Review: Daughter by Asha Bandele

Daughter by Asha Bandele

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Published: January 2005

Aya has made mistakes in her life, but she has worked hard to turn her life around and is now on the straight and narrow. When she is out for a jog, she is mistakenly shot by the police. As her mother waits to find out what is going to happen to her daughter, she reflects back on her own life and how they have arrived to this point.

This was recommended by @browngirlreading on Instagram.

This book made me think about how well I knew my own mother when she was in her teens and early 20s. I really don't know too much about what her personal life was like. I know she went to community college and got married and had me by the time she was 24. But I don't know if she went to parties or what she and her friends did on the weekends. I'm sure she doesn't know much about what I did in my late teens and early twenties either.

Miriam, Aya's mother looks back on the life she lived before Aya was born and the years right after she arrived. Each choice she made was to make a life for her daughter. Aya's father was killed shortly after she was born and the manner in which this happens I think is the most chilling part of the experience for Miriam.

This is a touching story that will make you think about mother/daughter relationships as well as how to be the best parent and protect your children as best as you can.

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Review: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: June 2019
 

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is the story of a young man, writing to his mother. His mother is Vietnamese and she herself is suffering from PTSD, but she would never admit it. The letters are to be a way of letting go of the pain since his mother is not able to read. She calls him Little Dog and is frequently abusive to him. To top it off, Little Dog is small for his age and is often teased and bullied in school. He also is gay. How do you deal with all of these things when no one wants to listen to what you have to say.

This was a deep and moving story that touched me from the very beginning. You want to reach in and just give him a hug. You just felt sorry for him. This is supposed to be a novel, but it read more like a memoir.

One of my favorite quotes from this book was "Because freedom, I am told, is nothing but the distance between the hunter and its prey." This quote hit me deeply.

If you are looking for a moving story that will grip you from the start, this is a great story!

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Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: August 2018
 

Kya has lived in the marsh her entire life. Slowly her family members leave until she is the only one left. Most of the townspeople won't have anything to do with her. Although there are a few who treat her well and look out for her. When one man who is considered a local hero is found dead, everyone blames, "The Marsh Girl", but did she really do it?

This was the April selection for our book club. I have seen this book all over my social media for a while now, but it wasn't really on my radar to read. This book had me hooked from the beginning and I was really routing for Kya from the start. She didn't have anything, but she made the most of it. She didn't allow the haters to get her down.

By the end of the book, I was in tears, and I think if you read this book you will be too. You have no choice, but to feel for Kya and her situation.

I highly recommend this book.

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Review: As She Fades by Abbi Glines

As She Fades by Abbi Glines
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: April 3, 2018

Vale McKinley and her boyfriend Crawford have been together since they were six years old. On the night of their high school graduation they are in a terrible car accident that leaves one of them in a coma. The other does their best to visit everyday, but college is just around the corner and they have to make the decision to either move on together or apart. Vale comes from a large family and their support is very important to her. People come in and out Vale and Crawford's lives as they try to deal with the circumstances they are under. The most notable is Slate Allan, a friend to Vale's brother, Knox, whose reputation is not the most desirable. He reads sports magazines and has a heart of gold. Will Vale and Crawford be able to move forward together or is their life better apart?

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Let me say, this book held my attention from the very beginning. Vale is a very interesting character and you immediately want to be her friend and a part of her family. I read this book in 2 days. Wherever I went, I was reading it. There was a huge twist a little more than half way through the book, that made me yell and curse!!

This is a YA Romance book. The characters are all 21 or under and it made me feel a bit nostalgic. Took my back to my college days with roommates and friends all over campus. How much life changes when you get to college.

Vale and Crawford have a lot on their plates. The accident has changed them and made Vale, especially think about her life with and without Crawford. Everything has always been the way he wanted, even the college they both decided to go to was his idea. It's not too bad, though because her brother is there too.

Will this relationship last? Will the past 12 years of their life come to an end after this accident? Will they be able to push through and continue the relationship through college? Will Slate Allan be able to prove to the world what a great guy he is or will his reputation as a playboy be all that anyone will see?

This is the first book I have read by Abbi Glines, but it will not be my last. This book held and kept my attention from the very start until THE END!!



