Tag Archives: book review

Ann, Not Annie – Sage Steadman

Ann, Not Annie, is tired of her normal existence and has vowed to turn things around by dating the hottest guy in school, Jacob Waters. Easier said than done since Jacob isn’t even aware of she exists. But when a chance encounter in an empty hallway changes everything, Ann finds all her dreams coming true and she is well on her way to living the perfect life she’s always wanted. But appearances aren’t always wanted. But appearances aren’t always what they seem and Ann is going to have to face not just cold hard facts, but also her past.

As a person who suffers from anxiety and depression, this book spoke words I understood. It is never easy to lose someone and everyone takes it differently. Ann, the main character was so distant from everyone. She didn’t trust anyone and felt like she was in the world alone. To Ann, losing her father took everything from her. Her mother was always drunk, her older brother disappeared and she was responsible for her younger brother. All she had was detention and her best friend, whom she rode to school with daily.

Things slowly started to change around her. The guidance counselor took an interest in her, her best friend was acting weird and never available, and then there was Jacob. He was someone so far out of her league but a dream to be around. And he showed interest in her. She remembered him as a guy her older brother hung around. So when he asked her out, she immediately said yes, even though there was someone else who was close by that made her feel more than she ever had.

This book is more than a novel. It’s healing. It’s helps you to think of other people and realize that everyone goes through something, everyone has a story and how you can heal your own. It teaches you how bottling up your feelings stops the process of healing. This book is a much needed novel in the world we live in now. Definitely a must read!

Check out Sage Steadmans other books under MmHmm Books.

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Evoke – Review

No Spoilers. YA/NA Romance – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The summary talks of a tale of five friends, bonded in a tight friendship, one day Laney wakes up a sole survivor of a car accident that killed three of her friends. But this story is so much more than that.

Cover

In this story, we are following Laney’s mind as she loses a whole week from her life. We walk with her as she remembers pieces and the pain of losing those closes to her.

The grief you feel in the beginning is a lasting one, it’s as if your own heart has been ripped out. Danielle Simmons takes you on a journey to find a love you never knew was there, a beauty you never saw in the mirror and confidence you never knew you had. This story makes you question the friendships you’ve had over your lifetime and a relationship you’ve had with yourself.

Laney is the smart one, but the bond that sticks them all together, but she is also clueless of who she is to everyone around her. Always in her friend Lisa’s footsteps, she never stopped to think about what she wanted, what she needed and when she did, life changed for her. Her life was something to envy, but she never knew that.

This book was a romance I never knew I needed. It makes me look at love in a new way. Love is patient, love is dependable and love is forever. If you like romance, hell, even if you don’t, you should read this book, because it’s not your typical cookie-cutter love story, it’s so much more than that.

Purchase Evoke here:
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Danielle Simmons

About the Author
Danielle grew up in a small town in California’s Sierra Nevada Foothills. A voracious reader from an early age, she began writing poetry and short stories in elementary school, and continued that passion throughout high school and college. She studied literature, creative writing and communications at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, sons and two cats, where she is a PR executive by day, and

writer by night.

Author Links: WebsiteGoodreadsTwitter

Blog Tour Organized By:YA Bound Book Tours

Self Love – TL Clark

I received an ARC  and couldn’t put it down!

SO I have to admit when I looked at the cover I thought it was a self help book, I was wrong, but I wasn’t. This novel was a game changer. No Spoilers because I want you all to purchase and read this book. 

Self Love follows a heavy set Molly who has an addiction to comfort food. She loaves in self-doubt and talks down on herself because her mother and others have done it for so long. She sees no good in herself, has no belief in anything but, she is a goal setter.

She doesn’t realize it but leaving her job and starting her own business was the first step. She realized she deserved more than a job that she doesn’t love. This book itself, is written in first person and she engages with the reader while telling her story, an angle I haven’t really seen used in a novel before and I quite enjoyed it.

This book at the end left me in real life tears, she goes on a journey far deeper than a diet. Far deeper than she thought she could. Molly does a lifestyle change, a wholesome retreat of mind, body and soul, all while running a new business, trying multiple times to date and licking her wounds from parental let downs.

Molly is me, Molly is all of us and her journey is better than any self-help book. I feel refreshed and renewed from a deep cry and I want more of Mollys life goals and answers. I am sooo glad I was given this book to review and now know I need to read more of TL Clarks books.

I can’t post the cover of the book, because it literally has not been released, maybe before this post publishes it will and I would have added it. But here are her previous book covers.

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Check out her website http://tlclarkauthor.blogspot.co.uk/ and @tlclarkauthor across social media. I am a new fan, and will check out her many other titles. Look for future reviews.

