Ciara Jones

I still have questions

Revisado: 03-16-22

This book is about a girl who decides to solve a five year old murder in her town that has already been solved, because something didn’t seem right to her. Five years ago a popular cute white girl went missing and said white girl’s boyfriend of color was blamed for the murder during their senior year of high school. Five years later our main character thought the boyfriend was a good guy so she goes digging to clear his name for her senior project.

3/5 stars ⭐️. I still have a lot of questions about this book and perhaps that was done on purpose to get readers to buy the second book. So let’s get into the niddy griddy… First of all, a normal “good girl” who gets good grades has everything going for her decides to bring up a five year old solved crime for her senior project (why not do it as a freshman, sophomore, junior project?)… (oh right because she’s not like other girls). She has only had a few interactions with the guy charged for the murder and doesn’t really know him but has a gut feeling that he was missed judge (this gave my white savior complex). And if he was misjudged by the color of skin I needed more examples of racism or prejudice from the town as a whole. I would have liked more character development overall but especially for our main character. There could have been so much room for a juicy twist but those opportunities weren’t taken and instead we get pretty little liars. There were also a lot of suspicious grown men in this book who I feel were let off the hook. As a reader of color I feel like the author should have really delved deeper into media bias because at the end to wrap it up the final message was “this pretty white girl who died is not who you thought she was and the brown guy who everyone judged and blamed is the opposite of what you (people in the town) thought he was.”

You will like this book if you enjoy YA books, crime books, thrillers and who done it. Also if you like high school dramas (ex. Pretty Little Liars, One of Us is Lying)

My Top Quote:
“Any Questions?”

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

required reading

Revisado: 03-10-22

the book in three sentences:
This book is about enslaved life on the Elizabeth Plantation in Mississippi, where two male slaves Isaiah and Samuel fall in love. The Prophets is told in multiple points of view spanning time. Through beautiful prose Robert Jones, Jr. dissects the slavers, the enslaved, religion, and sexuality.

my impression of the book:
I absolutely loved this book. It goes deep inside the mind of all the characters involved in the tale. I really felt like I knew the characters and even as I was reading I believed and felt these characters to be my ancestors. The novel asked and answered questions surrounding religion and man. And the ending did not disappoint.

who should read it:
Historical Fiction readers and if your interested in LGBTQ narratives.

my top quotes:
“Return to the memory when you are filled with doubt (though memory is not enough). There are no lines. For everything in a circle, turning back on itself endlessly. This is not to make you dizzy, but to give you the chance to get it right the next time.”

“Whenever and wherever nothing encounters something, conflict is inevitable.”

“You are of the common folk. By common we mean dancing, singing, weaving, speaking: the ones who could have held their heads high but chose to hold their hands instead. For they knew that all the universe wanted was their reverence, not their pride.”

“Do not be afraid of the dark. For that is what you are.”

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

3/5 stars

Revisado: 03-05-22

the book in three sentences: This book is about Dorothy Kirwan Thomas who was the richest women in Demerara during the late 1700s early 1800s. This book is a historical fiction novel about Dorothy’s life from slavery to owning slaves herself. The story also chronicles her many “romances”.

my impression of the book: 3/5 stars ⭐️. This book is extremely long and at times repetitive. I felt like I was going on a journey that had no ending especially because our main character wasn’t actively trying to abolish systems that are still plaguing black women today. So for over 500 pages Dorothy is just trying to accumulate more wealth for herself and navigate the complicated relationships she has with white men, which I didn’t like reading about. Also as I got further into the novel I couldn’t remember or even develop feelings for any other character in the book.

who should read it:
Fans of historical fiction.

how the book changed me:
I think this book really made me look at how we all can play a part in systems that aren’t necessarily good in our society.

my top quotes:
“Never knew a moment made better standing still. Never knew an hour made perfect by silence.”

“Little girls need to dream and think they can own everything.”

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

The More You Know

Revisado: 01-04-22

This was a long adventure. Will Smith has always been all access, no question off limits, lets talk about it, especially since the Red Table Talk. I feel like I am a part of the Smith family and that is done by their design. This book was the perfect mix of autobiography, artistry, and life lessons. Finding ones purpose, meaning, and love. Creating a plan and execution and then picking up the pieces when the plan doesn’t go as planned, but also picking up the pieces when the plan goes as planned.

Will Smith is a life seeker. We all know he does the work, reads the books and goes to therapy to find the answers to life’s biggest questions. So I wasn’t surprised that the book was co-written by one of my favorite self-help writers Mark Manson.

My favorite stories to read about in this book were of Will’s childhood and adolescence. When he was cracking jokes on everyone, getting in trouble, hanging out with guys who had bad raps, meeting jazzy Jeff, and evolving a musical art form.
I also appreciated him sharing his successful formula on becoming a global movie star but even that was unsustainable and he had to shift and adapt.

I defiantly highlighted a couple of sections in this book. He dropped a lot of words of wisdom that I think are universal to whatever one decides to do with their life.

The criticism I have for this book are that it is too long and I heard a lot of these stories before in interviews.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

STUNNING!

Revisado: 01-02-22

I absolutely loved this audiobook. I also read along with a hard copy to add to the experience because the illustrations in the book are very poignant to the overall work. Amanda Gorman is the scholarly poet of a generation. This is the second book I have read with an emphasis on Language and how it is the make or break for humanity and how Gorman dissects language in this piece in particular is a masterclass. The research she did and the remix and personal artistry that she put on history is peak expressionism. I learned so much from this work and it needs to be put in like a bunker/museum so in 1000 years when the aliens or who ever is occupying earth can fully comprehend what the American dream/nightmare/reality looks like actualized in 2020.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas