booktribe's reviews
584 reviews

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024, but sadly it fell completely flat for me. I couldn’t finish this collection.

Firstly, I do want to mention something that I did enjoy. I absolutely loved the intro to the collection. It gave the collection as a whole purpose and an even deeper story! The intro really had me excited for the stories! However, this book is not what I thought it would be…

I was expecting this collection to be horror stories that empowered people of color, but these stories just center whiteness & racial trauma. I probably should have known from the title that the collection would center whiteness, but I genuinely thought this collection would flip the common trope of Black people & people of color dying first in horror on its head, but it didn’t. 

Every story is about racism or wanting to be white/fit in with white people. Why do all of these characters of color have such racist friends? I will mention that I had the privilege of growing up as a Black person in almost exclusively predominantly Black experiences. All of my schools were predominantly Black, I was hardly ever a minority surrounded by white people. So, maybe that’s why I don’t understand choosing to be friends with or date racists. But, that just felt unbelievable to me.

Another thing that bothered me is this: why does the white guy have to be racist to die first in EVERY story??? In all the movies and books where the Black person or person of color dies first, they didn’t have to deserve it. They were killed first whether they were good people or not. So, what bothers me is that it seems like this book feels the need to justify the white guy’s death with him always being racist. If we, Black people & POC, in these circumstances never have to deserve our death to be murdered, what makes the white guy any different? The white guy can just die without being racist, with no justification, just like us for all these years. THAT is how you turn the trope on its head.

Those things just made this collection disappointing for me as a Black reader CRAVING more BIPOC horror where WE are centered. I usually don’t read racism horror, I see enough of racism in real life, so I couldn’t enjoy this collection with so much blatant racism & micro aggressions in every single story without being prepared for that. Maybe one day I’ll come back to this knowing that it is racism horror and enjoy it more because I’ll be prepared for the anger and annoyance that comes with it, but for now, I won’t be continuing.

side note: out of all the stories I read, I can say that I did enjoy H. E. Edgmon’s story Best Served Cold!

Thank you Tor Teen and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own. 

Wow.

I’ve been mad at myself for putting off reading this book for so long, but honestly, I picked it up at the perfect time. I’ve recently been focused on fostering more a connection to Earth and this was perfect to read while on this journey. 

This is one of the most fascinating books I’ve ever read. It’s very enlightening to hear other’s views on their relationship to the earth and how similar they are to my own as well as how they differ from my own. I love learning about so many Black people who are working to heal the earth. I have fallen in love with every contributor🥰 And I always love nonfiction that is told in transcribed interviews, but I love that the editor gets to have a distinct voice as well through the introductions to each section. You can tell so much thought, care, and intention was put into this book. From the selection of contributors, to the introductions to each section, to the interview questions. Everything was written with intention. 

This book feels like a hug. I’m not sure how to explain it, because the book isn’t cozy or anything, but it’s exactly what I needed in this moment. I feel so full after finishing this. This is one of my favorite books I’ve read all year and one of my fave books of all time! I feel like every Black person should read this book, as well as every ally, and I plan on throwing this book at everyone I know till they read it! (I will literally throw it at your head to get you to read it. So, let’s do this the easy way and have you add it to your TBR of your own volition k?)

Thank you Amistad & NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

At the beginning of this book I was absolutely LOVING it! It was looking like a 5 star read. I loved the characters, the chemistry, the tension, and everything. But, it eventually started going downhill for me. All they really did was have sex and hurt each other’s feelings. That’s not love to me. I loved Cyn at first, but the way she repeatedly hurt Juccee was unacceptable to me. If she had done one or two things, okay, but she repeatedly disregarded Juccee’s feelings and I didn’t like that. I feel like Cyn was only in lust, not love. I really think Juccee deserves better. Plus the ending really dragged for me. I think the end could’ve been about 20-30 pages shorter.

3 stars, mostly because of how good this started off.

This book just isn’t for me.

