tuma's reviews
417 reviews

It was enjoyable enough. Sy is a bit annoying to me. Not connecting enough with her. And the potential love interests don't really vibe for me. Not compelled to read rest of series, esp since there's a random 3rd love interest introduced in book 3 for her to just end up with one of the two brothers. I don't have time for that lol

Cool story but too fast paced. Wanted more of build up in the beginning. Exciting ending though. Not what I expected. 

Loved this book and it's obviously highly recommended for good reason. I wanted more of some ancestors stories but that's personal. The ending had potential, i loved how it came full circle but the ending itself was a little too vague for my tastes. I'm not sure of what it left me with. Not a fan of vague endings. But overall a powerful read about how the evils of the slave trade poisoned family lines and touches on the impact of generational drama. Also loved seeing perspective of slavery from African side. 

Hmmm... I think I might have enjoyed this better in print. The poetic language in audio was hard to follow. Felt repetitive and confusing, overly poetic. I expected this to be more true crime vibes. But there's less plot than I expected. Ending was unsatisfying. Wanted to know more about reunion with his father. 

Omg, this warmed my heart and filled it with sweet fuzzies! This book made me smile and laugh and almost cry. So many feelings and it was super cute! 😍 Highly highly recommend. Tilly and Ollie are perfectly adorable and the neurodiverse representation was great and I learned more about ADHD and additional perspectives on Autism are always a plus.

Rep was great but quality of the stories of inconsistent for me. Many weren't well-written to me. 

This is a beautiful, stunning poetry collection about the identities and lived experiences of an Afro-Latina woman from NYC. I marked so many entire poems and lines as faves - my copy bursting with post it tabs. Marte's poems about Hispaniola were insightful and thoughtful. They made me interested in learning more about Haiti and Dr's tumultuous history despite sharing an island. At the core of Marte's collection is the power of telling one's own story. Rather than let anti-Blackness rhetoric erase her identity -- she is unapologetic about bracing both her African ancestry and Dominican culture. Marte also explored what is lost in immigration -- leaving a kind of paradise for a land that doesn't accept you as you are, wanting you to become something else. I really loved her way with language. It was accessible and easy to udnerstand-- heart-first vs. Head-first poetry is my fave some poems did make me think but most made me FEEL- warm, mad, shocked, disappointed, understood, stunned, etc. Overall, loved this poetry collection and would highly recommend for folks who enjoy works about cultural identity, home, belonging, family, immigrantion, and history. 

Oh man! I'm soooo glad I stuck it out when I was unsure about this book based on the beginning. At first when Z runs away, it felt overly dramatic but I kept reading hoping the back story wouldn't silly. And wow! Not only was this such an authentically and realistic portrayal of Muslim women and families, it has a beautiful message of how we need community, but ultimately love comes from within and the Most High. I really appreciate reading about Z's return to Allah and redeveloping her spiritual connections. There are sooo many Muslim (and religious) women who would relate to and crave this book. I highly recommend!

I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but not this. Maybe if I had listened to the song it's inspired by, "Goodbye Earl" by the Dixie Chicks, I would have been better prepared and less frustrated. The book is broken up into three parts. Part 1 provides the backstory for the 4 female friends, alternating between present day (2019) and the past (2004). Normally, I love this in novels and I did enjoy how close the friends were and that they took care and accepted one another through thick and thin. But the friends were so vaguely described that they didn't feel like real people. I couldn't fully visualize them. It felt like the details shared were in order to check off diversity checkboxes (yes, one friend is a redhead, one is biracial, one is black and bisexual, and I still don't know what the 4th friend is). 

And fine, not every book has to be character-driven, which is my usual jam and jelly, BUT then the plot has to draw me in. The plot was giving very much "YOU" (the TV show) where crimes are being committed all too easily as if it's NOT A BIG DEAL. Part 2, they kill a person. And I'm just like, WHAT?! You can't just kill a person, willy nilly, EVEN if they deserved it. And then everyone is completely okay with it and everything just ends perfectly and happily ever after...what?! I just couldn't suspend belief enough, but still had to finish it to see where it ended up. Part 3 is the aftermath and it was as predictable as expected. Everyone comes to terms with their pasts and problems. The end. I dunno, am I being too harsh? Maybe it's because I don't read enough thriller/mystery and I'm imposing literary fiction expectations of writing? 

Overall, this is clearly a personal issue, so I would still recommend for anyone who enjoys female friendships set in small towns, and revenge plots where the women win (that part was awesome).

I absolutely loved Arango's debut Iveliz Explains It All, so Something Like Home was HIGHLY anticipated. 

Like Iveliz, Laura is facing real issues that reflect the experiences of young people. Arango offers vital representation you don't often see in middle grade fiction - foster care with kinship due to parental drug addiction. This novels-in-verse opened my eyes to what it might mean for young folks who live with an a family member who is not their parent and what the "reason" might be. How it can deeply impact the child as they internalize guilt for adult choices and behaviors. 

As expected from Arango, Something Like Home helps adult readers come to many realizations about the experiences of young people. I learned more about what it's like having sickle cell disease and the difficulty of maintaining friendships when you're constantly in and out of the hospital. Bird facts, so many cool things shared through Laura's affinity and interest. The process for training a dog to be a therapy dog. Queer rep (Laura's mom was disowned by her family because she was dating a girl.) Normalizing therapy - focus on group/family therapy. 

My biggest takeaway was that even as adults make tough (but ultimately the best) decisions for young people, we should validate their feelings and give them as much agency of their lives as we can. The adults in Laura's life could have easily and should have sat her down and explained everything instead of just ferrying her around. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the content - but the writing didn't hit the same way Iveliz Explains It All did. Felt more simplistic/less poetic? Maybe because Laura is younger but only by a year. I also wanted more on her parents and Benson. But that could be my adult reader brain. Maybe I'm just being nitpicky (ignore me lol). This is an EXCELLENT book for the middle school classroom (5th to 6th) and there are definitely children who NEED this book to know their feelings are okay and they're not alone in their experience. That it's okay if they're family dynamics are different from others.