deereadstoo's reviews
151 reviews

This one hurts a little bit cause it feels like a dive from Restore Me. Restore Me had so much depth and emotion and I was enthralled in every page while with Again I was definitely just skimming most of the content. I wasn’t really emotionally invested in Amina’s and Jaxon’s endgame. I feel like majority of this is because it’s a novella and not nearly the length Restore Me was but I kind of expected more. It was enjoyable but I was left unfulfilled in the end. 

2 for 2! First I get Canon, my favorite grump, and now I get Dominic, my favorite possessive man?! Call me spoiled. 

J L Seegars knows how to write a possessive man without making him verbally abusive that's for sure. As soon as the club scene happened, Dominic had me (and Sloane) wrapped around his finger like a bandaid. We follow this second chance romance through both Sloane and Dominic's lenses and even travel back to the past from time to time to get a glimpse of what exactly went on during those years when Dominic didn't have Sloane. Dominic took such great care of Sloane from beginning to end (minus the third act conflict *boooooo*). I loved watching their relationship develop and I loved that Sloane could hold her own with him but also swoon at all the sweet things he said to her (there were a lot and I swooned right along with her). I also appreciated his respect for her life with Eric and what that meant to her. That literally made me want to pull him from the pages and love him myself. 

Now, I don't think I'm a fan of flashbacks (even if they are necessary to the movement of the plot which most of the time I feel they aren't); however, I feel like some of them were necessary to get an idea of why what happened happened. Others I felt we could've definitely been left without. Also, that third conflict...I was going to throw my iPad at the wall because why? Why must authors cause us frustration and angst and anxiety when this happens. It's always some form of miscommunication that can be easily avoided and I'm so over it. It was even weirder because the ending itself felt rushed. So many big steps immediately after such an intense conflict. Also, I wasn't super clear on Sloane's appearance (this is why we do self-inserts). I felt it was kind of vague when the author used the descriptor "bronze skin" because what even is that? If they are both Black, I wouldn't think the phrase "bronze skin" would be an accurate descriptor. This definitely had me a little confused but overall I loved the characters. Lauren Carson can go to the deepest parts of hell. 

Let's give it up for a romance that doesn't have the miscommunication trope, shall we?

Reel by Kennedy Ryan scratched the best parts of my brain. This book was filled with angst, love, regret, passion, and hope. I was the same as Neevah, honestly. Canon grabbed me and never let me go. He was a proper grump. I feel as though the grumps we see in romances now are just rude and mean and have no real apologetic bone in their bodies. However, Canon may be a grump and he may have been curt with Neevah a time or too (which she was curt right back, period), he was always apologetic and it felt sincere. He wanted her to know he was sorry. He wanted her to know that she wasn't, and will never, be at fault for his attitude. We love Canon. 

I also love Neevah. Her character was amazing. She was raw and passionate and delightful. She loved her work and she loved Canon. I loved that she was unapologetic about her desire for Canon at the start. I felt onesided for 2.5 seconds but I guess that's what you get with a grump and sunshine. I loved the chronic illness representation. As a person who has lost a person to a chronic illness and has a family currently fighting chronic illnesses, it's wonderful to see it represented in romantic love. 

The writing style of the book overall was fantastic and Ryan's incorporation of history and film and how it intertwines into the lives of those telling stories lost was phenomenal and something I didn't expect. I enjoyed every piece of this and I wish I could erase my brain to read it for the first time again. 

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. 

“How do you do that? I mean, how do you get somebody to love you?”

We find ourselves grappling with that question everyday, especially dark-skinned Black girls who are reminded everyday why they aren't worthy of love and adoration. Reminded everyday why they are the standard or the desirable. As a dark-skinned Black woman myself, I've seen what that can do to someone. I've seen what can happen if there's no one around you to tell you, remind you that you are beautiful in everyway. Pecola, unfortunately, was left to wither out in the sun. 

Watching the downward spiral of Pecola, especially at the age she was, was like watching your younger sister suffer in silence. It felt like I trapped in a glass-box. I saw everything that was going on. Everything that was effecting her and belittling her. I saw everything that was making her feel like she would never be beautiful and yet I couldn't save her. I couldn't protect her from the harsh winter, the boiling summer, soft autumn or the delicate spring. All I wanted to do was reach out and let her know that she was enough. She was everything I'd hoped she'd be. My sweetest dream. My biggest wish. The warmth of a thousand suns and the cool breeze of the wind. She's love and passion. Anger and sorrow. Pain and redemption. Kindness and grace. She's all the things. She's beauty. 

However, this isn't just Pecola's story. This is a story of generational trauma. This is a story of European beauty standards forcing its way into the homes of those who never fit the mold and setting them ablaze with doubt and insecurity. This is a story of loved ones battling their own demons without realizing the reprecussions. This is about a girl who wanted to be good enough. A girl who wanted to be beautiful. A girl who wanted blue eyes.