haileyrt's reviews
333 reviews

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

Outdrawn by Deanna Grey

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

I really loved Noah and Sage's story so much! I liked that they had history being art students in college and started working together, slowly falling for each other! I also liked the duality of their characters, and not the grumpy x sunshine or one only wears black and the other wears bright colors, but in the way that one character always had someone to help them do something so they always felt helpless, and the other character was the one always doing the saving and helping others. Sage and Noah both getting through their struggles with their families and themselves is super insightful and I felt like I could relate to Noah so much. I didn't expect the smut but y'all...it did its mf THING! I'd love to read more sapphic romance from Deanna!!!

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-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

I personally wouldn't have forgiven Mister (Alfred) since I think of you were once a scumbag, you're always a scumbag, but it was incredibly interesting seeing the Celie and Nettie's similar struggles with womanhood, racism, and sexism while Celie is in America and Nettie is in Africa. Also seeing Suge and Celie's dynamic was interesting. Like they both clearly had love for each other but a relationship during the time period seemed, impossible??? Or particularly Suge's love wasn't as intense as Celie's and Suge had different feelings and desires.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Suzanne you're paying for my therapy

p.s. if you don't care for Coriolanus Snow (aka President Snow), or the early years of the Hunger Games and how they started, I lowkey wouldn't recommend this especially since it's 500+ of Snow being dramatic and a simp but if you still wanna read it go off 💅🏽✨

The Smart Cookie by Jory John

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

adventurous challenging hopeful slow-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

2.0

Initially I was drawn to this book because it was marketed as a "suspenseful thriller with twists and turns," but I feel like this book fell a little flat for me. 

First off, as someone who has often been "the only" in the room and understands office politics, I felt like this books commentary on how racist and divisive the publishing industry is was very much valid, but it didn't necessarily add anything valuable or new to the conversation. I felt like it really just reiterated what black women experience in the workplace but doesn't really add anything new, just one person's experience that really wasn't incredibly interesting. 

I also didn't really feel connected to the main character Nella. I feel like she was pretty flat besides being the only black girl in the office, but besides the things she goes through in the office, she isn't the most interesting character to read about and I feel like she was a bit boring. 

Also I didn't quite understand the plot very well and the parts of the book where the POVs switch between different characters of the book were a bit confusing given that the context of the story was all over the place, and you never really understood anything until the last 30 pages of the book. 

I also didn't quite understand the ending, especially with Kendra, Shani, Diana, Hazel, and Nella. What the hell happened after Hazel and Nella's talk in the bathroom, what happened to Diana, how the hell is Richard actually involved in this, what happened to the girl who was pushed in the car (was that Shani? I honestly can't remember), what was Kendra waiting for, what are they "gearing up for," and why did Hazel move from Wagner's to another publishing house after getting so close with everyone? And how the hell did she know where Shani was? Is she planning on doing what she did to Nella??? 

I think this story had potential, but outside of navigating a predominantly white industry, I really just didn't quite understand the point of the book and I feel like it was more of a contemporary/literary fiction, as nothing in the book was really suspenseful or thrill-worthy. I also still feel like I have a lot of unanswered questions about the ending and the plot of the book. I feel like the point that it was trying to get across was an analysis of how black women have to be complacent to get far in corporate America, but I felt like the hair grease element was super unnecessary and confusing, and would've been at least a bit more realistic. I also feel like all the build up/slow burn felt really weird since the ending wasn't totally as unexpected as I thought it'd be. I felt like it'd be more interesting for Nella to uncover the truth, possibly expose Hazel and Richard, or have some kind of comeback but the ending was a bit disappointing as Nella did have plans to get back at Hazel and just....didn't? This book was viciously dragged out and didn't really get anywhere until the very ending, but I do see why some people would like it. 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The Sour Grape by Jory John

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0