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dreamgirlreading's reviews
323 reviews
When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
4.0
In When The Reckoning Comes, the main character, Mira, gets a call from her childhood best friend who invites her to come back to their hometown in North Carolina, to attend her wedding on a plantation… WTF?! When she arrives, she visits the plantation and finds out that they conduct slavery era re-enactments as well as host weddings and vacationers in cottages. Again, WTF?! I wish Mira would have never gone back to her hometown. There’s a reason she left the segregated racist town when she left for college ten years ago and never looked back. But her old bond with Celine and her hopes that their other best friend Jesse would be there lures her back. Not to mention, the souls of those who were tortured on the property long to have someone uncover the violent truth of the evil they endured by people who enslaved them. This book is a ghost story and warning for all of those who refuse to face the horrific history of slavery in the United States. Read this one with care (check trigger warnings) and as you’re gasping in shock of the brutality, remember that this book is rooted in truth of systemic oppression of Black people by white supremacists that lingers today.
Isaac's Song by Daniel Black
5.0
Issac’s Song is Dr. Daniel Black’s follow up to Don't Cry For Me in which a father writes letters to his estranged son while on his deathbed (check out my review a few posts down). Isaac’s Song follows Isaac grappling with his father’s death. It’s hit him hard and he’s not sure why because they had such a tumultuous relationship. His therapist suggests he starts writing everyday. Isaac starts at the beginning with his earliest memories and he begins to see that looking back, his memory is different. He sees how hard his dad fought to give him the life he thought his son deserved. He begins to see his father as a human with real flaws and real trauma and so much love for his son. This book is full of stories within stories. Through his grief, Isaac tells his life story in ways he never thought of previously. He goes through a difficult process of not only trying to understand his father, but finding his true self, his relationship with God, acceptance of his sexuality and identity, and learning from his ancestors. There’s so much to be said about this beautiful book. Any review I could write would not do it justice. So I will just say, please read this book! It’s absolutely five stars from me and made me bawl like a baby. Jacob and Isaac both will live on in my heart for a long long time.
Don't Cry for Me: A Novel by Daniel Black
challenging
emotional
sad
4.75
First read 2/11/2022 4 ⭐️
This is a difficult book to read. It made me ask a lot of questions through tears. How much weight can you place on your upbringing and how it impacts the decisions you make as an adult? Is it completely the individual's responsibility to decide what it is that you need to unlearn and relearn? At what point is forgiveness a lost cause? Is it fair to ask for forgiveness after inflicting unspeakable physical and emotional injury on your most loved ones? Can men change?
Second read 1/22/2025 4.75 ⭐️
Don’t Cry For Me is an epistolary novel, a book told entirely through letters from a dying, regretful Black father to his estranged gay son. Born in rural Arkansas in the 1940s, Jacob had a difficult childhood. He never knew his mother a father, and instead was raised by his very tough grandfather and sweet but timid grandmother, along with his older brother whom he adored. As a child Jacob worked like an adult and was not awarded much time in school. Tragedy hits his family more than once, and by the time Jacob moves away from his family home and the country, he has been hardened by life and even by his family’s past, unbeknownst to him. Later, he goes back home and learns as much as he can about his people, not only to do right by them, but so he can share the stories with his son. As a father, he is verbally and physically abusive. He works hard to give Isaac what he never had in life but he is never affectionate with his child, and does not accept what makes him special. This leads to a complete estrangement between the two, when Jacob writes the letter on his deathbed he hasn’t seen or spoken to his son in years. He’s more afraid of rejection than anything, although he has rejected his son for his entire life.
Today I still agree with my first review and reading this book a second time hurt no less (“Don’t Cry For Me” is a joke because I bawled again!) Although I still hate the actions Jacob took against his son because he thought he was gay and not “boy”ish enough, I also had more compassion for Jacob and all the love he’d lost and never received in his life. I loved that through the power of books, especially The Diary of Malcom X and The Color Purple, Jacob finally learned compassion and empathy. It may have been too late and he may have not done enough to mend his relationship with his son before his death, but he did try in ways he knew how. Jacob spends his last few months of life reflecting on everything that made him who he was, all the mistakes he made, how the patriarchy that he believed in failed him, and ultimately how he had so much love within him that he was never properly taught to give to those he loved.