~Loving yourself has to come before you can truly love yourself.

The Hate You Give – Angie Thomas

This is More Than A Story – This is Our Life

Screenshot 2018-07-21 01.54.02As I hear the stories and then find out this movie is about to be made into a book, I pull it out my TBR, out of order, and begin to flip the pages. Yes I had the hardback book, and it made it that more important to me as I flipped the pages in reality. I am shaking as I am writing this, because this book is so realistic, so powerful.

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Starr is your normal kid, I mean she is living in the hood but has the privilege to go to a private school on the other side of town. Her uncle, a police officer, lives over there. But in the beginning, she was just a girl, in a party in her neighborhood. They were celebrating Spring Break and it was the annual party that the local DJ did every year.

Starr never went to these but her best friend/her brothers other sister invited her. She sees her old best friend Khalil come in and they back and forth like it hasn’t been awhile since they hung out. A fight breaks out, and Khalil grabs her out and takes her to his car to take her home.

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Photo by Andras Vas on Unsplash

The blue lights pull up behind them, and while she remembers her parents instructions, she wonders if anyone has had the talk with Khalil. You know the talk, speak only when spoken to, keep your hands in sight and don’t make sudden movements. The talk that every Black parent has with their kid about being stopped by the police. He didn’t, he moved and came back to the car to see if Starr was ok, and the cop shot. He shot more than once until Khalil’s bullet ridden body was on the ground leaking his blood into the pavement.

This is Starrs story of being a witness to something horrible and not wanting to be public, to showing not only did she have enemies of the police, but the streets were not all on the side of justice. This shows how hard it is to know whats going on but still have to deal with death everyday.

To deal with the racism that comes with a black boy being a victim of a cop, because of course he has to be a gang banger or a drug dealer. How the victim was put on trail to determine if the police officer would even be charged.

Screenshot 2018-07-21 02.33.54.pngThis may be a work of fiction, but its not. Its the reality of being black in America. Being in poverty and feeling like you have no choice in your life decisions. In having white friends who go by everything that the media says, because their comfort is more important than our lives.

This book is a reality, and I cannot wait to see how beautiful the movie is going to be. EVERYONE needs to see this movie, and read this book, because the pain felt behind Angies words, are the pain we felt after each hashtag died.

 

We’re Going To Need More Wine

Gabrielle Union’s book tells stories that are funny, complicated and true.

 

Screenshot 2018-07-03 21.43.48The “mean” girl as she called herself, she has played on in some movies and in real life was “that” girl. I have been a fan of Gabrielle since the first time I saw her on a movie, I have always looked at her with admiration gives stories about being and becoming the her that we all see lives her life to the fullest. She doesn’t go in order from younger stories to adult stories, but her life as it comes to her. She talks about getting raped in a Payless, stress of fertility issues, the dating and marriage conflicts, and being a figure in the public eye as a step mother and a black actress. She talks about multiple friendships, relationships and people she has been uplifted by.

Screenshot 2018-07-03 21.41.06In her stories, Gabrielle Union tells her accounts of all things in her life and the meanings  she got from them. Some are funny, some are terrifying but they are all genuine and real. You can feel the emotion in her tone of voice where she needed to walked away, or she choked back a tear. She held nothing back as she gave account to all her stories.

Within this book of essays it tells the story that all women of color fear being a parent, becoming replaceable and just being in control. This book made me look inside myself and realize that I have always looked at every day like a start of something new. I remember being in the corporate world and allowing everyone else to dictate my life, when I went to the doctor. How I kept in contact with my family and my friends. I didn’t get a chance to enjoy life and my children.

Here I am years later and I am glad that life has given me a chance to take a moment and breath. To take a moment and get healthy due to me taking care of my mother and grandma, I have had a chance to take care of me.

Screenshot 2018-07-03 21.47.00.pngAs Gabrielle ends her book talking of her friendship with Sookie and her battle with Breast Cancer, I am in tears, as we don’t all get a chance to enjoy life, because we are too busy trying to fight it. To busy trying to live it and beat it.

I enjoyed Gabrielles book. I recommend it to all aspiring women, parents and even men to understand the things that a lot of us women deal with. Thank you Gabrielle, you have made me appreciate my life more and more.

The Gold Feather – Dani Pasquini

I won this book through an IG competition but WOW!!

There will be some spoilers, but not enough to not make you check out the book. Just wanted to give that warning up front.

So, a few months ago I won an IG book giveaway that included this book, a gold necklace (that will have a totally different meaning now), and a Starbucks gift card. The funny thing was all I was really concerned with was the book. 

