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#BookReview Pen Pal By J.T. Geissinger
Synopsis:
The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary, and contained a single sentence:
I’ll wait forever if I have to.
It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know.
Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply?
You.
I told the mystery man he had the wrong girl. He said he didn’t. I said we’d never met, but he said I was wrong.
We went back and forth, exchanging letters every week that grew increasingly more intimate. Then one day, the letters stopped. When I found out why, it was already too late.
Dante was at my doorstep.
And nothing on earth could have prepared me for what happened next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING:
This novel contains content intended for a mature audience only. Due to explicit language, graphic sex, detailed depictions of death and grief, intense power play dynamics, and other possible triggers, it is not suitable for sensitive readers. (Full list of TWs on author’s website.)
Review and my thoughts:
This dark romance story is about a woman named Kayla and she is trying to go on with life after her marriage ended. She is now living in her home that she once shared with her husband and all these weird things start to happen. Things that Kayla can’t make sense of. She starts getting mysterious letters post marked from prison and a guy she hired to work on home Aiden, she has started to fall for.
I would have to say I liked the paranormal aspect of the story and wanted a little more from it. But that’s where everything changed for me. Towards the end of the story it seemed so rushed and I honestly didn’t like how it ended. I was hoping for a better ending which is why I kept reading but the ending didn’t make much sense. Which is really disappointing.
I enjoyed the writing. As I pointed out the paranormal part of the story was actually fun to read and would had liked more from that. But overall this wasn’t my favorite just because how it all ended. Also I felt I was getting confused on some parts I had to go back in the book to re read a passage to fully understand what was happening towards the end.
It was very much interesting and different for what it was. Still not a favorite of mine. But I’ll still recommend it to others if they like a paranormal aspect to their dark romances.
Rating: 2 ⭐
#BookReview: Chlorine Sky By Mahogany L. Browne
Synopsis:
A novel-in-verse about a young girl coming-of-age and stepping out of the shadow of her former best friend. Perfect for readers of Elizabeth Acevedo and Nikki Grimes.
She looks me hard in my eyes
& my knees lock into tree trunks
My eyes don’t dance like my heartbeat racing
They stare straight back hot daggers.
/I remember things will never be the same.
I remember things.
With gritty and heartbreaking honesty, Mahogany L. Browne delivers a novel-in-verse about broken promises, fast rumors, and when growing up means growing apart from your best friend.
Chlorine Sky is a coming of age story that’s written in verse about a young African American girl who enjoys playing basketball and doing all she can to show that she can be girly and be one of the guys. Whenever she is with her friend Lay Li she feels she’s in the way or guys don’t really notice her unless she is with Lay Li. This young girl is doing her best to try and process everything with how she is being treated with her older sister at home and taking advice from her cousin. It’s like she is caught in the middle. Her friendship with Lay Li was almost ruined due to a guy running a game on Lay Li when he showed he had interests in her. In the end she is just trying to understand everything.
Final thoughts
I like that this book was written in verse, this is why I decided to pick it up. Although I wanted a lot more from this story or more explanation of things. This wasn’t a bad story, I just wanted more from it. I do like this author’s work. I read her previous book and I enjoyed that. This is nice if you want something quick to read that’s not written in a traditional story format.
3⭐
Girls Like Me by Tanya Savory #BookReview
Angel McAllister’s worst nightmare has come true. Her best friend, Sharice Bell, has discovered her most intimate secret. And a new enemy, LaDonna Burns, is on the warpath. Gossip and rumors are spreading through school like wildfire, and Angel’s classmates are turning on her. Can she bury the secret and put out the flames? Or will Angel face the truth—and its life-changing consequences?
Review:
Girls Like Me is a companion novel set in the Bluford High series. This is my first time ever reading anything from this series and I wanted to start out by reading this book first. This story is about a 14 year old girl named Angel. She is struggling badly when it comes to making friends at school, dating boys, she feels she’s very different from other girls she sees.
Angel’s home life isn’t any better. Angel’s mom has fallen into a deep depression by smoking everyday, drinking, not attending to her daughters it’s like she has completely given up. This is due to divorce she is going through and Angel’s mom is having a hard time coping.
Angel’s best friend at school Sherise is so determined to hook her up with a boy for the 8th grade dance so that when she starts high school she would already be in a relationship. Sherise just wouldn’t let the issue go.
Angel keeps a journal of her person thoughts and Sherise read it and found out that Angel is gay. This turned her world upside down. She lost her best friend and she became a target a school.
In the end Angel learned to embrace who she was she has the people who truly loves and cares about and even made some new friends from this situation.
Final thoughts:
I enjoyed reading this Angel’s best friend was very annoying to keep pushing dating on her when she didn’t want to do it. Sherise acted very childish when she found Angel was gay and she ended up missing out on a good friendship now she has no one she can turn to due to her bad attitude. In the future I may pick up another Blueford High book based on this one I read. This story had a real life lesson for young readers and it shows no matter how different you are continue to be yourself and never hide who you are to please anyone.
Rating: 4 ⭐
Buy on Amazon: Girls Like Me #21