Genevieve

First read for Haitian Heritage Month, and it delivered! I absolutely loved The Rings of Revolution! It’s such a creative and powerful fantasy that shows the history of the Haitian Revolution. Emmanuel Jean-Pierre combines real history with magic, resistance, and Haitian culture. I could really imagine everything as I read. The characters were strong and unforgettable, and the story kept me hooked from start to finish. As a Haitian-American, it was amazing to see this part of history reimagined with pride and power. If you love historical fantasy with purpose, magic, and heart, this is a must-read!

This book… omg. It was surprisingly better than I expected. I went in expecting one thing and ended up knee deep in family secrets, generational chaos, and inherited family drama.

The women of the Falodun family gave me a story full of deep rooted trauma, gentle love, quiet hurt, and burdens they should’ve never been asked to carry.

Oyinkan Braithwaite wrote these characters like she pulled them from real life. You know these people. You’ve met a “her,” you’ve argued with a “him,” you’ve seen this family dynamic play out somewhere before.

The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking about what it means to inherit things you never asked for. Things like patterns, wounds, expectations, and how draining it is to undo damage that existed before you even got here. Some parts were chaotic, and some had me so irritated, But every single bit of it felt real.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, so my expectations were pretty high, and I really enjoyed it!

This is a slow burn, second chance romance that follows Dani and Micah. After the death of their mentor, Tanya, they’re brought back together to complete a scavenger hunt that she planned before she passed away. Dani is forced to spend time with the man who broke her heart, while Micah has to face the woman he never stopped loving.

I really enjoyed watching their relationship grow throughout the story. The romance was sweet, and I found myself rooting for them to find their way back to each other.

My only complaint is that I wanted more backstory. I wish we had gotten to see more of what happened between Dani and Micah before the breakup because I never fully got that second chance romance feeling. I also would have liked a little more explanation about why Tanya wanted them to complete the scavenger hunt together in the first place.

I still had a good time with this one. It was sweet, it was cute, with characters I enjoyed following, and I’m glad I finally got to read it.

Since it’s Haitian Heritage Month, I wanted to pick up more books by Haitian authors and An Untamed State came highly recommended by someone in my book club. And wow, this book had me from the very first line: “Once upon a time in a far off land, I was kidnapped.” After that, I could not put this book down.

The story is set in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which is my family’s hometown, and Roxane Gay does not sugarcoat anything. This book is brutal, emotional, and honestly hard to read at times. It deals with poverty, corruption, kidnapping, torture, rape, and the mental trauma that follows, so please check your triggers before going into this one.

We follow Mireille, her husband Michael, and their son Christophe while visiting her wealthy family in Haiti for the summer. After Mireille gets kidnapped, the book follows both her time in captivity and the aftermath of everything she goes through.

What made this a 5 star read for me was how real and emotional it felt. I felt so connected to Mireille and everything she was dealing with. The writing completely pulled me in and even during the hard parts, I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what happened next.

This is definitely not a light read, but it’s one that’s going to stick with me for a long time.

I really enjoy Ibi Zoboi’s writing. Having now read three of her books, I haven’t rated any lower than 4 stars, and this one was no different.

She does an amazing job bringing the Caribbean folklore of the soucouyant to life. I listened to the audiobook, and it was such a quick read. The book is written in verse, which I honestly didn’t realize until the author’s note at the end, but I really enjoyed the writing style and how easy it was to get through.

We follow two girls, Marisol and Genevieve (which made me so happy because that’s my name), as they navigate life and identity in very different ways.

Marisol, a teenage immigrant living with her mother, knows about her magic and understands the history behind who and what she is.

Genevieve, who is mixed, born in Brooklyn and lives with her father and stepmother, isn’t aware of her magic. Instead, she’s focused on living with a skin condition that she believes has no cure.

This book touches on themes of colorism, racism, immigration, identity, and family, all while blending in folklore and magic in a really interesting way.