Hello Friends! I hope everyone is having a great reading month so far. I unfortunately am not, the last couple of weeks I have not read anything really great and also dnf’d 2 books in the same week. I am hoping the last week or so of July really picks up but so far it’s not looking good, I seem to have entered into a reading slump due to the mediocre books I have been reading.
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris – 3 Stars The Other Black Girl is the story of Nella who is an editorial assistant for a publishing house. After a couple of years of being the only black girl who works there new hire Hazel starts working there too. Nella is so excited to finally have another black girl working there but the relationship the two share is not what Nella was envisioning. After Hazel has been there a few weeks Nella starts receiving notes telling her to leave her job. This story took some turns and I really enjoyed the first half of this book but I struggled with the ending. I felt there was too much left unanswered and am not sure how to feel about it. I still think it’s a great book that should be read if only so I can discuss it with them! I liked how Zakiya Dalila Harris writes and am excited to try more books from her in the future.
Too Good To Be Real by Melonie Johnson – 3 Stars Julia is a writer who works for a website that does reviews for different things. Julia and her two friends decide to go to on a week long rom-com themed vacation and write about it for her work. While there she meets Luke and the two hit it off right away. Both Luke and Julia are keeping secrets from one another but they both grow closer over their week long vacation. Overall this felt very typical for a contemporary romance, there wasn’t anything that really surprised me and me love this one. It is a fun read and I highly recommend picking it up if you are wanting a fun and easy read. I also really enjoyed all the tributes to some of my favorite romantic comedy movies. Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy for review.
The Dating Dare by Jayci Lee – 2 Stars This one is hard for me to review, there was nothing wrong with the story but I just felt very blah while reading it. Tara and Seth’s brother and best friend just got married and the two end up playing a game of truth or dare. The dare turns out to be going on 4 dates and not falling in love with the other person. In typical romcom fashion, shenanigans ensue, there is miscommunication or just lack of it in general. This one just felt very predictable to me. I will still try more from this author but this one just wasn’t for me. Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy for review.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid – DNF – I really tried to like this one but I struggled with so much of it so I decided to dnf it. I am also not sure if this will be one I pick up at another time or not. This story follows two timelines, in the present we are following 4 siblings as they get ready for their annual party in Malibu and the second timeline is in the past and follows the parents of the four siblings. I didn’t mind the story lines for the siblings but I just couldn’t get over a few things with the parents and thats why I stopped reading.
Dream Girl by Laura Lippman – DNF – I thought the premise for this one sounded really good, a writer who after an accident is bed ridden and starts receiving messages from a character in one of his books. I struggled with the writing style of this one and also some of the language that was used. It just turned me off and made me not want to continue with the story. Thank you Faber and Faber and Netgalley for my gifted copy for review.
BeckyBookstore 