allysonw_'s reviews
44 reviews

Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

One Christmas Wish by Brenda Jackson

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4.5

You Make It Feel like Christmas by Toni Shiloh

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This Christmas Rivalry by Beverly Jenkins

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

What He Wants for Christmas: A Westmoreland holiday reunion romance by Brenda Jackson

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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The Build Up by Tati Richardson

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The author provides great commentary on the publishing world and white authors who may feel threatened by authors of color. As a Black woman, I caught myself being very annoyed with the main character but mainly because she was so well written as an author who thinks she’s deserving of acclaim just because of existing as a white person. The author did a good job as while of highlighting implicit bias people have when it comes to communities of color and how that affects how they write about these communities as well. June is a frustrating character, but the suspense of the plot kept me hooked throughout the book 
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Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

History and fictional narrative are weaved perfectly together and shed light on Black reproductive justice in a way I’ve never witnessed before