analenegrace's reviews
447 reviews

Karaoke Queen by Dominic Lim

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Thanks so much to Forever and NetGalley for an E-arc of this book!

This was a super fun and sweet that looked at drag culture, karaoke culture, and Filipino culture and food! Our main character, Rex, was a great narrator and being in his head made the plot of the book make a lot of sense. Paolo was the perfect love interest for the story, and I really liked seeing his entry into drag alongside the more experienced drag queens in the story!

Initially, I wasn’t sure if I like the “love triangle” between his college ex-boyfriend and the KJ, but it becomes very obvious where the story is going very quickly and doesn’t fall into any of the usual love triangle tropes that I don’t like!

This book is super short, which made for a quick read during a hurricane no less! I highly recommend this one and I hope everybody checks it out when it comes out next week!

Spells to Forget Us by Aislinn Brophy

adventurous funny hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Thanks so much to the publisher and netgalley for this e-arc!

This was such a fun YA sapphic romance with an interesting look at magic, magical societies, and influencer parents. Aiofe and Luna's relationships went in loops I wasn't expecting, and when it happened for the third time, I have to admit I laughed out loud because I wasn't expecting as many loops. 

They were both a bit of tortured souls who had to learn to stand up for themselves as they constantly stood up for each other. Their dynamic was delightful, and I thought the ways they kept protecting each other were very romantic. Family is the most significant theme of this story, as they both have to make choices that their family might not understand for the sake of themselves. 

The side characters here were especially fun as they could remember all that Luna and Aiofe couldn't and would get so exasperated, especially during the third and fourth loops between them. 

I wish this had been a little longer and had maybe a bit more on these characters' self-improvement, but I think this is a great YA for kids of today! 

Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census by Philip D. Curtin

Read for Africans in the Americas F24 at Tulane University's MA Program in History. 

This is an interesting look at how the quantifying of slave trade statistics came to be and also a reflection on the continued struggle of those studying the slave trade to understand the impact/cost of slavery truly. 

This is a work best read as a comparative work with a more contemporary source to understand how this field has evolved and changed. 

The Secret of the Three Fates by Jess Armstrong

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm super excited to have been able to read an early copy of Jess Armstrong's AMAZING follow-up!

The first book introduced us to our main characters, but we really got to know them in this one, and I adored the character development. Mr. Owen was very much in the background of the first book as a fun old man, but in this one, we find out everything about him, his family, and why he is the way he is. I couldn't put it down once I realized this was how the book would go. 

I'm not always a fan of mysteries, but Armstrong writes so vividly that she can't help but capture you entirely. It was impossible to put down. 

Ruby and Ruan's romance is a slow burn, and it's killing me in the best way possible. Their dynamic is so interesting, and it reminds me of all the TV crime-solving duos I've loved in my life (Bones and Booth, especially). Their push and pull is so appealing to read as you're in Ruby's head, so you know how she feels, and Ruan is NOT hiding his affections, yet they still are always running toward and away from each other. That epilogue really got me! 

Armstrong is a historian originally, so it's of no surprise to me how fantastically written the history-heavy parts of this book are. The

sex cult

is one that I can't wait to ask her about at a book talk! She really delves into gender, class, and power dynamics in this book and doesn't pull punches when it comes to those experiencing oppression and those purporting it. 

This one is out Dec. 4th, so everyone go preorder! 

Off Midway Station by Marc Alan Edelheit
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.

20% into this book and it was entirely exposition and describing on and on and nothing had happened. Also the main woman character was weirdly feminized and I didn’t like that. 

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I adored the writing of this book immensely. This is my first book from the author, but it certainly won’t be my last.

I really adored the characterization of our two main characters here, Emma and Charlie. They were the definition of a grumpy sunshine, forced proximity romance, and I think Center nailed these tropes. This book is narrated in a way that feels like Emma recounting her experiences, thoughts and feelings to you almost like a memoir rather than a traditional romance novel writing.

I adore books that are love letters to things the authors are very passionate about, and I really appreciate it. How center wrote about Romance, movies and screenwriting. Often screen writers, and romance movies in general, get left behind when people talk about the film industry, so it was nice to see an entire book focused on it.

Honestly, I really just didn’t get romance from these characters until the very end. Charlie and Emma felt like two people who should’ve just been friends. They worked really well together and had great banter, but for the most part, it really just felt like two people finding themselves and growing together, but not in a romantic way.

By the end of the book, I love the two of them together, but it took a long time for me to feel the romance in this book, perhaps because it was too caught up on the screenwriting aspect, and these two forming their friendship. Friendship should always come first in Romance, but I think the romance apart in this book came way too late.  

This writing style was amazing, so I’ll certainly be reading her back catalog!

Sunshine and Spice by Aurora Palit

emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Thanks so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book. 

I really liked the first 1/3 of this book, but unfortunately, the middle dragged out a lot, and then our MCs got together in a brief chapter that was very confusing. I was expecting a slower burn because of how the book had been going so their first hook-up came out of nowhere and needed to make more sense.

I really liked Dev and Naomi and thought they were good characters whose chemistry was growing, it just wasn't there yet for me when they got together. Their romance felt much more tell than show. 

The other plot, putting together the remodel of the Bazaar to Cafe, was interesting as we saw Dev's mother Gia develop agency in her store, but again, much more tell than show. 

Overall, this book tried to do too many things and ended up struggling to show us any of them. I simply wanted more from the entirety of this book, and the tropes here just didn't work. I enjoyed the look into Canadian Bengali culture, though, and would be interested in more from this author with better editing. 

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Christina Lauren's books are always up in the air if I'll like them, but this was so cute, and I loved it!

 Usually, I'm not too fond of billionaire, pretty women-feeling books, but this felt like it was trying to challenge those tropes a bit, although I am too anti-capitalist to REALLY like the ending of this book lol. 

Our MCs, Liam and Anna, are very much opposites attract, and I liked how they eventually found ways for them to fit together. I would describe this book as a bit of "touch him and die" but like emotionally because Anna was immediately so protective of him, and I loved that! Marriage of convenience is a trope I love when it's done right, and it really worked perfectly here! 

There are many tropes to love and a book that puts a billionaire in jail even if his kids still stay rich off of groceries, so both points are earned and lost there!

Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora by Michael A. Gomez

challenging informative

Read for Africans in the Americas for an MA in History at Tulane University. 

This was a great introduciton to the topic of diasporic and introduces many thoughts and concepts that will be later discussed in my class. It introduced me to many topics I wasn't aware of and digs into the past of African diaspora rather than just the present. 

The parts on the Bible and the Islamic World were most interesting to me since as a White American, my education on Africa is severely lacking. 

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord

4.0

St. Martin's Press needs to respond to the terms of the boycott if they want reviews on their books...