krystalicia_'s reviews
177 reviews

I received a free copy of this book, and am leaving an honest review here.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. But I didn’t. Ok, I’ll start with the positives. I appreciate the positive portrayal of polyamorous relationships and how the author told us about the importance of good communication in order to have a healthy relationship, but that’s where the positives really end.

First things first, this book was 100% tell, not show. We are told about the chemistry, how great these characters are, etc., but the writing never actually shows that. There’s a part where it says “being the understanding person that she is, August has pretended not to notice”, but there was nothing portrayed in the story that would have showed this as a character trait??? I think the best way to describe the writing is that it felt like I was reading Case Studies of a polyamorous relationship and it was turned into a book. There’s also parts that were so incredibly text book. There’s a conversation between Derrick and Daisy and Daisy says “In the future, when a new partner enters our lives, I think we should follow kitchen table polyamory.” to which Derrick responds “ok, can you remind me what that means?” and it just irked my soul because PEOPLE DON’T TALK LIKE THAT. It sounds like they’re reading a bad script and acting it poorly.

Next, going back to the chemistry, I can be convinced that we were able to see it with Daisy and August, but I can’t be convinced there was ANY chemistry between August and Derrick. They had maybe one conversation just the two of them? Like I think I would have much rather preferred reading it as a polycule without Derrick and August being in a relationship as well because it didn’t make sense. It seemed very much so sexual fantasy driven, which like to each their own, but prior to the sex scenes, there was really no sexual tension between them either.

Lastly, I HATED that Daisy was August’s managers, and it seemed like the author peeped that would be unethical and just kept saying they saw each other as coworkers rather than boss and employee. Then just make that their dynamic?? Also, Daisy is so unlikable? I despise the quirky MC archetype and honestly, that’s her to a tee. There’s a point she’s like wow the thought I had was so poetic, I should write this down and I literally wrote “dear god no” because between Derrick’s bad poetry and fake deep Daisy, I cannot tolerate this couple anymore.

PS: throwing in “Mija” at the end of a sentence to let us know that a character is Latina is a quick fire way to make me not take a book seriously. It’s lazy writing and not how Spanglish works. 

I bought this book on pre-order off the name alone. You sound like a white girl is something I grew up hearing from family and something that made me a lot more palatable once I moved into more white dominant spaces, but it was something I always hated because I felt like it made me less Latina. As an adult, I realized being palatable is bull shit and that’s literally the whole purpose of this dope, little book. 

I appreciate this book for teaching me. Teaching me a history that I would have never learned in school (because we know that shit is whitewashed to hell) or from my family (because it’s not our story to tell, but impacts us nonetheless). I appreciate this book for truly opening my eyes to the Indigenous erasure not only in our history, but in our countries and in the way we talk about ourselves and our families. It’s made me continue to take a critical look at things I heard growing up and sparked memories that I had long forgotten. 

I’m rambling at this point but I think this is such an dope read. Great blend of history, but also a deeply personal narrative as well, and there are so maybe gems throughout that it’d be silly lot to read.

I couldn’t sleep last night so I thought why not reach such a sad book until 3 in the morning. So for context, between middle school and today, I’ve probably read this book at least 5 or 6 times, with there being an almost 10 year difference since the last time I read it. I was scared this wouldn’t hold up, but randomly saw the graphic novel in the library and thought why the fuck not.

Holy hell does this book still hold up. In fact, with the added artwork (short out to the artist who literally makes horror webcomics because yes, this is a literally horrifying situation), it made it so much creepier to the point that the rapist’s appearance on page literally made me uncomfortable to the point I shuttered. Considering this book was written in the 90s, it still is super relatable and is still a very real portrayal of why people don’t speak up when they’re sexually assaulted and Melinda coming to terms with what happened to her. You don’t exactly find out what happened until the second half of the book and it moves pretty slow, but I also think that makes complete sense for the context of the story. Loved it as a child and still love this today. If you’ve never read the graphic novel version of this book, I’d highly recommend.

Ok, so I’ve been sitting on this review for a while because I was truly racking my brain for how to rate this. If this was strictly contemporary/literary fiction with exploring grief at the center and the romance didn’t exist, this would be a 5 star without a doubt, but I just could not get behind the romance. It’s undeniable that they had a spiritual connection and I won’t fight that, but it felt like their romance was rooted in trauma bonding. That, plus the age gap and the unspoken power dynamic that existed, I can’t in my heart of hearts be excited for this couple. 

I loved the writing and am looking forward to reading their other contemporary works as that seems more up my alley!

I wanted so badly to like this, I really did, but this book just wasn’t it for me. At first, I thought I was tripping, but after reading some reviews by Black women, they confirmed what I had been thinking while reading this: it reads as a very surface level book catered to white people, which like, ok, get your money, but it became so repetitive that I had to force myself to read.
The charm that the first book had were lacking here. I really enjoyed the friendship in the first book, and we honestly didn’t really get that here. The conversations between friends seemed superficial and any and all conversation surrounding 1) Tabby teetering between wearing a wig again at work instead of her natural hair; 2) her being self conscious of people looking at her because she was pregnant and not married; or 3) her body changing due to pregnancy. I’m not saying these aren’t all real concerns, what I am saying is that I feel like these three things were said in every. single. chapter. with no real substance added. 
I didn’t realize until I was halfway through that this was going to be a trilogy so I’m just assuming this book suffered tremendously from a case of middle book syndrome. I still plan to read the next one because like I’ve mentioned before, there aren’t enough books about infertility, specifically in women of color, but I’m really hoping we get the full characters with depth this time around.

Ok yea so I called it. I don’t know, it’s still cute, I’m but it’s nothing special. I liked that there was more of a focus on their individual friendships with other people and seeing more of the characters actual personalities, but it kind of shifted from a cutesy romance to a life saving mission and that’s not really my jam.

I know this book has a lot to offer, is exceptionally written, and tells such a unique story, but I couldn’t give it the love and attention it deserved. This is a work of historical fiction and it’s just infuriating that things that were happening in the story were literally taking place all over the news as I was reading this, and I just couldn’t get the escapism I needed. 

It touched on intergenerational trauma and talks about the story holders of each generation which I thought was an interesting addition, but I kind of wish we explored the other generations a bit more than we were able to. If you’re interested in reading this, please please PLEASE look at trigger warnings.

This is the first volume where they’re off the farm and facing the outside and truthfully, if the first few volumes weren’t as psychologically thrilling as they were, I don’t know if I would have had the willpower to keep pushing through. The element I care for the least is the fantasy/science fiction elements, and obviously that’s a super large part of the storyline. I’m hoping they move more into the interpersonal relationships with the kids and have more human interactions because woooooo these next 15 volumes could be a struggle.