Take a photo of a barcode or cover
bookish_afrolatina's reviews
414 reviews
Sleeping with the Frenemy by Natalie Caña
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.25
There are so many things I enjoyed about Sleeping with the Frenemy! For one, the pride Papo Vega takes in meddling in his grandkid's affairs continues to be both hilarious and heartwarming. Sofi and Leo are both hard-headed, so someone had to knock some sense into them. They are undeniably insatiable in some wicked ways but they also have a connection rooted in vulnerabilities that they only seem to show one another.
The third book in the Vega Family Love Stories was very satisfying and I thank Natalie Caña for representing Puerto Rican women so well. It was beautiful to have an AfroLatina like myself be the romantic lead.
I recommend this series to those who like their romance with humor, context, care, and relatively spicy sex scenes!
The third book in the Vega Family Love Stories was very satisfying and I thank Natalie Caña for representing Puerto Rican women so well. It was beautiful to have an AfroLatina like myself be the romantic lead.
I recommend this series to those who like their romance with humor, context, care, and relatively spicy sex scenes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Puerto Rico: A National History by Jorell Meléndez-Badillo
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
My brother & I did a buddy read of Puerto Rico: A National History in an attempt to understand our history & our family better. I’m so glad that we did. Meléndez-Badillo covers everything from the first peoples of Puerto Rico to uprisings, colonization, anti-blackness, U.S. Imperialism, & more.
I love that this book was written for the general public but also includes in-depth footnotes for those of us interested in this research. I’ll be using this for the books I’m in the process of writing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and War
The Taste of Sugar by Marisel Vera
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Reading History is important but I also want to emphasize the power of pairing it with Historical Fiction. Vera brings the data and facts to life through storytelling. It is one thing to read about numbers of people suffering in poverty, it is another to read from their perspectives as jornaleros, jibaras, and péones on la finca surviving off of diets of plátanos and bananas and being “paid” in paper tickets to purchase spoiled meats at their plantation stores.
We live through these people and their families in this all-encompassing story of Puerto Rico. It made me feel closer to my grandma who passed away in 2020. She was from Vega Alta, Puerto Rico.
I love that Marisel Vera didn't shy away from including the struggles of Black Puerto Ricans, too. Their stories are often ignored or smoothed over by our own people as well as outsiders, so I appreciated this immensely.
Despite the heaviness of much of the story, I wanted more. I wanted to follow Vincente Vega and Valentina Sanchez into the turn of the century and see their descendents in the present day. That is my only critique of the book.
We live through these people and their families in this all-encompassing story of Puerto Rico. It made me feel closer to my grandma who passed away in 2020. She was from Vega Alta, Puerto Rico.
I love that Marisel Vera didn't shy away from including the struggles of Black Puerto Ricans, too. Their stories are often ignored or smoothed over by our own people as well as outsiders, so I appreciated this immensely.
Despite the heaviness of much of the story, I wanted more. I wanted to follow Vincente Vega and Valentina Sanchez into the turn of the century and see their descendents in the present day. That is my only critique of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism
Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt
Marriage and Masti by Nisha Sharma
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
*squeal* This was a wonderful conclusion to the If Shakespeare Were an Auntie series! I loved Veera's intelligence, sense of style, and ability to embrace her emotions when it matters most. Deepak was definitely giving epic romantic lead, too. His dedication to her was intensely satisfying and I love that they had their friends input all along the way. It can be hard to meaningfully discuss strained familial relationships within cultures that value family above all else but I think Nisha Sharma did so perfectly. That topic is touchy in my culture (Caribbean/Latinx), too.
This book was the perfect mixture of romance, culture, family drama, and finding oneself. I highly recommend the entire series!
This book was the perfect mixture of romance, culture, family drama, and finding oneself. I highly recommend the entire series!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Gaslighting
Daydreamer by Rob Cameron
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
4.0
A fantastical story that tackles hard topics!
Thank you to Rob Cameron for sending me a copy of your book in exchange for an honest review.
