allysonw_'s reviews
44 reviews

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

At this point, I’m pretty sure they’ll never be a Beverly Jenkins book that I don’t like. I enjoyed the character Spring Lee and how she didn’t apologize to anyone about her independence and what she wanted in life. Garrett McCray was definitely giving big city boy energy at the beginning of the book, and it was nice to see his growth and him being put in his place by Spring. The declarations of love in this book were so tender and you could feel the substance and heat between these two thanks to Jenkins’s talented writing. Plus, there’s great bits and pieces of history throughout the book that weave into the narrative seamlessly.

Content Warnings

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

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4.5

This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I adored This Could Be Us! It was a great follow-up to Before I Let Go (although I liked that novel a teensy bit more). I love how Kennedy Ryan writes complex love stories that are rooted in community. Resiliency seemed to be a major theme of this book, and Soledad is probably one of the most resilient characters I've come across. I appreciate how Ryan showed that Soledad went through the stages of grief in the lead-up to her divorce (it's f*** Edward over here!!) and didn't shy away from the sadness and anger that comes with betrayal. Also, the representation in this book in terms of race, blended families, and autism was done very well. You can tell Ryan took her time creating these characters and her stories. Another big plus for me was of course, Judah. I LOVE how Ryan writes Black men. She never portrays them as being one thing, which I feel a lot of writers are susceptible to doing. Judah's tender love for his sons Aaron and Adam was so refreshing to read and the respect he had for his ex-wife and their approach to co-parenting made me treasure this book even more. Like I said, I may like Before I Let Go a smidge more but This Could Be Us is an absolute gem I'll be sure to recommend to others.

Content Warnings

Only For The Week by Natasha Bishop

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I absolutely adored this book! Janelle and Rome's relationship had me smiling at my Kindle. I'm pretty particular about MMC in romance books, and I loved how Natasha Bishop made Rome such an attentive, doting, and respectful gentleman who always had Janelle's best interest at heart. Even though this book was on the short side, it packed in a lot of detail, even more than some books that are 300+ pages! There were so many supporting characters and none of them felt stale or like an afterthought. I also enjoyed how the author explored familial relationships, particularly between Janelle and her sister Amerie. If you're looking for a good book to curl up with and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, this is the one! Also the bonus content on the author's website was such a fun treat!

The Seven Month Itch by Tanvier Peart

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed the hijinks in this book. Justice and Terrance were testing my anxiety levels lol! I'm starting to become a fan of second-chance romances, particularly when it involves married couples so this book was right up my alley. I do wish we learned a little bit more about Justice's background (outside of just her history with childbirth and how she was sort of a shy recluse in college) because I felt like Terrence's was detailed a little bit more. I definitely would read another one of Peart's work so I'm excited to see what she comes out with next!

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The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed how The Neighbor Favor balanced depth with lightheartedness. The pacing in the beginning kind of threw me off, but as I kept reading, I could see how central it was to the rest of the plot. (Plus, it gave a little bit of "You Got Mail," which is one of my favorite rom-coms.) The sincerity captured between the characters Lily and Nick felt very authentic, and I loved how passionate they were both about books. This book felt like an ode to book lovers. Plus, I loved Lily's quirkiness, and I feel like you don't get to see enough Black women be quirky in romances.

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have never cried as much as I have while reading this book. Like I sobbed and that doesn’t happen often when I read despite me being a pretty emotional person As someone who has gone through depression and certain types of ideation I was amazed at how detailed Ryan was in describing what it felt like. For example there’s a certain part in the book where Yasmen describes what her day to day felt like at one point. She says “I’d wake up disappointed that I wasn’t still asleep and think, Oh, my God. I have to do this again. I have to be here again.” This is just one of many parts of the book that really hit the nail on the head of what it’s like to really be in a deep pit and feel like there’s no way out. What I love about this book is how layered it is and how it doesn’t hold back in digging into the ugly parts of life. Yasmen and Josiah are imperfect people who went through unimaginable tragedy, and I think showing the conflict in their relationship early on and leaning into the awkward parts of their life as a divorced couple helped to showcase so well the nuances of being in love and illustrate what they had to go through to come back together. This is a book that I know I’ll be re-reading for years. Ms Kennedy Ryan, you hit this one out the park.

Content Warnings