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musingsbymichelle's reviews
849 reviews
Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
I was locked into this book from start to finish. Nicola Dinan does an incredible job of inviting you into a slice of life of two people as they start dating. As their worlds open up to each other and they meet each other’s friends and family, we see how their backgrounds impact their relationship. Don’t go into this book thinking you’ll either love or hate certain characters, instead think of them as incredibly human– still capable of fucking up, still having to confront their mistakes, and still able to love and be loved.
Told in dual timelines and points-of-views, we follow Max as she’s going through a pivotal change in her life and she starts dating Vincent. We also have Vincent in the past on a trip he took to Thailand when he was a young adult and a relationship that changed many aspects of his life.
This book covers difficult topics but also offers nuggets of comedic relief with Max and Vincent’s friends and family. Full of conflict and forgiveness, this novel left me pondering how much we are willing to forgive the ones we love for their past mistakes, and more so, do we even have the right to offer that forgiveness?
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Hanif Abdurraqib is brilliant. He beautifully weaves Black culture and his personal life in a way that invites you in with a forehead kiss while giving you a history lesson. In this collection of essays, the general theme is the entertainment industry in various forms. There is a section on minstrel shows and blackface in the Jim Crow era and how these atrocities are repeated in modern times. It's an essay that I wish I could airdrop to anyone who doesn't understand how hurtful it is. I felt very held and cared for by these essays, as someone who grew up watching Soul Train and made my friends do one on my golden birthday, as someone who admires Josephine Baker so immensely but also recognizes that there's a reason she spent so much of her life as an expat, and as someone who has seen how Black people can be the harshest critics of their own people like they were for Whitney Houston. Then I learned some things about figures that I didn't know much about. This book offers nuance for so many experiences for Black folks. We out here and we are human. Lastly, the author is vulnerable and open about his grief and mental health. For this book and his honesty, I thank him.
Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
Scam Goddess: Lessons from a Life of Cons, Grifts, and Schemes by Laci Mosley
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5