Tag 2021 tbr

Sheets By Brenna Thummler | Book Review

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Synopsis:

Marjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen year old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything she’s worked for.
Wendell is a ghost. A boy who lost his life much too young, his daily routine features ineffective death therapy, a sheet-dependent identity, and a dangerous need to seek purpose in the forbidden human world.
When their worlds collide, Marjorie is confronted by unexplainable disasters as Wendell transforms Glatt’s Laundry into his midnight playground, appearing as a mere sheet during the day. While Wendell attempts to create a new afterlife for himself, he unknowingly sabotages the life that Marjorie is struggling to maintain.

Book Review:

Sheets tells the story of a girl, Marjorie who works at her family’s laundry mat and only wants to feel invisible. Her mom died not long ago and her dad is basically deeply depressed and won’t leave his room.


Marjorie just wants to get though her school days and work and come home. That is until she meets Wendell the ghost. Marjorie and Wendell eventually end up having a good friendship. What got on my nerves was this big belly Mr. Saubertuck trying his damn best to take Marjorie’s family business away and he felt like he could and say whatever he wanted to get his way.


In the end I enjoyed this story. The art work was nice to look at. I felt it was different and wasn’t your typical drawings but still brought the story to life. 


Rating: 3 ⭐⭐⭐

A Tale of Two Cities A Halloween Novella By Alexandra Warren | Book Review

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Synopsis:

When people think of a holiday for love, they automatically come up with Valentine’s Day.
But who’s to say that’s the only one?

A trip to sin city for a Halloween-themed joint bachelor-bachelorette party is all it takes for Savannah and Lincoln to learn this the… not so hard way. 😉

A Tale of Two Cities Collection:
Cute & Sweet Millennial Meets Over a Holiday,
All With One Thing In Common; Cities.

Note: This is a short novella with a happy-for-now ending.
If you prefer your stories longer, I’d recommend checking out another Alexandra Warren project. 🙂

Book Review:

I found this to be funny especially when Savannah and Lincoln where at the Haunted House, lol. 

Savannah and Lincoln and their friends all go out to Vegas for their best friends bachelor & bachelorette party. This is where you see just how Savannah and Lincoln are into each other.

This was had ome funny moments and I like that this took place around holiday. I liked the story cute and sexy.

I read this for black author readathon 2021

Rating: 3.75⭐⭐⭐

The Office Party By Whitney G. | Book Review

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Synopsis:

I can’t believe that I pulled my boss’s name for our company’s annual Secret Santa tradition…

As the devil incarnate, this infuriating, cocky bastard never gives us the holidays off, and he honestly expects us to be grateful for his generous alternative: The Office Party.

It’s a mandatory, all-expenses trip for two weeks at a surprise luxury resort—where we still have to work twelve to fifteen hours a day.

I’m so over this…

So, I put zero percent effort into his gift. I tear the tag off whatever my sister gifts me, add a five-dollar amazon gift card, and hand it off to him.

It’s not until my sister sends me a text that I realize how terrible of a decision that was.

Georgia: Why haven’t you sent me a ‘LOL’ about the brand-new vibrator I got you? I really do hope that you use your boss’s face as a muse, like my note says. 🙂

If that’s not bad enough, this year’s “luxury trip” will be in my hometown–the place I’ve avoided for years. At the resort that my grandmother owns…

If the universe gets me out of this, I will never ‘regift’ anything ever again..

Book Review:

I enjoyed this, I liked the banter between Savannah and Garrett. Savannah works at a big company with a stuck up boss. Savannah just deals with it because Garrett is her boss but she feels she doesn’t have to like him.

It’s around Christmas time and savannah has Garrett’s name for a secret Santa. And she feels yet another yet she is tied to this man she doesn’t care for, she just wants to do her job and go home. 

Garrett is basically sending so many messages to savannah that he wants her and will be with her. But savannah still sees him as her boss. Even though she starts to feel some of the same feelings as Garrett later on.

This was my first book by this author and I liked her writing. I read this for the black author readathon 2021.

Rating: 4⭐⭐⭐⭐

Black Girl Unlimited By Echo Brown | Book Review

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Synopsis:

Echo Brown is a wizard from the East Side, where apartments are small and parents suffer addictions to the white rocks. Yet there is magic . . . everywhere. New portals begin to open when Echo transfers to the rich school on the West Side, and an insightful teacher becomes a pivotal mentor. Each day, Echo travels between two worlds, leaving her brothers, her friends, and a piece of herself behind on the East Side. There are dangers to leaving behind the place that made you. Echo soon realizes there is pain flowing through everyone around her, and a black veil of depression threatens to undo everything she’s worked for.

Heavily autobiographical and infused with magical realism, Black Girl Unlimited fearlessly explores the intersections of poverty, sexual violence, depression, racism, and sexism—all through the arc of a transcendent coming-of-age.

Book Review:

This won’t be a standard review like I normally write but more on my feelings towards the story. 

Echo Brown has gone through so much, so much I can relate to. I feel Echo’s mother in the beginning just gave up and didn’t want to deal with life anymore. I felt upset with her mom because of what Echo had to go through at an very early age. But reading more into the story it makes sense. 

I was upset to read that Echo was raped at a young age and she had to deal with this basically by herself. In the black community when it comes to sexual violations people in the community sweep it under the rug and it’s never to be dealt with. It’s one of those things as if saying “yeah it happened get over it” or “don’t say anything no body will believe you”

Echo had to be the strong one in the family while still trying to go to school and get into college. It was hard for her. I enjoyed the magical realism through the story especially during Echo’s younger years. It shows how young children see tough situations and it flowed well into the story nicely.

Reading about Echo’s life, there were times I didn’t want to stop reading. It was a real life well written memoir and now I want to read more from Echo Brown. I’m glad I chose this for black history month and for buzzwordathon. I’ll definitely be re reading this again soon.

Rating: 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Whatever Happens By Micalea Smeltzer | Book Review

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Synopsis:

Violet Page is having a rough time. This former popular girl is lost. Her parents uproot everything after her younger sister’s suicide, moving states away to escape the lingering pain of loss. She doesn’t fit in anywhere, but finds herself strangely drawn to the boy she watches view the world through a telescope.

Finnley Crawford isn’t your typical boy next door. Being autistic has always set him apart from kids his age. None of them quite knows how to approach him or interact, leaving him only one friend in the form of his support dog. His lack of friendships lead him to a unique love of space and aspirations of one day reaching the stars. For in the stars, he sees a peace and beauty he can’t find on Earth.

The more time these two seemingly opposite teenagers spend together, the more they learn it isn’t what’s on the outside that counts. So much can be found on the inside if you only care to look.

Book Review:

This was cute story that followed Violet and Finn. Violet is going through a lot she lost her younger sister to sucide, and she is still trying to cope with it all. Finn is dealing with a lot too, he has autism and uses a service dog for help especially when at school. He gets bullied because the other kids at school don’t understand him.

When Violet meets Finn for the first time she feels she needs to be determined because she sees a good guy in him when others don’t. Over time Violet and Finn become good friends, they are there for each other and seem to understand each other’s pain.

I enjoyed the ending this story it was sweet. I do kinda wish this story had a little bit more background on Finn and his autism and how he chooses to cope with it. This is the first book I read that had a character with autism so I find that to be cool that the author wanted to highlight and bring awereness. 

Overall this was a cute story I’m glad I chose this book to read first by this author now I will be picking up others by her.

Rating: 3.75 rounding to 4⭐⭐⭐⭐