The writing style is very long-winded. I get that it’s a very character driven story, but I don’t need to know every single thought each character has to the point where it’s three pages of the character thinking about the same topic. I found myself skimming through several times because of this.

But, I was still interested enough in the story to keep going until things that I just can’t get with started happening in the story. A character called R. Kelly the king of RnB, the characters had no regard for human life

(as in they took someone’s life just because they were rude, or killing older women because you *thought* that they *may* have had something to do with a plot against you),

and a male character that we’re supposed to like punching a woman.

Idk I just like my fictional thugs to have some morals🤷🏽‍♀️

“When was the last time you had the luxury of forgetting about your body?”

As a person with chronic pain this book resonated with me & made me feel like I’m not alone in my struggle.

My only complaint is a formatting problem. I’m not sure if it was a mistake or if it was an artistic choice, but in the Kindle edition, a lot of the words are scrunched together making them harder to read. But, I was able to read them, even though it took more effort, so it didn’t take away from my experience with the book. 

I don’t have much to say other than how much this book spoke to my experience with chronic pain and also introduced me to new experiences as well. Here are some of my favorite quotes (besides my favorite quote which is the opening line to this review):

“I’ve always looked at books for salvation, a departure from my body to another in movement, in love, in action, in difference, in change.”

*if you ever wonder why I read books, THIS is why!

“If I could look at the inside of my body, I would. I might even show you. Is the rotting pain in my stomach actually visible as it flinches, jerks, pinches, needles? The writhing pain in my back that won’t stop twitching, what’s that look like from the inside? My joints, are they actually the way I imagine them, lacking enough fluid between them, the bones just clashing against each other, bone damaging bone, two files whittling each other down?”

“I want to honour those, like me, forced to slow down by the occurrence of chronic pain, by the occurrence of fatigue, by the reminder of a body not made to survive through capitalism. I want to honour all those surviving in the best ways they can. I want to honour all those challenging the ways we are told to live. I want to tell you all, I believe you.”

If you’re looking for a book that will make your skin crawl, this is it! The creepy imagery was perfection & it was made even better by having a couple of illustrations in the book as well! There’s just something about the specific type of body horror used in this story that just gets me every time & I love it so much! Also, the overall message of this novel really resonated with me and I need people to read it!

💜 enemies to lovers

💜 slow burn

💜 no third act breakup

💜 a dog love story on the side!

Put a puppy in a romance book and imma automatically pick it up! As a huge dog lover I absolutely LOVED Ashanti and her whole puppy-related storyline! She was so kind and I really wanted the best for her. I loved watching her come into her own and grow her business. And there was a side romance story between two puppies, Duchess & Puddin’, that I adored!😍

As much as I loved Ashanti, the puppies, and even the side characters, I couldn’t stand the male love interest Thad. I am not an enemies to lovers girl. Before reading this, I swore off the trope forever, but since I already had an arc, I wanted to give a try. But, as usual with contemporary enemies to lovers stories, one of the characters always has to be mean & rude, and that was Thad. He was so mean to Puddin’ in the beginning that I almost cried. He wasn’t abusive, but just really mean. He got better later on in the book, but I don’t forgive or forget. If you got beef with Puddin’ then I got beef with YOU foreva! He was also very rude to Ashanti at first, and even though he eventually came to be nicer and genuinely liked her, I just couldn’t make myself like him after how he acted. 

This book was VERY much a slow burn romance. It was a little too long in my opinion. I feel like it could’ve been about 30 pages shorter. But, even though I usually don’t connect with slow burn romances, I was kinda happy that it was slow burn because the romance isn’t what I was enjoying anyway, I enjoyed how much time we got with Ashanti & her storyline outside of the romance. 

This was a really fun read with (mostly) lovable characters and an adorable side love story with dogs. Although I had some problems with the male love interest, I enjoyed Ashanti’s storyline so much that I’m glad I finished this! Anyone who is a fan of enemies to lovers & puppies will enjoy this one!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: parental death