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Review: Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Published: March 27, 2018

Six women from the small town of Yellow Springs, Ohio decide to get together for a few glasses of wine and some conversation on a Sunday night. This is the first time they have all been gathered together like this. Surprised that their baby monitors are able to reach to Clara's backyard, they enjoy the childless night. The next morning, one of them is missing. Is foul play a part of the disappearance or did Kristin simply walk away from her life? Admittedly, even though they have been neighbors for a while, no one really knew each other all that well. Will the police be able to find Kristin? Did her husband have something to do with it?

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

I'm not sure why, but I had a hard time connecting with this book. While I was intrigued by the story, I didn't find myself drawn to find out what was going to happen next. It took me 10 days to read this book which is very rare for me.

What would you do if you woke up from a girls night out to find out one of the girls and her twins had disappeared in the middle of the night? Gone without a trace. Most of the women felt guilty because they couldn't remember what had happened the night before and if Kristin had said something that would help to locate her now. Everyone looks to Clara who lived right next door and who's son was in class with Kristin's twins, but she knows as much as the others, which is not much at all. How well to we really know our neighbors? We're on the outside looking in, but do we really know what goes on behind closed doors? Kristin's husband, Paul, the local OB/GYN seems like the kind of guy everyone would like, but what secrets of his own is he hiding. Did he do something to make his family disappear? After almost a month, the police have all but given up the search, but incidents in the neighborhood, cause them them to question whether they should or not.

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Other books by Jessica Strawser
  and I have it on good authority that she is currently working on another book!

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Review: Falling by Jane Green

Falling by Jane Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Emma Montague has just left the hustle and bustle of life and work in New York City and has moved to Westport, CT. She has left her job as a banker, to slow down a bit and try her hand at interior design. It's something she has always been passionate about and has a great eye for it as well. She finds a house that has a lot of potential, on the beach and the landlord, Dominic is willing to compromise on the changes she has in mind for the cute cottage. Emma sees something in Dominic that she has never seen in any man before. But, they come from two totally different worlds. Emma is from England and left there to pursue a life in the United States and Dominic has barely left Westport. A relationship between these two would never work. Would it?

I love Jane Green books. They are always so emotional and I can always find a way to connect the story and characters to something that is going on in my life. This book was no exception. It was very emotional and the last few chapters had me crying like a baby.

Emma and Dominic have the type of relationship we all wish we could have. They met and had an instant connection Their love for each other and for Dominic's son, Jesse is almost instantaneous. When an unexpected visitor comes to town, Emma thinks that her relationship with Dominic will be over just as quickly as it started. But Dominic is firm in his feelings for Emma and nothing will change that.

Another book for me that was impossible to put down. I may get in trouble from the library for the tear-soaked pages I left behind, but it would be well worth it. If you have never read a book by Jane Green, you don't know what you're missing and I suggest you pick one up right away.

Some of my favorite lines from the book:

This was so me as a kid!



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Review--Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Georgia Ford had just arrived at her childhood home, dressed in her wedding dress, but it's not her wedding day.  As she was having her final fitting, she saw her fiance in a way she had never expected to see him.  So she runs home to her parents and brothers only to find that there are even more problems there.  Always being the fixer in the family, will she be able to solve all the issues she runs into by running away from her own?  Or will this be a time when fixing isn't going to work?

Synchronization is the theme of this novel.  All things happen for a reason.  Because this happened(or didn't)thatwas able to take place(or not). Georgia Ford is living as an attorney in Los Angeles when her world is turned upside down.  She runs home to her family's winery in Sebastopol during the final harvest of the year.  Final harvest is always a big deal for the Ford family and this year, even more so.

I LOVED this book!  It showed so many different family dynamics and so many emotions.  It made me laugh and cry.  This novel felt so real to me, I could see myself in this setting.  I picture myself reading this novel on the porch of the winemaker's cottage looking out over the winery, enjoying a glass of Block-14.  The imagery is that vivid.  I could definitely see this book becoming a major motion picture.

Kudos to Laura Dave for writing an incredible novel that many will love.

**I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Also by Laura Dave:
The First Husband
The Divorce Party
London Is the Best City in America


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