“Every lemon will bring forth a child, and the lemons will never die out.” Zoulfa Katouh’s As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow (Little, Brown & Co 2022) is a love letter to Syria, each page solidifying that the “where” is always so much a part of the “who” when it comes to identity. TheContinue reading “AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW – Zoulfa Katouh”
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BLOODMARKED – Tracy Deonn
“That dragons are fiercely loyal, and never forget what was taken from us. That eventually, we decide to protect what is ours… and burn the rest.” The second installment of a series tends to be the biggest let down. Not so for the highly anticipated second novel in Tracy Deonn’s The Legendborn Cycle. Bloodmarked (SimonContinue reading “BLOODMARKED – Tracy Deonn”
PURPLE HIBISCUS -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“She had not learned the art of silent crying. She had not needed to.” I finally got around to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2003 debut Purple Hibiscus (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill). While Americanah gave me White Teeth vibes, this reminded me more of The God of Small Things with hints of The Poisonwood Bible andContinue reading “PURPLE HIBISCUS -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie”
THE HOUSE IN THE ORCHARD – Elizabeth Brooks
“On closer inspection it’s obvious that every single one of the apples is rotten, whether they’re brown and speckled with mould, or green-gold and riddled with holes.” October is the perfect month for a slow burning gothic, and Elizabeth Brooks’s The House in the Orchard (Tin House 2022) is a quick read that hits theContinue reading “THE HOUSE IN THE ORCHARD – Elizabeth Brooks”
THISTLEFOOT – GennaRose Nethercott
“May there always be wine, may there always be smokes, may the jesters be kings and the kings become jokes.” “I do not want you to think that what comes after is your fault. I do not want you to think that the ending could have been changed. It is not your fault. It isContinue reading “THISTLEFOOT – GennaRose Nethercott”
THE INHERTIANCE OF ORQUIDEA DIVINA – Zoraida Córdova
“She was the mouth of an ancient god who would swallow the world. She was an ocean of stories, memories, thousands of little moments that made up her whole being.” Zoraida Córdova’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina (Atria Books 2021) is an absolute delight of a novel. It’s House of Spirits meets Practical Magic meetsContinue reading “THE INHERTIANCE OF ORQUIDEA DIVINA – Zoraida Córdova”
BRONZE DRUM – Phong Nguyen
“Gather around, children of Chu Diên, and be brave. For even to listen to the story of the Tru’ng Sisters is, in these troubled times, a dangerous act.” The bones of Phong Nguyen’s Bronze Drum (Grand Central Publishing 2022) were exhilarating; it was an easy BOTM pick for me. Historical fiction, cloaked in myth andContinue reading “BRONZE DRUM – Phong Nguyen”
BEASTS OF PREY – Ayana Gray
Ayana Gray’s Beasts of Prey (Putnam 2021) has been hanging out on my TBR since Christmas. Following Children of Blood and Bone (we won’t discuss the second installment in *that* series), I developed an appreciation for Pan-African young adult fantasy novels, and there are elements of Beasts of Prey that remind me of Children ofContinue reading “BEASTS OF PREY – Ayana Gray”
THE WINNERS – Fredrik Backman
“You run on ahead.” I fully expected Fredrik Backman to shatter my heart with The Winners (Atria 2022), and the third and final installment of the Beartown trilogy did just that. But also as expected, it picked the pieces up, held them tenderly, and whispered hope, love, resilience, and strength. The following is a quoteContinue reading “THE WINNERS – Fredrik Backman”
HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE – Cherie Jones
I rarely post trigger/content warnings, and I try to avoid reviews with them – that’s my reading preference. You may prefer them. And that’s perfectly acceptable. That said, Cherie Jones’s How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House (Little, Brown & Co., 2021) is one TW/CW after the other: infanticide, incest, rape, child molestation, domestic violence,Continue reading “HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE – Cherie Jones”
A Girl Named Tommi 