thereadhersrecap's reviews
271 reviews

The year is 2009, the US is a second-rate power after losing the war to Argentina thanks to the development of "psychopigments". Psychopigments are biochemical weapons that produce almost any human emotion upon contact. Kay Curtida is Daly City's own psychopigment law enforcement and when an old friend shows up with a career making case Curtida suddenly gets wrapped up in conspiracy sure to take her down.

The premise is original with terms like blackberry purple (terror) and sunshine yellow (happiness); with people getting hit by deepest blue and watching as their memories fade. It's told in a brooding and depressed (like black and white cop show) satirical LatinX voice. I can definitely see this being transitioned to the big screen.

The beginning encompassed a lot of world building and language introduction, but something like that is needed when creating a new dystopian world. It got to the meat of the story at about 40% and there were some plot points that were unnecessary. At times, I struggled to keep the side characters and places in order while also following the plot. 

I absolutely loved Kay Curtida's character- she feels stuck in her little down tackling small time cases and dreams of promotion that never comes. She mentioned a lot about being a depressive which is why the psychopigments don't have a strong effect. It speaks on the human emotions and what we are willing to do to change those emotions. 

Oftentimes, the characters are seen as "abusing" psychopigments by taking sunshine yellow daily. That instead of working their their emotions they look for a quick fix to get through the day. 

CW: dealth, war, murder, gun violence, suicide, mental health, racism, addiction, psychosis, torture, memory loss, outing, panic attacks, medical trauma, 

Thank you to netgally for gifting me this early copy to review!

That .5 is for the ending 

I started this literary fiction last month and it didn't stick (hello mood reader) but im so glad i picked it up again. It was both saddening and heartbreaking, yet it contained elements of humor that provided elements of relief from the heavy emotions. The combination of heartbreak and humor created a well-balanced reading experience 

Maame (ma-meh) in Twi has many meanings, in Madeline's case it means "woman" but it also means 

"the responsible one". This name fits Madeline because she's been caring for her sick dad since she was 12 vrs old but you could say the name was predictive of her future. 

When her mom finally returns from Ghana Madeline gets the chance to move out and start living a life of "firsts". It doesn't take long for tradegy to strike and for Madeline to spiral into feelings of guilt and depression. Please please research trigger warnings this book deals with HEAVY stuff. 

If you're a fan of literary fiction, you'll likely really enjoy this book! 

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for my gifted copy! 

Maame by Jessica George will be published on Jan 31st and i highly recommend you read it!

Omg this book is everything! It’s starts off so heartfelt and sweet. Then takes on a deeper, sorrowful nature. My favorite is the mother and daughter story. I literally cried at the end. 

I thought it was SUPER easy to read! The words flowed so nicely. I thought the stories weee put together very well. Each character description really shown thru in the text. Definitely my favorite book of Jan 2023! 

liked that the mc starts off as this perfect woman who knows what she wants and strives for it. Then we see her slowly lose herself as she dives head first into a relationship. This type of change is not typically seen in popular books. I think the author did amazing job with the mc. 

I think it took me so long to read this book because I didn't like the writing style. There were no chapters only paragraph splits. There was also a lot of confusing internal dialogue. Most of the time I couldn't tell what was a flashback, thought process, or reality. 

 

But the ending was amazing & I'm glad I powered threw

The Legacy was a great way to end the Off-Campus series. It was a satisfying to read what happened to the couples after they graduated. It also featured real relationship problems such as financial difficulties, and big life decisions. The best part was

the creepy doll that they send to the different couples

omg that was hilarious