Tag #4starbooks

#bookreview Thou Shall Not Judge By Dr CI

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Synopsis

Thou Shall Not Judge follows Judge Aseeka Sinclair, a trailblazing, single Black woman in her forties serving Chief Judge. Behind her commanding presence and crisp judicial robes is a woman quietly carrying generational wounds and personal scars, including a fractured relationship with her incarcerated father. This therapist calls her out on her own BS and a situationship with a fellow judge that constantly tests her emotional boundaries. When Aseeka presides over the trial of a prominent gynecologist accused of sexual assault, her world unravels after discovering a devastating her father murdered the defendant’s older brother decades ago. This is the same gynecologist who sexually assaulted her during a procedure, and she never spoke about it because part of her enjoyed it, even though she never consented!
As past and present collide, Aseeka is forced to reckon with her family’s history, her own vulnerability, and the question of whether she can truly allow herself to love and be loved without judgment. This is a story about power, sexual liberation, trauma, friendship, and ultimately, the liberation that comes with owning your truth.
Fans of Kennedy Ryan’s The Kingmaker series and Tia Williams’ Seven Days in June will appreciate the emotionally intelligent characters, slow-burn tension, and the unapologetic centering of Black womanhood, allyship, exploration and triumph

Review/My thoughts

Thou Should not Judge is about a woman named Aseeka who is a judge . Although she holds a lot of power within the courtroom, she is juggling a lot with her past relationship, keeping up with friends, and still maintaining a pokerface when handing down sentences.

Akeeka uncovers a deep secect that unfolds while she is over a trial of a gynecologist about her father. Throughout the story, Akeeka deals with family, facing trauma, friendship, and accepting herself.

I enjoyed the writing as well as the sexual exploration throughout the story. It was a fast-paced read. I’ll recommend this novel to anyone who likes books about women fiction and watching growth in the story.

Rating 4 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to the author for allowing me to read and share my honest review.

#bookreview Peppermint Cookie Murder By Trixie Silvertale

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Synopsis


Cindy Claus is excited to open her own bakery. She’s determined to pursue her passion and have her holiday treats prove she’s more than a Yuletide heir. But before she can whisk up a success, her roommate is murdered and Cindy is the prime suspect.

With finding the real killer the only way to beat the rap, Cindy relies on the kindness of strangers and her father’s trusted arctic fox. But without a recipe for success in the unfamiliar human world, grilling the wrong suspects could put her behind bars…

Can Cindy sift out the clues before she’s done and dusted?

Review/thoughts

This was a nice, cozy mystery about a half elf named Cindy whose dad just so happens to be Santa Claus. Cindy wants to live in the human world away from the North Pole for a while and truly be on her own without her dad hoovering over her. Her biggest goal while living in the human world is to run her her bakery.

Its not long before cindy and her magical white Fox that is passing as a dog get caught up in a murder mystery that she is trying to clear her name from. Cindy while still trying to understand the human world still wants to find out the true killer in Bettys murder.

This was a fast paced Christmasy cozy mystery. I do like the references to the cookies and how much Cindy likes baking. Arikoka the white fox i enjoyed because he actually talks and he passed very easily as a dog and really noone in town noticed. I do plan to read more from the author as well as finish the series.

Rating

4.75 🌟🌟🌟🌟

#BookReview / #BlogTour Lost Girls of Kato By Quinn Avery @lovebookstours #bookpromotions

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Synopsis:

Fans of Hidden Pictures and The Lovely Bones will enjoy this unconventional love story with a harrowing mystery and a bond that transcends time…

In the year 1986, 12-year-old Jackie Tanner leads a desolate existence alongside a flighty older sister and an absent mother. It isn’t until Jackie meets an older boy on the banks of the river that she understands the value of love and the bonds of friendship. But J.R. is only in southern Minnesota because his father, a police detective, is aiding local authorities in the search for missing girls. After the community goes into lockdown to protect their children, Jackie and J.R. navigate through the highs and lows of their complicated lives as close confidants.

In the year 2018, 32-year-old Sterling Pruitt is inexplicably lured from Los Angeles to a small Midwestern city where her lifelong dreams involving a little girl become even more vivid…tangible, even. When Sterling learns of the city’s haunting secrets, she confides in Theo, the handsome yet sullen carpenter hired to renovate her new home. Together, Sterling and Theo will question both their destinies and their grips on reality.

Once Sterling begins to understand the gravity of her dreams, she’ll do everything in her power to unlock the mystery behind the abductions in 1986. This enchanting, heartfelt, and often agonizing tale of friendship and tragedy reminds us the bonds of true love can etch a permanent place into our hearts.

Review/ my thoughts:

The girls of Kato is a mystery told in two perspectives, Jackie in the year 1987 and sterling in the year 2018. Jackie is very close to her best friend JR and they both care about each other. JR is being abused by his dad. Jackie wants to help get JR away from his dad. One night leaving JR house she never came back home. The town says that she was kidnapped. During this time a lot of kids were being kidnapped and the town enforced a curfew.

