bookdragon217's reviews
591 reviews

Just because someone translated for Marquez does not give them the right to co-opt Spanglish, which is inherently a form of resistance for diasporic/marginalized people. 

Solid collection with some emotional and reflective pieces

"Your story does not begin with you; It inevitably begins with your parents. And their story does not begin with them..."

Happy paperback release day to this absolute gem of a book Circa by Devi S. Laskar! Thanks to @marinerbooks for the gifted copy.

I don't know what made me pick up this book knowing it was going to be a sad book. After reading this one and seeing Marco (Crash) and Heera's emotional journey through grief, I know that it was just what I needed to be reading while still navigating my own grief about losing one of my best friends recently. He was like a brother to me and I totally related to how Heera was so stuck in her grief when Marie died. Reading this one gave me permission and validation and grieve in my own way and to move forward at my own pace.

Grief shows up in so many ways. Laskar's multiple POV's helps the reader see grief in several forms: leaving your home country, losing a loved one, losing a child, losing your health, and unaccomplished goals. The author's writing was so gorgeous & poetic that it managed to convey so much beauty despite the pain. I loved that she showed how grief can manifest as disobedience, risk taking, disassociate and juvenile delinquency. Grief can also sometimes cause survivors to stay stuck in that moment when their loved one died. Moving through grief can be messy and from the outside looking in can appear more dangerous than painful. Sometimes decisions made while going through grief aren't always the best but patience and understanding go a long way in helping someone grieving come out on the other side ready to continue life.  That's one of the biggest takeaways I got from this one.

I loved Heera's character  because I could relate to her struggles of being raised in between two worlds, two nations and two lifestyles. Her parent's trauma about having to leave their country played out in their hypervigilance and worry about her losing her traditions. I also really enjoyed how they showed the healing power of art & how instrumental art is for identity & self expression. 

If you love emotional, coming of age stories that tackle the complexities of being a child of  Asian immigrants, read this one.

"My son does not speak, but his ears work just fine. The words that you say go straight to his mind."

Thanks to @wheatpennypress @hearourvoicestours for the gifted copy. A Day With No Words by Tiffany Hammond was a beautiful story about a day in the life of a non-verbal autistic boy and his mom. He communicates through a tablet. I loved that this book educated about autism, non-verbal communication and exposed the ignorance of people who do not understand autism. I loved how the story highlighted that language comprehension is not only based on one's ability to speak verbally. There are other ways to communicate and not being able to speak does not mean that one does not understand. I also appreciated that it gave the perspective about sensory overload and anxiety from the main character's perspective. Autistic children face so much stigma and this book does a great job of showing their experience. The love between mother and son just warmed my heart. 

This book would pair nicely with these ither children's books about autism:
👩‍👦My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete & Ryan Elizabeth Peete

👩‍👦The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca
 
👩‍👦My Brother Otto by Meg Raby

👩‍👦Davis Speaks: A Brother with Autism by Teisha N. Glover & Nicholas Glover 

"The last photo of Tonye and Nicole showed a man in love with his wife, but pictures could lie. Men lied all the time. Men held you in their arms and lied and smiled and lied...Even with their last breath."

The Nigerwife by Vanessa Walters was just the story I needed to  whisk me away for a while. The dual POV's and air of mystery kept me interested the entire time. Walters' vibrant storytelling brought the culture and vibe of Lagos to life. Seeing the story unfold in pieces through different characters and flashbacks really built up the suspense nicely. The themes of generational trauma, abandonment, and classism of Lagos blended nicely with the overall story. Thrillers after a while start feeling redundant but this one had a unique feel and a cast of characters that had me looking at everyone suspiciously. I love when authors can write a unique blend of characters without it feeling muddled and confusing. Also, the idea that nothing is at it seems echoed throughout the story and fit the reveal perfectly. 

If you're a thriller reader and looking for a new author to add to your TBR, consider picking this one up. Thanks to @atriabooks for the gifted copy. 

