Well…it happened. My first week lull from blogging. Sigh. LOL!!! I figured this was going to happen at some point in this renewed blogging experience of mine. Sooo…let’s just keep going, yeah?
So what has happened over the past two weeks in my life…? Well, we got to see family for the FIRST TIME since the pandemic shutdown!! In my last post, I talked about how we were locking down for 2 weeks prior to see my husbands’ family. In addition to locking down, several of us also got tested and we were all in the clear! It was so nice to be reunited with family and it was just lovely to get to spend quality time with loved ones, after so much physical and social isolating due to the pandemic. In addition, my family is in Chicago and to be honest, I don’t know when I’ll get to visit them 😦 While this makes me sad, it was rejuvenating to see my husbands’ family to still get quality family time. I love my in-laws! I really lucked out! ❤
Of course after that, we went back to “normal” quarantined life, but not locked down. Thank goodness! There is something that definitely happens to the mind when you know you absolutely cannot leave the house. I am definitely reminded every day of the privileges that I have with my housing and job situation, knowing that there are many others that do not have the same situation as myself. So…part of what I try to do is amplify those voices. I am working on doing my part in speaking up and out, contacting officials (both local and state) and continue to donate my resources where I can. I encourage those of you with the means to do the same…this is the time to be mindful of the small yet meaningful impact you can have 🙂
Now to move on to the books I’ve been reading! I have gotten up to 60 BOOKS!!! According to Goodreads, I am currently 2 books ahead of schedule and I am feeling motivated to still hit my 100 books goal!! 😀 I’ve never actually hit 100, so I am definitely going to continue to find books that motivate me and encourage me to keep going!!
Top Highlight Read: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
This one was a TOUGH one!! I read such incredibly impactful books, so it was definitely difficult to just pick one highlight read. However, this one just left me in such awe that I 
couldn’t not pick this one was my Top Highlight Read. This book was masterful in keeping me engaged. The characters were so real and what I was reading felt so much like experiences I have heard in my real life, and so this book was also a deeply painful read. It was the most visceral book that I have read in a long time and I am amazed at Kiley Reids’ ability to create such complex characters and the right cadence to keep me on the absolute edge of my seat. In this book, we follow three characters: Emira, a Black babysitter to the daughter of Alix, a White woman who has built her brand on getting what she wants; and then you also throw in Kelley, a White male who believes that he is an everyday true ally to the Black community. The story opens with Emira being called while out at a birthday party by Alix to take her daughter to the store while her and her husband deal with a situation at the house. Emira shows up to take the beloved child to the store and is then accused of kidnapping the child. Kelley happens to be there and catches the whole thing on film. The story continues along the tension that is created between the triangle connecting these three individuals. Like I already mentioned, this book creates such a visceral reaction because it’s real. The events in this book happen today and the way that these characters interact are how people interact with one another today. This book is the perfect social commentary on race relations in our country today. This book is also the perfect breakdown of the harm in the over emphasizing of the White ally. This book was incredible and if you haven’t picked it up yet, I highly recommend that you do so!
The Deep by Rivers Solomon ~ I read this one via audiobook and it was narrated by Daveed Diggs. I picked this one up off a recommendation by a Booktuber by the name of Jesse and I am so glad that I picked this up. The audiobook was super short and I got 
through this in one day. This book follows the underwater descendants of African slave women who were tossed overboard and the evolution of their underwater society since then. A historian is selected that is tasked with carrying the collective memories of the people and it is a demanding and painful task to take. The current historian is Yetu and Yetu flees to the surface because of the pain that they experience in bearing all of these painful memories. At the surface, Yetu ends up learning so much more about her people, their past and their possible future. This book is also based off of a song called “The Deep” by the rap group Clipping. While short, this book truly packs a punch. This book makes you think and reflect, and feel Yetus’ pain alongside them. Listening to it was an even more enriching experience, as you could hear the pain in the narrators’ voice as they read the story. If you haven’t picked this up, I highly recommend it. This is a must read for everyone!!
Black Panther, Vol. 1: A Nation Under Our Feet by Ta-Nehisi Coates ~ This was a fascinating read. A reimagined Black Panther story by the incomparable Ta-Nehisi 
Coates. In this, we actually follow T’Challa and the dramatic upheaval in Wakanda against him. There is a superhuman terrorist group that calls itself The People and they spark a violent uprising, which causes T’Challa to have to figure out what it means to rule and how to rule. This was a surprisingly painful read. You could feel the pain of the people and the betrayal that they felt of T’Challa. Their disappointment in their leader leaked from the page, and I was amazed at the impact that this comic had on me in such a short amount of time. I highly recommend giving this a read, if you are looking for something that will definitely make you think.
