Review: Her Name Is Knight by Yasmin Angoe

Her Name Is Knight by Yasmin Angoe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published: November 2021

Nena Knight is an assassin. She kills for the greater good of the African People and Black People all around. Her past is one that is quite unbelievable and when her past makes contact with her present, she has to make decisions to protect those she loves.

Nena was born Aninyeh in the African village of N'nkakuwean. One day men came and took away everything from her, and her life was forever changed. When she has been rescued from the torture she endured as a child, she learned that these men were dead and she felt as though she could breathe a little easier. When on a dispatch, she finds that this might not be true. Determined to find the people who destroyed her life, and destroy theirs, may be a dispatch she's just not ready for.

This book was full of twists and turns. I really enjoyed it. It did start a little slow, but like any action story, that's the way it goes sometimes. When the ball drops, it drops hard. This book will have you in tears, angry, and rooting for Nena in more ways than one.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a book with action and a strong female lead.

**trigger warnings for murder, sexual abuse, rape, kidnapping**

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Review: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Published: June 2017

This is a memoir of the author's body. How her body was abused and how she abused her body so it could be used as a defense mechanism. She was raped by a boy she thought she loved at an age where you are too young to know what love is.

Unfortunately, I could really relate to this book and the author's story. It really touched my heart and made me look back on my own life and the decisions I have made with my body in order to "survive" certain ordeals in my life.

This book hooked me in from the very beginning. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, but this was a compelling book that spoke to me. We as women go through so much with our bodies. They start to change on us, and things happen to us, that men don't understand and sometimes that we ourselves don't understand. We have babies and our bodies change some more. We judge ourselves harshly about our bodies no matter what size they are.

I think this is a book almost any woman can relate to. If you haven't read it, I highly suggest that you do.

**Trigger Warning for rape**

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Review: Pretending by Holly Bourne

Pretending by Holly Bourne

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Published: Nov. 2020

April has lived a tragic life. She can't trust men no matter how many chances she gives them. She works with a charity where she hears more horrible stories of the ways men treat women. When it all gets to be too much, she decides to do a little experiment and be what every man wants in a woman. She pretends to be Gretel and meets Joshua. Will she be able to prove herself right or will Joshua prove to be different?

Thank you to Harlequin/Mira and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

**TRIGGER WARNING**This book is heavy with conversations about rape and abusive relationships.

This book took me a lot longer to read than it typically takes me. I think the theme really threw me off, I wasn't expecting there to be so much talk about date rape in the book, it is heavy throughout. April is the kind of girl we all know and are probably friends with. A girl who is done with men for good until another one comes along. April takes it a step further though, pretending to be someone she isn't. A carefree girl who doesn't let anything get to her. But with this attitude, will she really be able to be in a relationship? April has a lot of issues to work out. She tries to find help with a local boxing group and therapy.

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EXCERPT

I hate men.

There, I’ve said it. I know you’re not supposed to say it. We all pretend we don’t hate them; we all tell ourselves we don’t hate them. But I’m calling it. I’m standing here on this soapbox, and I’m saying it.

I. Hate. Men.

I mean, think about it. They’re just awful. I hate how selfish they are. How they take up so much space, assuming it’s always theirs to take. How they spread out their legs on public transport, like their balls need regular airing to stop them developing damp. I hate how they basically scent mark anywhere they enter to make it work for them. Putting on the music they want to listen to the moment they arrive at any house party, and always taking the nicest chair. How they touch your stuff instead of just looking; even tweak the furniture arrangement to make it most comfortable for them. All without asking first—never asking first.

I hate how they think their interests are more important than yours—even though twice a week all most of them do is watch a bunch of strangers kick a circle around a piece of lawn and sulk if the circle doesn’t go in the right place. And how bored they look if you ever try to introduce them to a film, a band, or even a freaking YouTube clip, before you’ve even pressed Play.