You'll love this one if you like stories with:
🇳🇬 dual POV's 
🇳🇬 Nigerian setting and language
🇳🇬 secrets of elite society
🇳🇬 diasporic experiences 
🇳🇬 fast paced thrillers where everyone is a suspect
🇳🇬 slow reveals
🇳🇬 secrets and lies 
🇳🇬 suspicious characters

I can't wait to read more from Vanessa Walters. I thoroughly enjoyed her way of storytelling and her ability to bring the setting to life. 

"A compassion gap exists where we allow people with severe mental illness to be marginalizednand excluded from the solutions table...These souls are relegated to a life of stigmatization, incarceration and institutionalization."

Born Into Crisis by Kenneth Nixon, Jr. is a timely read for Mental Health Awareness Month. As the world watches the events of the Jordan Neely case unfold, it is an all too familiar reminder that this country and corporate greed in leadership continue to fail the mentally ill. The mentally ill are demonized and left to fend for themselves on the streets, prisons and against their own minds with no support and resources.

Nixon writes about his experience growing up watching his mother battle with Bipolar 1 and paranoid schizophrenia. He shares his trauma and fear about his interactions with her and talks about his own healing journey and self-work to come to a place of forgiveness, empathy and advocacy for his mother and those suffering from mental health issues. He gives an authentic and honest view of what untreated mental illness looks like without lack of wrap around services, such as supportive housing, inpatient beds, and intensive case management and provides resources and solutions throughout the book. 

Nixon's memoir is a call to action for advocacy and an aggressive restructuring of the mental health system. He calls for a trauma informed approach which includes intra-faith community organizing, tackling cognitive bias and for active lobbying for funds by politicians and those in power. He also calls for people to examine themselves and how they are complicit in the problem when they don't examine their own biased perspectives, continue to stigmatize mental health and not have open, honest conversations about family members or friends who are struggling. The time for lip service is over as the country faces a mental health crisis of epic proportions. Too many people are suffering in silence. The number of preventable deaths continues to rise due to pushing the narrative that people should just think positive and everything will be OK.

Thank you to @booksforwardpr for the gifted copy. Please read this book & start the change.

"You don't have to be the woman anyone else wants you to be or tell you you should be to make them more comfortable in their own existence." 

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro was a fantastic retelling and reimagining of the folklore of La Llorona stories. Castro's ability to blend genres seamlessly and give us a horrifying yet beautiful tale is her special gift. In this one she gives you a multi-generational story about grief, loss of children, mental illness & suicidal ideations/attempts, post-partum depression, effects of colonialism, the loss of language/culture through trans-racial adoption, motherhood, patriarchy, and feminism. Castro gives us an often gory yet realistic depiction of what healing looks like through reconnection with ancestral knowledge and lineage through reclamation of identity and the past. 

The theme of motherhood runs deeply and is at the root of this story. It exposes how society has failed mothers through patriarchal expectations and taking away of choices. You see the difficulties of maintaining self autonomy and the dangers of removing women's abilities to tell their own stories. Alejandra navigates so much generational trauma and takes a bold leap to end generational curses through therapy that us culturally competent. I loved that Melanie was not only a therapist but also a curandera which allowed her to take a holistic approach to how she helped Alejandra. Cultural competency is something that is lacking in therapy and seeing how impactful it is to the healing process was a breath of fresh air. Spinning the narrative of La Llorona as being a woman who needed empathy, support and understanding rather than someone to be constantly feared is a reminder that the human experience is not black and white and that everyone has deep rooted issues that need to be explored and worked on to prevent the vicious cycles of trauma and pain.

If you love stories about complicated motherhood, ancestral power, feminism and grief/trauma work then pair this one up with:
✨️ River Woman, River Demon- Jennifer Givhan (fiction)
✨️Woman Who Glows in the Dark- Elena Avila & Joy Parker

Thank you to @delreybooks and @hearourvoicestours for the ARC.