Daydreamer is about a sweet, misunderstood, Black boy named Charles growing up in New York in 1986. Charles seems to have undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia. He lives with his mom, a single parent who has a demanding work schedule at a local hospital. As the title implies, Charles has an active imagination and often gets in trouble for it. During this time, crack cocaine is devastating many people in the city and Charles's community becomes increasingly dangerous.
As Cameron states in his message at the beginning of Daydreamer, this novel depicts addiction, violence, verbal and physical abuse if a child, and references to death. Since there are a lot of heavy themes throughout this story, we see that Charles frequently escapes into his fantasy world which makes complete sense to me. I think that Cameron did a great job with approaching this material through a child's eyes!
It took me a while to get through this book for a few different reasons, one of them being that I'm easily distracted and that gets worse when I'm in my feelings! So if you have ADHD, like me, I recommend you listen and read the physical copy together.
Thank you to Rob Cameron for sending me a copy of your book in exchange for an honest review.
Daydreamer is about a sweet, misunderstood, Black boy named Charles growing up in New York in 1986. Charles seems to have undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia. He lives with his mom, a single parent who has a demanding work schedule at a local hospital. As the title implies, Charles has an active imagination and often gets in trouble for it. During this time, crack cocaine is devastating many people in the city and Charles's community becomes increasingly dangerous.
As Cameron states in his message at the beginning of Daydreamer, this novel depicts addiction, violence, verbal and physical abuse if a child, and references to death. Since there are a lot of heavy themes throughout this story, we see that Charles frequently escapes into his fantasy world which makes complete sense to me. I think that Cameron did a great job with approaching this material through a child's eyes!
It took me a while to get through this book for a few different reasons, one of them being that I'm easily distracted and that gets worse when I'm in my feelings! So if you have ADHD, like me, I recommend you listen and read the physical copy together.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, and Drug abuse
Minor: Gun violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Creative world-building and lovable characters! There were also plenty of twists. My only issues with this book are that I felt like I didn’t get enough character building for much of La Sirena Negra’s crew and this book could have been split into two books. It felt long and felt like non-stop action sometimes which kind of desensitized me.
Hathor and the Prince by J.J. McAvoy
dark
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was super entertaining, as the first two books were, but I was a little disappointed with the ending.
I was hoping it would cover Hathor having a public wedding with the Prince in front of the Ton who had spent so long talking shit.
I was hoping it would cover Hathor having a public wedding with the Prince in front of the Ton who had spent so long talking shit.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was a really intriguing book! I watched the show first, just because I knew that it wouldn’t be as detailed as the novel. The show left me on a cliffhanger, so I decided not to wait for the next season. I needed answers!!
Anyway, I think that the story is really well done. I just found it confusing a few times because there were times when I thought the format was a little confusing. Mostly because I kept expecting the flashbacks to only be from Eleanor’s perspective as she was the one telling the story on the recording. So when it jumped to other characters whose stories she could not have known yet, I had to pause.
Aside from that, I was very wrapped up in this book. I’m actually kind of sad to leave Covey behind.
I definitely recommend y’all read this, especially the audiobook!
Anyway, I think that the story is really well done. I just found it confusing a few times because there were times when I thought the format was a little confusing. Mostly because I kept expecting the flashbacks to only be from Eleanor’s perspective as she was the one telling the story on the recording. So when it jumped to other characters whose stories she could not have known yet, I had to pause.
Aside from that, I was very wrapped up in this book. I’m actually kind of sad to leave Covey behind.
I definitely recommend y’all read this, especially the audiobook!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Biphobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Rape
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This was an incredibly personal and yet measured and succinct book on Palestinian struggles since 1917. I learned so much about the creation of Israel, the failings of past Palestinian freedom movements, and the current state of affairs.
Khalidi’s conclusion is powerful and offers ways to move towards peace.
Khalidi’s conclusion is powerful and offers ways to move towards peace.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Super informative and funny! Schrefer also did a good job of arguing why it's important to understand the natural world and the implications that the diversity of animal sexuality have on our acceptance/understandings of human sexuality and morality.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia