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iamcaseyrkelley's reviews
275 reviews
Blood Justice by Terry J. Benton-Walker
fast-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
5.0
I was given an early copy of this book for an honest review.
TLDR: I absolutely loved this book.
Let me start by saying I am biased because I loved Blood Debts so much and could not wait for the sequel. So I went into the book loving it. I am not really a fantasy girlie and I am definitely afraid of my shadow so horror is not for me. But somehow this author has become an auto-buy author for me. I have a physical ARC and an e-ARC but I just pre-ordered the finished copy.
For a new fantasy girlie like me, this book had A LOT of characters. I needed a list or something. But that’s normal for me because when I watched Game of Thrones I had to have my husband tell me a million times who people were because I kept forgetting LMBO. But what was cool about it was that it really reminded me of the format of a soap opera. By that I mean that there are several storylines with all of these different characters but each storyline is equally important and interconnected. And like soaps, there are favorite storylines that you want to get to and want more of (for me it’s always gonna be Clem). I am impressed that this author was able to so effectively fully develop so many characters. A soap opera has a lot of writers. This author did this alone. Wow!
My absolute favorite character is still Clem. I loved him in Blood Debts and really started to understand him more in this book. But the way Cris entered her villain era in this book has me singing Monica songs. Cris was giving that “kick down your door and smack your chick” energy. Cris was NOT with the $h!ts in this book and I love that for her. Now the necromancy stuff is out of my scope cuz now I’m in the sixth sense talking about I see dead people every time I go to sleep and I’m sure my husband is annoyed that I’m sleeping with the light on yet here we are.
And even after all that, I am still first in line for Book 3. In the meantime, this book is written perfectly for a series on television or a streaming service. Somebody needs to call Jordan Peele immediately.
SN: a book that can make me cry even if it wasn’t the author’s intent is an automatic 5 stars. It was probably a solid 4.5 and then something I really wanted to happen actually happened. Waterworks!!!!
TLDR: I absolutely loved this book.
Let me start by saying I am biased because I loved Blood Debts so much and could not wait for the sequel. So I went into the book loving it. I am not really a fantasy girlie and I am definitely afraid of my shadow so horror is not for me. But somehow this author has become an auto-buy author for me. I have a physical ARC and an e-ARC but I just pre-ordered the finished copy.
For a new fantasy girlie like me, this book had A LOT of characters. I needed a list or something. But that’s normal for me because when I watched Game of Thrones I had to have my husband tell me a million times who people were because I kept forgetting LMBO. But what was cool about it was that it really reminded me of the format of a soap opera. By that I mean that there are several storylines with all of these different characters but each storyline is equally important and interconnected. And like soaps, there are favorite storylines that you want to get to and want more of (for me it’s always gonna be Clem). I am impressed that this author was able to so effectively fully develop so many characters. A soap opera has a lot of writers. This author did this alone. Wow!
My absolute favorite character is still Clem. I loved him in Blood Debts and really started to understand him more in this book. But the way Cris entered her villain era in this book has me singing Monica songs. Cris was giving that “kick down your door and smack your chick” energy. Cris was NOT with the $h!ts in this book and I love that for her. Now the necromancy stuff is out of my scope cuz now I’m in the sixth sense talking about I see dead people every time I go to sleep and I’m sure my husband is annoyed that I’m sleeping with the light on yet here we are.
And even after all that, I am still first in line for Book 3. In the meantime, this book is written perfectly for a series on television or a streaming service. Somebody needs to call Jordan Peele immediately.
SN: a book that can make me cry even if it wasn’t the author’s intent is an automatic 5 stars. It was probably a solid 4.5 and then something I really wanted to happen actually happened. Waterworks!!!!
One Of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon
1.0
I received an advance copy of this book for an honest review.
This was probably the most anti-black book I have ever read but the fact that it was written by a Black woman made it heartbreakingly painful. Within the book, Blackness is defined and shaped around tragedies - as if Black people experience no joy or have lives beyond the nation’s racism, biases and social injustices. Every conversation centers around the pain and fears of being Black and raising Black children in a world that doesn’t love them. While yes Black people as a community experience unspeakable hardships against us, it is not our entire personality. The Black boys mentioned in the story are all troubled and in the constant loop of the criminal justice system. The Black women are either a step from hotep with conversations only about protests, police brutality and their natural hair or they are doing all they can to assimilate into the European standard of beauty. The Black men are either unsupportive or a step away from being a podcast bro wanting Black women to lean more into whiteness. Sending the message to readers that life is better being white disgusted me more than I could ever imagine.
In the last eight years of giving ratings, this is only the third time I have given a one star review to a Black author. I now realize that comparatively, the other two books need another star added to them because this was not only the worst thing I have ever read. It is by far the most insulting to Black people.
To the readers that hate reading about Black people experiencing or discussing racism:
I initially thought you would hate the acknowledgement of Black pain in this book. I thought fans of this author, who has consistently shown in her writings that Black girls cannot experience or find happiness without the erasure of Blackness, would question and frown at her sudden desire to write about the atrocities that Black people face consistently at the hands of white America. I thought you would be the ones giving this book a one star review. However, stick to the end, this book takes her erasure of Blackness to another level. It’s clear the author believes the world is better without Black people in it. It is the textbook definition of anti-blackness.
This was probably the most anti-black book I have ever read but the fact that it was written by a Black woman made it heartbreakingly painful. Within the book, Blackness is defined and shaped around tragedies - as if Black people experience no joy or have lives beyond the nation’s racism, biases and social injustices. Every conversation centers around the pain and fears of being Black and raising Black children in a world that doesn’t love them. While yes Black people as a community experience unspeakable hardships against us, it is not our entire personality. The Black boys mentioned in the story are all troubled and in the constant loop of the criminal justice system. The Black women are either a step from hotep with conversations only about protests, police brutality and their natural hair or they are doing all they can to assimilate into the European standard of beauty. The Black men are either unsupportive or a step away from being a podcast bro wanting Black women to lean more into whiteness. Sending the message to readers that life is better being white disgusted me more than I could ever imagine.
In the last eight years of giving ratings, this is only the third time I have given a one star review to a Black author. I now realize that comparatively, the other two books need another star added to them because this was not only the worst thing I have ever read. It is by far the most insulting to Black people.
To the readers that hate reading about Black people experiencing or discussing racism:
I initially thought you would hate the acknowledgement of Black pain in this book. I thought fans of this author, who has consistently shown in her writings that Black girls cannot experience or find happiness without the erasure of Blackness, would question and frown at her sudden desire to write about the atrocities that Black people face consistently at the hands of white America. I thought you would be the ones giving this book a one star review. However, stick to the end, this book takes her erasure of Blackness to another level. It’s clear the author believes the world is better without Black people in it. It is the textbook definition of anti-blackness.
The Secret to a Southern Wedding by Synithia Williams
4.0
This story was engaging. While all the characters were extremely likable, I found myself not liking the FMC. I think because of my own personal hangups. I think it annoys me when adult children want to sabotage or interfere with their parent’s love life. It’s weird so because of that, I disliked the FMC. Again, that’s a personal issue of mine and has no bearing on the story or the writing. Both were actually great, hence the 4 star rating.
As Grey As Black and White by Faith Knight
emotional
informative
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
I learned of this book with the author sent me a DM on TikTok. I wasn’t sure when I would get to it but as a mood reader was struggling to pick something to read so randomly decided to read it from KU. OMG it was phenomenal.
About halfway through I realized that it is the race version of one of my favorite books of all time, Perfect Peace by Daniel Black. One of the key elements in this story is how society plays a role in our indoctrination. While his mother was actively anti-racist, his peers had the most influence on his perceptions and beliefs of “colored people.” It was fascinating to see him struggle with what he learned and believed versus what he experienced and saw firsthand.
I am 35+ books in for the year and this might be my most impactful read of the year.
SN: for some reason, the KU version marked a completely different book read. It said “INCORRECT COVER” by Sue Ann in the automated GR email I received after reading the book. Hopefully KU, GR, and Amazon can get this fixed ASAP.
About halfway through I realized that it is the race version of one of my favorite books of all time, Perfect Peace by Daniel Black. One of the key elements in this story is how society plays a role in our indoctrination. While his mother was actively anti-racist, his peers had the most influence on his perceptions and beliefs of “colored people.” It was fascinating to see him struggle with what he learned and believed versus what he experienced and saw firsthand.
I am 35+ books in for the year and this might be my most impactful read of the year.
SN: for some reason, the KU version marked a completely different book read. It said “INCORRECT COVER” by Sue Ann in the automated GR email I received after reading the book. Hopefully KU, GR, and Amazon can get this fixed ASAP.
One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris
5.0
I was pleasantly surprised at how amazingly beautiful this book was. As an SA survivor, I was initially disgusted about a potential romance between a survivor and someone with the face of the person that changed her life forever. However that storyline evolved organically surrounded by the beauty of nurturing the gift of a genius. I was in awe with how the author was able to poetry and its interpretations into the story. I never wanted to feel any sympathetic for two people in the book but the author expertly wrote their history and developed them that I fully understood why and how they came to be.