Book Reviews

The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton

– Short Story –

What if you lived in a world where everyone looked the same. Grey in color, straw like hair, and red eyes. Now what if there were people who could change you to look just like you wanted to look. In however you wanted to look. That is exactly the point of The Belles. They control beauty. The Belles were a gift given to the world after a lovers quarrel from the Sky and from Beauty went wrong, and the people of the world were left ugly. Beauty granted the world The Belles in order to help change the appearances of people to create more beauty in the world, and to make people beautiful.
It is time for this generation of Belles to present themselves to the world, with all of that they have learned in their secluded schooling. It is time for them to present themselves to the royal family and for one of them to become the Favorite. Whomever is chosen as the Favorite will discover the dark side of court and what it’s like to be constantly trying to make someone beautiful who doesn’t believe they’re beautiful.

– My Thoughts – 

Keep reading the book!! I put this book down for a couple of months and then finally finished it when it started to gather such great reviews. I was like “Noooo this book can’t be any good, it’s supposed to be fantasy, but there’s all of this flowery and beauty stuff. Whhhhyyyy” Let me just say I was wrong, it definitely gets better. There are still some flowery parts in the book that get on my nerves, but that’s why I don’t like contemporary. I definitely think that you should give this book a whirl if you stopped reading it, or if you were hesitant to pick it up. Let me know what you think down in the comments! My review that I put on my Booktube channel is also embedded below. Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India
Book Reviews

BookTube: The Mothers by Brit Bennett

I have recently uploaded my video on my thoughts about The Mothers by Brit Bennett. You can see my blog post here. Please watch the video, and let me know what you thought! I would really like to have a discussion about what everyone thought about her debut novel!

Until next time

Keep Turning the Pages

90s Born Reader

Coffee Break

Noir Reads: April Unboxing!

You know, I never knew how big book subscription boxes were, until I was out of school. Honestly now that I’m done with school I have learned so much has been happening in the Bookish community, and I’m so excited that it is evolving and growing! One of the subscription boxes that I am apart of is by Noir Reads.

Noir Reads is a box that features topic on black, African, and African-American cultures, history, and political issues, and also features black authors as well. I started receiving the box in February, it was a gift from my mom after she saw it in an article, but April is my first video unboxing! I will link the video below, but I’ll also list what was in the box.

Contents of April Box: Theme, “Black to the Future”

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, a graphic novel adaptation

“Black to the Future” sticker

Bookmark with a quote by Octavia Butler

Sankofa post card project: This project is to write a postcard to people who have been imprisoned, fighting for the rights of black individuals.

Those were some of the main things from this months box! Check out my video below!

Until Next Time,

Keep Turning the Pages

90s Born Reader

Coffee Break

BookTube Newbie!

Hey everyone!! I’ve decided to start a YouTube channel, or more commonly known as a BookTube channel. I know I tried this a few years ago, but I’m trying again. How does the saying go? If at first you don’t succeed… stop for awhile and then try it again? I don’t think that’s how it goes, but that’s what I’m saying for now.  Please subscribe to my channel because not everything I put on there will be put on here, and vice versa. Thank you so much for hanging out with me! Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

90s Born Reader

Book Reviews

The Mothers, Brit Bennett

– Short Story – 

Nadia Turner is a smart girl from California with big ambitions, but with her mother’s unexpected suicide she finds herself in a state of depression and unable to talk to her father. Nadia begins to hang out with Luke Sheppard, a former star football player that had his career cut short with a leg injury and the Pastor’s son. The two begin to spend more time together and begin their own romance, that they believe is one built in love. When an unexpected pregnancy occurs, money exchanged, someone is left alone at the doctors office, and then the pregnancy is no longer there, the secret ends their relationship. Nadia has no idea where Luke got the money from, but she knows that she can’t tell her dad about it and has to keep it a secret. Her father has always been dedicated to the church, and whenever they need to use his truck, he is there to help with whatever task. After the abortion, Nadia decides to go out and party and takes her dad’s truck. On her way home after drinking, she crashes the truck. Her father is not an emotional man, but this was the one thing that could hurt him secondary to his wife’s suicide. Mr. Turner has no idea what to do with Nadia, until the Pastor stops by and says that his wife is willing to allow Nadia to help her in the church.
While working in the church, she meets her soon to be best friend Aubrey, someone who has been through as much, if not more than Nadia, but has found solace in the church. As soon as their relationship is growing, it is time for Nadia to leave for college at the University of Michigan. Nadia has the ability to reinvent herself, instead of hiding from her past. She leaves Aubrey and Luke, but there are still some questions as to what if they had kept the baby? What if she had not become friends with Aubrey? What did the Mother’s of the church know about what happened to her mother, or about her? The three of them find themselves growing up, and in the midst of a love-triangle filled with a lot of what ifs.

– My Thoughts

I personally have mixed reviews of this book. I liked it, but I did not love it. I feel like it was supposed to bring up so many more topics on a deeper level, but that did not happen. It could be because I was reading it over an extended amount of time, and had to pick it up and put it down. I did not feel like I was reading a story that I have not already read before. I wanted there to be a deeper level of the story. I think it is a fantastic debut novel by Brit Bennett, and if she writes more in the future I would still read them because I think that she writes beautifully.  Let me know what you thought of the novel! Until next time,
Keep Turning the Pages
90s Born Reader