I hate their endless arrogance. I hate how they interrupt you and then apologize for it but carry on talking anyway. How they ask you a question but then check your answer afterward. I hate how they can never do one piece of housework without telling you about it. I hate how they literally cannot handle being driven in a car by a woman, even if they’re terrible drivers themselves. I hate how they all think they’re fucking incredible at grilling meat on barbecues. The sun comes out and man must light fire and not let woman anywhere near the meat. Dumping blackened bits of chicken onto our plates along with the whiff of a burp from their beer breath, acting all caveman, like we’re supposed to find it cute that we may now get salmonella and that we’re going to have to do all the washing up.

I hate how I’m quite scared of them. I hate the collective noise of them when they’re in a big group. The tribal wahey-ing, like they all swap their IQs for extra testosterone when they swarm together. How, if you’re sitting alone on an empty train, they always come and deliberately sit next to you en masse, and talk extra loudly about macho nonsense, apparently to impress you. I hate the way they look at you when you walk past—automatically judging your screwability the moment they see you. Telling you to smile if you dare look anything other than delighted about living with stuff like this constantly fucking happening to you. 

I hate how hard they are to love. How many of them actually, truly, think the way to your heart is sending you a selfie of them tugging themselves, hairy ball sack very much still in shot. I hate how they have sex. How they shove their fingers into you, thinking it’s going to achieve anything. Jabbing their unwashed hands into your dry vagina, prodding about like they’re checking for prostate cancer, then wondering why you now have BV and you still haven’t come. Have none of them read a sex manual? Seriously? None of them? And I hate how they hate you a little just after they’ve finished. How even the nice ones lie there with cold eyes, pretending to cuddle, but clearly desperate to get as far away from you as possible.

I hate how it’s never equal. How they expect you to do all the emotional labor and then get upset when you’re the more stressed-out one. I hate how they never understand you, no matter how hard they try, although, let’s be honest here, they never actually try that hard. And I hate how you’re always exhausting yourself trying to explain even the most basic of your rational emotional responses to their bored face.

I hate how every single last one of them has issues with their father.

And do you know what I hate most of all?

That despite this, despite all this disdain, I still fancy men. And I still want them to fancy me, to want me, to love me. I hate myself for how much I want them. Why do I still fancy men so much? What’s wrong with me? Why are they all so broken? Am I broken for still wanting to be with one, even after everything? I should be alone. That’s the only healthy way to be. BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE. I hate men, that’s the problem. GOD I HATE THEM SO MUCH—they’re so entitled and broken and lazy and wrong and…and…

Hang on…

My phone.

HE MESSAGED BACK!!!

WITH A KISS ON THE END!

Never mind.

Forget I said anything. It’s all good.

Excerpted from Pretending by Holly Bourne, Copyright © 2020 by Holly Bourne. Published by MIRA Books. 

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Review: Vengeance by Zane

Vengeance by Zane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wicket is a world famous performer. She dazzles crowds wherever she goes and she's sold more albums than most artists. She is known to her friends, which are very few as Ladonna Sterling and even fewer know her as Caprice Tatum. When Caprice was 15 years old, she was brutally attacked by the people she trusted. Having been cut as a young girl by her mother her life hadn't been the easiest, but she never thought anything like that would happen. Now as she approaches her fortieth birthday she hopes to get vengeance against those who wronged her.

It has been a while since I've read one of Zane's books. I used to read her books a lot when I was in my early twenties. This book took quite a different turn that I wasn't expecting. There is always sex involved in her books, but this one was not the same.

Wicket has a lot of issues that have stemmed from her childhood. She has never gotten the kind of therapy necessary for the type of trauma she has experienced in her life. Now she has issues with intimacy and finds it difficult to connect with people in general. Sure her fame as a little to do with it, but trust is not something that comes easily.

The book started out slowly for me. But once Wicket made her big move, it started to pick up. This young lady had been through a lot of hardship in her life. Without those things, she may not have made it this far in her life, but no one should have to go through all of that to find happiness. Zane always made me look at events in my life to know that things can be much worse and for a lot of people out there they are.