In 2018 sterling moves to the town of Kato for a social work position. She meets a man named theo who is there to fix up things around her place.

Sterling finds out about the kids who were once kidnapped in 1987 and she wants to know more about the case. She has a strong passion to getting Jackie and the other girls back home or at least trying to find out what really happened to them.

Sterling ends up finding out a lot with the connection with Theo and the missing girls. A lot of information comes out about the missing girls that finally comes to the surface.

I like that this story was told in two perspectives. It gives the more of a backstory to the present. I do like the character sterling she was persistent with finding answers in the case of the missing girls. I do all like the little romance this story gives as well.

Rating 3.75⭐

#BookReview The Smartest Kid In The Universe By Chris Grabenstein #middlegrade

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Review

This is a fast paced middle grade book, the first in a series about a middle schooler named Jake. He can be considered lazy and he doesn’t care about school all that much. He just shows up because it’s a great opportunity to be with his friends.

One evening when having dinner at his mom’s job he came across a jar of jelly beans. He didn’t think anything of them. Until a few hours later he was spewing facts and all kinds of knowledge from his brain that his family and best friend KoJo were surprised he knew.

Jake and Kojo put two and two together and realized that the jelly beans were the ones making Jake smart. With the help of the jelly beans and all the important knowledge it has given Jake. He was able to help his little sister with Spanish and help solve a big problem for his friend Grace and her family, and most importantly save his middle school.

I really enjoyed reading this story and how adventurous it was.

Rating: 4 ⭐

Synopsis

12 year old Jake’s middle school is about to be shut down–unless Jake and his friends can figure out how to save it. When Jake spies a bowl of jellybeans at the hotel where his mom works, he eats them. But those weren’t just jellybeans, one of the scientists at his mom’s conference is developing the world’s first ingestible information pills. And THAT’S what Jake ate.
Before long, Jake is the smartest kid in the universe. But the pills haven’t been tested yet. And when word gets out about this new genius, people want him. The government. The mega corporations. Not all of them are good people Can Jake navigate the ins and outs of his newfound geniusdom (not to mention the ins and outs of middle school) and use his smarts to save his school? BONUS Includes extra brainteasers to test your smarts

Where to buy

Purchase book from Amazon

#BookReview Dark Sons By Nikki Grimes

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Synopsis:

Sam can’t believe it when his father leaves the family to marry another woman–and a white woman, at that. The betrayal cuts deep–Sam had been so close to his dad, he idolized him. Now who can he turn to, who can he trust? Even God seems to have ditched him.

Ishmael is his father’s first son, the heir, his favorite. But when his father is visited by mysterious strangers who claim that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, will finally give birth to a legitimate son, Ishmael is worried. And when baby Isaac arrives, Ishmael becomes more isolated from his father. Could Abraham’s God, who had spoken to Ishmael’s mother, to whom he has made countless sacrifices, now betray him in favor of this new son?

Review/Thoughts:

Dark Son’s is told in two perspectives written in verse. There is the perspective of Ishmael who is having a hard time of having “two mom” after his dad has another child with a new woman. Ishmael doesn’t know how to truly feel about this, he does know that he is hurt because the time spent with his new wife has left him and mom alone.

The second perspective is of Sam who is basically going through the same thing.  His dad remarries and soon after he has a new baby boy. Sam is hurt and confused as to why his dad would leave him for a women and have a new child. He questions God throughout the story asking questions like “if my Dad really loved me why did he leave me?”

Both Ishmael and Sam are trying to figure out ways to cope with this new change yet try to let this new change affect their relationship with God and their family. They both have anger towards their family and a feeling of not being loved or wanted.

In the end they both learn to accept the change and love their new brothers and take acceptance for the new families their fathers have created.

I always enjoyed Nikki Grimes writing. Books written in verse in my favorite type of writing style. I also liked that she used small pieces of the Bible to tell the story of Dark Son’s.

Rating: 4⭐

#BookReview Garvey’s Choice By Nikki Grimes

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Synopsis:

Garvey’s father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading—anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey’s life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus, Garvey finds a way to accept himself, and a way to finally reach his distant father—by speaking the language of music instead of the language of sports.

Review:

This story was about a boy named Garvey who is really into things like science, reading, math, and singing. His dad really wants him to be more tough and play football. Garvey doesn’t know how to communicate with his dad the way, so he turns to food as comfort. Garvey is gaining more weight and his classmates and his sister have all noticed. So he tries to do a crash diet which doesn’t work.

In the end with help from his friends Joe and Manny he learned to accept himself for who he is. Take control of his weight and learn to talk to his dad better. I really enjoyed this, especially because it was written in my favorite writing style – verse.

Rating: 4⭐