the epilogue!
And it's not like other seven or so books are written by the same author, so I really can’t see why else she would still be setting up characters and giving us exposition when there’s not going to be a sequel to this book. Especially since any other world building and character development can happen in the next books that revolve around those characters.
It’s simultaneously too short to have flushed out the full story and too long to require this much talking at the end of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Murder
funny
hopeful
relaxing
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