Zane had a new book released earlier this year that I can't wait to read Three-Piece Meal: A Novel

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Review: All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagine if you could take a pill and forget a traumatic event in your life. Sounds great right? But what happens when you still feel the emotions tied to that event? And how do you deal with those emotions when you're not even sure why you have them. Months after Jenny Kramer is raped at a party, she starts to see Dr. Alan Forrester to help her deal with the emotions of the trauma. All Is Not Forgotten is told from the Doctor's perspective as he treats Jenny and her family.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

One thing that really struck me about this book, is the perspective it is written from. They say that all therapists have therapists and as a reader of this book, I felt like Dr. Forrester's therapist. You feel as though you are sitting across from him as he tells you the story from his point of view. He talks about Jenny's case, her parents and a couple of his other clients that are relevant to this story that takes place over the course of a year. From the time of Jenny's attack to the time her attacker is caught, you hear the story as it was told to him, by Jenny, her mother, her father, the police detective investigating the case, and even his own involvement in the situation apart from his care of Jenny.

This is a twisted story with lies and surprises around each corner. You never know who you can trust. Trying to attach Jenny's emotions to an event that has been eradicated from memory, is no easy task. Trying to avoid outward influences on the outcome of the situation and trying to make everyone understand that whatever is recovered can not be used in court stirs the emotions of all involved.

Released last year, but released this week in paperback, get your copy today!  Also Wendy Walker has released a new book this year called Emma In The Night released this week as well.  Look for my review to thatbook in a couple of weeks.

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Review--Thursday's Children by Nicci French

Thursday's Children by Nicci French
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is something about Dr. Frieda Klein's past that no one is aware of. She has had no reason to share the secret with anyone until her past comes knocking at her door. When a friend from her childhood who she hasn't seen in over twenty years asks Frieda for help with her troubled daughter, Frieda is willing, but reluctant to help. When the daughter tells Frieda a story that is strangely familiar, she set out on a quest to discover the truth behind her own secret.

This was a book I couldn't put down. This book really touched me on a personal level What would you do if you told the one person you loved the most something traumatic that happened to you and they didn't believe you? What if their disbelief was so strong it had you doubting your own self and made you sad and depressed and wanting to be hidden from everyone? What if telling your secret got you killed?

In this 4th Frieda Klein novel, Frieda is forced to face a past she left behind 23 years ago. In pursuit of the truth, she rekindles some relationships that were probably better left to stay in the past. Traveling from her home in London back and forth to her hometown she left behind and never went back to in Braxton, will Frieda finally be able to find answers she didn't realize she needed.

I've finally hit a winning streak in reading good books. This one did not disappoint one bit and it's highly recommended.


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Review--Those Girls by Chevy Stevens

Those Girls by Chevy Stevens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So the third time is the charm. I have really been in a book funk lately and haven't picked up a book in a very long time. I checked this book out three times from the library before I was able to finish it. BUT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS BOOK!

My mother introduced me to Chevy Stevens a few years ago and ever since, I try to read whatever she has put out. So far I think I am missing one maybe two. This book was so exciting and a thrill to read, I was made that my mood made it hard for me to pick up a book.

Jess, Courtney and Dani live with their father in Canada. Their father is usually gone for weeks at a time working and the girls are left to fend for themselves and work the ranch they live on to survive. When their father returns home late one night after drinking and finding out some disturbing news about his middle daughter Courtney, he is quite upset and hurls all of his anger on the girls. When the unthinkable happens, the girls know they must escape before they are thrust back into the foster care system. On the run from their father and their past, they make a stop in a small town when their truck breaks down. Only things here only get worse for the girls. Trapped for days with no one knowing where they are, they manage to escape again, running for their lives.

Now almost 18 years later, life is very different for the girls who are now women. They have changed their names and tried to move on from the horrific events that have plagued their past. When one of the sisters is gone for a few days, they don't think much of it, but when her niece goes missing too, there are many questions in the search for these women. Haunted by their past the remaining sisters travel back to the small town that changed their lives to try and find their sister and niece, but will they be able to find them before it is too late?

Chevy Stevens knows how to write a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. She draws you into the story and keeps you captivated from the start. Whenever I did pick up this book I would read until I could no longer keep my eyes open. I will let you know, not as a spoiler, but the end of this book had me in tears. I mean full out running down the face tears. I hope it will release the same emotions in you. Highly recommended.


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