Books and Sensibility

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Diverse Reads

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

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  13 Hours 33 Mins | Simon & Schuster Audio | Literary ? | 6/1/2021

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Editorial assistant Nella Rogers is used to being the only Black girl at Wagner Publishing. Then Hazel McCall is hired as a new editorial assistant. Nella is optimistic that the new Black girl–with her activist lineage and “Harlem cool”–will help her challenge the company’s diversity problem. Instead, Nella finds herself slowly pushed out of the comfortable place she secured for herself in the company.

I’m not the biggest fan of books where racial trauma is used like this but I came into this book thinking it was a thriller so I assumed I’d at least get enmeshed in a unique world and it would have compelling plotting. But this book toes the lines more of literary fiction with speculative elements. It has elements of modern Black horror like Get Out and social satire like The Sellout but at the end of the day doesn’t really say anything. I just thought this was kind of silly and found it extremely tedious.

I do not know how to review this book without spoilers so….

*Here be spoilers *

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Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett (Detective by Day #1)

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

  10 Hours 4 Mins | Midnight Ink | Mystery | 8/08/2017

I enjoyed this book and was looking forward to getting more into the series but I just found out Garrett’s publisher closed and the series has been on pause since book 2. Something like this happens to me every time I find a series I like!

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Rise To The Sun by Leah Johnson

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

 7 hours 33 mins | Scholastic Audio | Contemporary | 7/06/2021

Content warnings: parental loss, panic attacks, gun violence and nonconsensual picture sharing

You Should See Me In A Crown was one of my favorite reads last year and I was excited to see what Johnson had in store for her sophomore novel. The one was a little more of an emotional heavy hitter with an ambitious plot structure that left me wanting more.

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Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

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Rating: 3 out of 5.

  7 Hours 3 Mins | Harper Audio | Contemporary | 5/04/2021

In this book, the titular Meet Cute Diary is a wildly popular Tumblr blog of supposedly true meet-cutes from transgender couples. In reality, all the posts are from the imagination of 16-year-old Noah Ramirez–who has only ever dreamed of having his own meet-cute.

When an anonymous troll tries to discredit the blog, Noah and a handsome bookseller stage a social media love story inspired by Noah’s fake posts.

The Meet Cute Diary is a refreshing take on the coming of age YA love story that creates room for queer and imperfect teens but… its main romance left me wanting more.

*mild spoilers below*

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Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

  8 hours 19 minutes | Harper Audio | Contemporary | 9/15/2020

CW (from publisher): mention of sexual abuse, rape, assault, child abuse, kidnapping and addiction to opioids

28-year-old superstar Korey Fields promised to make 17-year-old Enchanted Jones singing dreams come true. Instead he lures her into an abusive relationship she can’t escape from. Part contemporary novel and part literary thriller, Grown is a brilliantly modern addition to the canon of YA books about abusive relationships.

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Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

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CW (via author’s website) : inferred (and highly condemned) pedophilia.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Prim and proper Enne arrives in the sinful city of New Reynes to find for her missing mother, but the city has other plans. Enne is quickly pulled in by Levi Glaysier, an alluring young street lord who helps her navigate the city and uncover its darkest secrets.

It was okay.

New Reynes seems to be an homage to early 20th century Monaco. Amanda Foody infuses this setting with what started off as a pretty basic magical system and history that becomes harder to follow as more layers are added.

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