jrayereads's reviews
428 reviews

Rating: 3
Format: Ebook (ARC)
Genre: Historical Fiction

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an advanced copy! My opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction set during the Harlem Renaissance that follows Jessie Fauset, the literary editor of a prominent black publication. I think the atmosphere of the 1910s in New York was excellent and I love learning about this time period, especially when black creatives and intellectuals are at the center. 

Following Jessie as our main protagonist was great and she was easy to root for. She was hardworking, intelligent, and confident. I do think that too much time was spent on her romance with W.E.B. du Bois. While there was a lot going on, her dynamic with du Bois was one of the main elements for the first 75% of the book and it was sometimes frustrating to read so much about. I would’ve liked to have seen more development in other relationships in her life. 

My favorite parts were the ones that displayed and dissected the misogynoir that black women were experiencing at the time. Jessie, despite her absolutely killing it at the paper she edits for, has to constantly deal with misogyny from her peers and other professionals, including du Bois himself. The discussions that Jessie had with other black writers and artists about their passions and the innovations they were making in the literary world for people of color were so compelling. 

I think this would be an excellent book to learn about the literary landscape of the early 1900s for black Americans, but it probably wouldn’t provide much information for other aspects of the Harlem Renaissance or history during that period aside from brief references. 

 Rating: 2.5 Stars

Format: Audiobook

Genre: Romance

I can see why people like this but it didn’t work for me. Things between the main couple felt so rushed and I didn’t buy into their chemistry. The jump from childhood rivals to friends/dating and from friends/dating to being IN LOVE?????? was so insanely fast. Emmy was back home for what, a month or two? And now they’re in love? I needed more development for individual characters but also for their relationships. Also the smut was so painful to read I had to skip over parts. I feel like I have a pretty high tolerance for cheese and cringe in romance books but it was too much at times.

What I did like was the sense of family and connection between Emmy and her dad and brothers. I know this was Sage’s debut, so I could see myself trying out some of the other books in this series to see if the writing and pacing improve. Also I do love Weston so I think I may enjoy his book more.

Anyways, this wasn’t offensively bad but it definitely lacked in some key areas that make romances work for me. 

Rating: 3.5

Format: Audiobook

Genre: Romance

If you know me and are seeing evidence of me reading this series, no you don’t. 

I’m actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this since I’m not a big romance reader. I was looking for a cheesy sports romance as a palette cleanser and this is exactly that. Not that I’m that big of a sports person, but I actually wish there was MORE hockey in this. Give me a training montage or something. 

I always appreciate when characters have real struggles and the mental health issues that make them feel like real people. The anxiety the MMC had and the body image issues with the FMC were relatable and added a layer of depth to their characterization. We love a plus sized FMC.

My biggest gripe is that this book is waaaaay too long and had some repetitive writing that probably needed another round of editing to clean up. Like why is the paperback for this 603 pages (according to Goodreads)???? Why is the audiobook almost 17 hours???? There were also some truly cringe moments where characters did these big, emotional speeches that I cannot fathom anyone in real life doing. 

But, for someone who has historically struggled to find straight romance books they enjoyed, I liked this one and would be interested to read more of the series when the mood hits. 

Rating: 4 stars

Format: Ebook/Audiobook

Genre: Fantasy

Though I do think you can read Daughter of the Moon Goddess as a standalone, because it wraps up well, Heart of the Sun Warrior raised the stakes and deepened Xingyin’s emotional journey. I do think both of these books are quite long, longer than they need to be, but I appreciate the ground that Tan covered in both of them.

Just like the first book, the writing is beautiful. There were some major emotional moments and high action-scenes. I think Xingyin carries these books with her cunning and strong sense of morality. 

I thought Liwei’s parents (along with a couple of other antagonistic immortals) were so irritating. They did not feel intimidating or scary, they were just petulant and annoying. I get that this was the point of their characters, but so many of the antagonists were petty and vindictive and acted like children, so it got tiresome. The meddling of Liwei’s infuriating mother contributed to the love triangle drama, which I didn’t really find compelling. I was less interested in Xingyin’s romantic interests than I was interested in her familial relationships and friends. I didn’t really care who she ended up with, especially when the height of the drama came when the stakes of the main conflict were highest. 

Aside from pacing issues and some melodramatic character beats, I really enjoyed this duology. The prose, the world-building, the magic, the mythology, and the protagonist and her journey were all stand out elements that made this so addicting to read. I am excited to read more from Sue Lynn Tan in the future. 

 

Soft dnf, I definitely want to read this book this year, I just have other books/ARCs I am prioritizing right now. I was enjoying what I read so far. 

Rating: 3

Format: Ebook (ARC - pub date 1/28)

Genre: Historical fiction, Literary fiction

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Charmaine Wilkerson is an undoubtedly skilled writer. This book is ambitious and the overarching themes and ideas of it are captivating, but the execution didn’t resonate with me as much as I hoped it would. I loved the idea of a single heirloom tying a family history together, especially one that is as meaningful as a clay jar crafted by an enslaved potter being passed down through six generations. 

Both the prose and the characterization were excellent in this book, but the pacing and back-and-forth between our modern timeline and the different historical flashbacks to the creation and transportation of the clay jar didn’t work for me. I had a hard time getting into the book initially and the moments I was most invested in Ebby and the conflict in her life were the times we would cut away to hear about Ebby’s ancestors, which we didn’t spend enough time with for me to get invested in their lives outside of The Jar. The ending and resolution of the book also felt quite long.

Still, as someone who has experienced the loss of an older brother, I thought the depiction of complex grief and how losing a child/sibling impacts a family of four was well done. In many ways, it mirrored my own experience, even if I didn’t go through such a violent loss as Ebby did. I appreciated the representation of sibling grief and how that impacted Ebby’s romantic relationships as well. Wilkerson knows her stuff when it comes to writing complex emotional relationships between characters who feel like real people. 

Ultimately, Good Dirt is well written with stunning characters, but its pacing and structure dragged and pulled me out of the narrative.