I have set the goal to read at least 35 books this year, which is roughly 3 books a month. I was able to hit the January goal of reading three books this month. Those three books are Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Moulite and Moulite, Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas, and Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour. In this post, I’ll get my brief review of each book.
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine
This was actually a very cute young adult book. Alaine is your typical rebellious teen who goes a little too far in one instance and is sent to her mother’s native country, Haiti. While in Haiti, she learns that her family could be cursed. As a result, of her mother and aunts doing, she makes it her work to reverse the curse.
One think I loved about this book is the unconventional writing style. It is not in the traditional novel format of just paragraph after paragraph. instead, there are emails, text, and letters. I love when writers do this! While the story is really slow, it does pick up towards the end making the many pages worth it. I feel like a learned a good deal about Haiti. I will need to revisit to actually retain many of the things that I learned.
Concrete Rose
I am a huge fan of Angie Thomas. I have read all of her novels and absolutely love her writing style. Concrete Rose is the prequel to her best-selling, book-turned-to-film The Hate U Give. In this book, we learn more about Maverick’s backstory, his struggle of being a teenage father, dealing with grief, and fighting off street life.
This book does exactly what it is intended to do. It offers more insight into who Maverick Carter is. It also let’s readers know more about the tensions we see between Maverick and King in The Hate U Give. Angie Thomas could be creating her own character universe. I would be curious to know who would be next.
Black Buck
This book is such a wild ride. Before starting this book, I did not know much of what it was about. I saw it all over socials and was intrigued by the cover. The immediate tone of the first few pages kept me interested. In a brief summary, Darren, who was valedictorian of his class, was working at Starbucks and being pressured by his family to tap into his natural talents. After persuading a customer into buying a better drink option, he was offered a job working as a salesperson for a tech startup.
As the reader, you really don’t know what is going to happen next. I was able to finish this book in just a week, which is not a norm for authors I am not familiar with. Mateo revealed he is turning his book into a TV show. If done correctly, this show will be so good. I am excited if this actually happens.
What’s coming in February
I was given an advanced copy of Sister Souljah’s Life After Death, which is the sequel to her best-selling novel, The Coldest Winter Ever. In my next February review, I hope to give you all the tea on this upcoming novel.