Check out her website for more information and updates https://www.danipasquini.com

I read the background on the book and the information that was put up and I was hooked. I had to know how this worked. See in the military they were using orphans and babies that weren’t “wanted” and making them into experiments. They would raise them up and then sent them out to become adults with their memories erased and replaced to let them lead normal lives. 

Until they were ready for them. When they were ready for them, everything they loved died. They were considered dead and they were put in a room given a serum and basically “woken” up. 

Imagine being in your thirties and finding out your whole life was a lie, and the fact that your family could’ve died because of who you were. That was in Lily’s mind. As her memories came flooding back to her and her abilities we struggle with her as she wants to leave and run, but is tightly connected to her Dual Jonas. There powers together are unlike anything I have ever heard and I am a fan. 

I can only imagine the fiery glow that comes from Lily as she is protecting her loved ones and the ones she was sent to protect, but there is so much holding her back. See the thing is the military didn’t know how strong the Duals were going to be, and for that matter neither did they. 

To them they were a weapon, so how do you get away from becoming what they tried to make you while making sense of it all? Thats what Dani did here. She made you think of all that as as the book was coming to the end I was already waiting for book two.

Screenshot 2018-07-01 11.58.51Dani if you’re reading this, I am going to pester you for book two. Your writing is amazing and what an great debut! Yal check it out if you haven’t yet. Its on Amazon, I will leave the link below. To me now, the necklace is a sign of power and a deeper understanding of me. Its my connection to remember whats true. Your book reminds me that its never too late to be great, when its something you were built for.

Review Time but with a twist!

Review - Wooden 3d rendered letters/message

Black Privilege – Charlamagne Tha God

I know I normally do reviews on movies or tv shows, but while driving down the back highways from Arkansas to Mississippi I decided to go to Audible and listen to a book that keeps crossing my eyes. Charlamagne’s Black Privilege. His subtitle was Opportunity Comes To Those Who Create It.

I have to admit with Charlamagne’s rep for having a smart mouth and always speaking the truth I had to see what he had to say. I mean usually when you see Privilege, Black is not what you see in front of it. The title helped but honestly it was all about him. I would of bought it even if it had the original title “I don’t give a fuck and neither should you.” I mean come on it’s Charlamagne. The one radio host who doesn’t give a fuck what he asksScreenshot 2017-05-29 11.13.48 any artist. If its something in the media, he will address it. If he thinks your album is whack, no matter who you are, he will tell you. He has no problem speaking his mind and going after what he wants and I needed his words to interrupt my mind. To tell me the magic that made him who he is.

To my disappointment, there was no magic, but there was more than that, there was words that pushed me to do more, to stop doubting myself and become a better me. Live in your truth, thats his words but I have to admit the phrase that stood out to me was not even his own.

“You gotta put the weed in the bag” This quote was from Belly and he explained that its because most people know where they want to be and always dream of where they should be but don’t put the footwork in getting the job done. You gotta put the weed in the bag first and sell it before you make that money = you gotta put in the work to achieve greatness. Stop dreaming and start working. What did I hear? Start writing!!!

Charlamagnes story was dope. He explains the same thing I have always believed that making it doesn’t always put money in your pocket at first. You can’t be afraid to take that unpaid internship, or take a pay cut if it gets you closer to your dream. Money will come if you follow the steps that are meant for you. Don’t listen to the bullshit from others who tell you that you should chase the money. Naw, chase the dream!

Now I have to admit if you don’t like fowl language or if crude analogies make you squeamish or block the messages you hear, then don’t read it. Because he says whatever he has to say to get you to understand including telling you how you were once a sperm who beat the odds to fertilize the egg, you made it, don’t let that be your only shining moment. He addresses everything and points fingers where they need to go. He tells you to blame yourself for not making it and stop blaming others and situations for your failure.

This book, or audio book in this case, is worth the read. I listened to most of it the entire trip and was so into it that I was irritated when someone (mainly kids) called me from the backseat. This book made me wake up and realize that I have the same 168 hours a week as every one else. As Charlamagne pointed out he is up by 4:30 am and has done more work by 10 am that many have done all week. We can work a full-time job, do an internship and take care of ourselves and our families and MAKE IT!

I recommend this book to anyone trying to find themselves, redefine themselves or trying to go after your dreams. If you need a dose of tough love and not a sugar coating book like most self-help books then this one is for you. I hope that he continues to grow and writes more books, yes, he is a radio personality but I think this makes me want to listen more and follow him. His opinion is necessary, his words are necessary, his push is necessary.

Keep it up Charlamagne, you have a true new fan here!