This is a difficult book to read. It made me ask a lot of questions through tears. How much weight can you place on your upbringing and how it impacts the decisions you make as an adult? Is it completely the individual's responsibility to decide what it is that you need to unlearn and relearn? At what point is forgiveness a lost cause? Is it fair to ask for forgiveness after inflicting unspeakable physical and emotional injury on your most loved ones? Can men change?
Second read 1/22/2025 4.75 ⭐️
Don’t Cry For Me is an epistolary novel, a book told entirely through letters from a dying, regretful Black father to his estranged gay son. Born in rural Arkansas in the 1940s, Jacob had a difficult childhood. He never knew his mother a father, and instead was raised by his very tough grandfather and sweet but timid grandmother, along with his older brother whom he adored. As a child Jacob worked like an adult and was not awarded much time in school. Tragedy hits his family more than once, and by the time Jacob moves away from his family home and the country, he has been hardened by life and even by his family’s past, unbeknownst to him. Later, he goes back home and learns as much as he can about his people, not only to do right by them, but so he can share the stories with his son. As a father, he is verbally and physically abusive. He works hard to give Isaac what he never had in life but he is never affectionate with his child, and does not accept what makes him special. This leads to a complete estrangement between the two, when Jacob writes the letter on his deathbed he hasn’t seen or spoken to his son in years. He’s more afraid of rejection than anything, although he has rejected his son for his entire life.
Today I still agree with my first review and reading this book a second time hurt no less (“Don’t Cry For Me” is a joke because I bawled again!) Although I still hate the actions Jacob took against his son because he thought he was gay and not “boy”ish enough, I also had more compassion for Jacob and all the love he’d lost and never received in his life. I loved that through the power of books, especially The Diary of Malcom X and The Color Purple, Jacob finally learned compassion and empathy. It may have been too late and he may have not done enough to mend his relationship with his son before his death, but he did try in ways he knew how. Jacob spends his last few months of life reflecting on everything that made him who he was, all the mistakes he made, how the patriarchy that he believed in failed him, and ultimately how he had so much love within him that he was never properly taught to give to those he loved.
An Ordinary Violence by Adriana Chartrand
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
4.0
An Ordinary Violence opens with Dawn driving back home after a traumatic event (revealed much later). When she gets home, an earlier traumatic event haunts her, especially when her older brother is released from prison. He brings home a friend who Dawn immediately feels uneasy about. She and her brother never discuss their past nor the dark forces that are following them both. As the months come and go, Dawn’s unease is never settled. She reunites with her childhood best friend but there is no longer a connection as she is disconnected from everyone and everything, especially after she returns to her hometown where nothing and everything has changed. I will admit this is a slow read and hard to get into in the beginning. But the creepy atmosphere kept me reading and I’m glad I did. The reader does not get all the answers but as the past events are unraveled, you become more and more tense while reading. The horror in this book lies in the unknown. It reads much like a fever dream because that’s basically what Dawn’s life has become as she hears an evil buzzing undercurrent, has out of body experiences, loses time (forgets where she is and what she’s doing), and hears her dead mother’s voice in moments of silence and through stranger’s bodies. There is imagery toward the end of the book that totally scared me and will stay in my mind. This is an unsettling, ominous, and mysterious read. After reading reviews, I see that this book isn’t for everyone but I liked it, and am glad to have been introduced to this author’s debut!
Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black
First read February 20, 2022 rating 4 ⭐️
This is a difficult book to read. It made me ask a lot of questions through tears. How much weight can you place on your upbringing and how it impacts the decisions you make as an adult? Is it completely the individual's responsibility to decide what it is that you need to unlearn and relearn? At what point is forgiveness a lost cause? Is it fair to ask for forgiveness after inflicting unspeakable physical and emotional injury on your most loved ones? Can men change?
This is a difficult book to read. It made me ask a lot of questions through tears. How much weight can you place on your upbringing and how it impacts the decisions you make as an adult? Is it completely the individual's responsibility to decide what it is that you need to unlearn and relearn? At what point is forgiveness a lost cause? Is it fair to ask for forgiveness after inflicting unspeakable physical and emotional injury on your most loved ones? Can men change?
Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire by Ashley Spencer
4.0
This book goes behind the scenes of Disney Channel in the 90s and 2000s. Starting with The Mickey Mouse Club, then later discussing shows like Even Stevens, Lizzie McGuire, That’s So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, and their staff and stars in depth. This was a very nostalgic read for me as I was a kid in the 2000s glued to Disney Channel every Friday night to watch DCOMs and listening constantly listening to Radio Disney. I don’t have much to say about this one except it made me want to go back and watch some of these iconic tween shows and movies!
We Do Not Part by Han Kang
4.5
Kyungha is a writer who has become haunted with nightmares after writing about a little known terrible Korean massacre. She has a friend, Inseon, woodworker and film maker, who she confided about her nightmare and idea to collaborate to bring her nightmare’s scene to film. Kyungha gets a call from Inseon, there’s been an accident and she’s in the hospital. When they meet at the hospital, Inseon pleads with Kyungha to go check on her pet bird. A serious snowstorm hits during her travel, and she barely makes it to Inseon’s home on Jeju Island. Once there, reality is a blur. Truth about Inseon’s hidden family tragedy (the Jeju uprising and subsequent massacre (truly genocide) of believed communists by South Korea’s army supported by the U.S. government) comes to light revealing a horrific hidden massacre decades earlier. This book is incredible. Descriptions of Inseon’s documentaries throughout make it feel kind of like mixed media. At every step, I wasn’t sure what was actually happening in real time. Memory, art, history, grief, and haunting nightmares meld together. The prose about generational trauma hit so hard and heartbreakingly so. A very dark but important read.
The Fastest Way To Fall by Denise Williams
4.25
📳💞📓⏱️🧦🚑🏙️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏻♂️🍻🍕💐🫦
Britta, the main female character, is a plus size biracial assistant and wanna be full-time journalist at a millennial wellness magazine who is in a competition with another writer (both will be joining two different fitness apps and writing about their experiences). Britta unknowingly gets matched with the CEO of the fitness app as her trainer. We read their messages back and forth first in emails, then through a messaging app, then via text messages. As they become friends and then become flirty, they realize that they both live in Chicago then begin training in person. The feelings swirl between the two (secretly within each other) as they both consider the conflict of interest they’ve gotten themselves into. This book mentions the dangers of crash dieting and over exercising and emphasizes that you can be hot and fat! It’s told in alternating chapters from Britta and the male main character, Wes’s, POV. I loved that even though this was a swoony romance, ultimately self love was the biggest message. Britta’s transformation was not (just) in her body but in her confidence and reliance of herself. I will definitely be adding more books by this author to my TBR!
Untethered by Angela Jackson-Brown
5.0
Troy, Alabama. 1967. Katia Daniels is a 40 year old plus size Black woman of faith and director of a group home for young Black boys. Her younger twin brothers are away fighting in the Vietnam War. Her father died years ago, leaving her and her mother to share the family home alone. She puts her everything into her work, and treats the boys and her coworkers like family, advocating fiercely for their best interests and safety with pure intentions. When she’s not working, she delves into the worlds in romance novels and Nina Simone’s music. When she finds out her brothers are missing in action, the safety of one the boys she cares for is in jeopardy, and her time as director of the boy’s home is on the line, an old familiar face (and her high school crush) comes back into her life to support her.
🏡📚🕯️📺🪖⛪️🌥️🎼💐😭🪽💍🫀
This book tore me up!!! (in a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ kinda way) I cared so much about each of these characters, and could not stop reading! … I really tried to stay on schedule y'all but I HAD to know what happened. I love that the representation of Nina Simone inspired Katia to embrace her afro. My heart broke for her desire to be a mother and how she truly loved the boys as her own. Chad and PeeWee were such memorable and lovable characters, just sweet and smart little boys who didn’t deserve all the suffering life had handed them 💔 When Seth came in Katia’s office, with a warm spirit calling her “Kat,” I knew a second chance romance was on the horizon. But Katia fought their connection so hard. She felt that she didn’t deserve him because she couldn’t have babies 😢 although he constantly showed that he would keep choosing her. I cried so much with sadness and grief but then the happy (but still sad) tears at the end made it all so worth it. I could not recommend this book enough!
Dreamover by Dani Diaz
3.75
Two best friends since elementary decide to start dating the summer before high school, getting lost in each other’s company and forgetting about their other friends. They fall asleep, get stuck in a joint video game dream and cross many different obstacles and terrains as what seems to me a metaphor for the huge emotions of first love and adolescence in general. I thought it was well done and the art was beautiful.