The Stone Sky (#3) by N.K. Jemisin ~ This was the final book in The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin and I think this book solidified N.K. Jemisin as one of my new FAVORITE authors!! I probably can’t say much about this book as it is the finale in a trilogy, but I 
can give you a brief synopsis of the first book. We follow Essun, an orogene (someone who can manipulate the Earth) and her journey to find her daughter who has been taken by her husband, who killed their son. Yeah…complicated family dynamics for sure. In this book, the Earth is ending…again. Which throws a wrench into Essuns’ journey. There is so much more to this story, but I don’t want to give too much away. This is, probably, hands down the BEST FANTASY trilogy I have ever read. It is so immersive, creative and deeply complex. It is fantastically woven together and each book literally left me breathless. I cannot wait to pick up more from N.K. Jemisin and I do not anticipate any of her books ever letting me down.
I also read How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi in an effort to have a shared antiracism read for my husband and I. I would like to dedicate a whole separate post though to this, as I would like the room to share more of my thoughts and go a little bit deeper. My husband and I do aim to read an antiracism book together every month, so this will be an Antiracism Book Club of sorts 🙂 Be on the lookout for that blog post to come!!
Thank you for being with me for another round of my reviews!! I have been reading at a much faster pace than I have in a really long time and I am feeling so good about the books that I am reading. I am excited for the books on my upcoming TBR in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for some good stuff!! 😀
I hope everyone is keeping safe, wearing your masks and being good and kind to one another! Until next time, BYEEEEE!!!
the prevention of the COVID-19 spread, which means that we haven’t seen our families since the beginning of the year (I haven’t seen mine since last year…). We are SO EXCITED to see his family this coming weekend, but wanted to make sure to take the right precautions. So we have been locking down for 2 weeks and got tested this past weekend – double negatives in this house!!
on the matter. Wear your masks. Maintain physical distance from others. Get tested when you can. Show compassion towards others. This compounded with the current Black Lives Matter movement/social unrest is creating a heavy atmosphere for a lot of people…so please have compassion for others. You don’t know the invisible battles that people are battling or how people are feeling/experiencing the current time. I know I haven’t shared too much, here or on my socials, about how I’m feeling…but honestly, it’s been tough. So, let’s show compassion for one another…and one of those ways is to wear a freakin’ mask!!
than I anticipated it to hit me. This was more than just a woman who loved to read more than be around people, but this was a woman who suffered from pretty intense social (and maybe general?) anxiety and needed to maintain a sense of order in her life in order to keep on top of it. As someone who has pretty moderate to severe anxiety, I so related to Nina. I saw myself in her as we looked at her planner pages, as she explained to her potential love interest why she maybe couldn’t make space for him and how she thought about plans changing on her. This book was, at times, hard to get through because of just how much I saw myself in the character and how much I felt for Nina. The only reason why this wasn’t a perfect book for me was honestly because of the family plot line of learning about her new family. It felt so stunted and honestly, I could’ve done without it. Other than that, I really enjoyed this and I am looking forward to reading more from Abbi Waxman in the future!
hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He is raised by his devoted mother and grandmother who do their best to help him adjust to society and help create cues for him to interact with others, despite his disability. But then on Christmas Eve, a random act of violence kills his grandmother and leaves his mother in a comatose state, which renders Yunjae alone. As Yunjae falls deeper into isolation and loneliness, a bully arrives at his school named Gon…and they strike up an odd and peculiar friendship. This book was so interesting as it’s told from the perspective of Yunjae and since I listened to it, you could really feel the absence of feelings from Yunjae. As this is also set in Korea, it’s interesting to listen to Yunjae maneuver through a more conservative society in how they treat those with disabilities. The friendship with Gon is also odd and hopeful as they both learn just how much they have in common. Honestly, this book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time and I highly recommend it!!
was definitely no different. This Cozy Mystery series is set in Chagrin Falls, Ohio with our lead protagonist, Bronwyn Crewse. Bronwyn has just taken over the family ice cream shop and is excited and determined to build the family business back to the small town prestige it has always had. Of course, she runs into a few speedbumps and the day of her opening, a snowstorm hits making it so that her first day is a major fail. Instead of letting that get her down, she is inspired to make a snow-based ice cream and as she ventures out to get fresh snow…she stumbles upon a dead body!! Dun dun dun!!!! Oh my…I am loving these Cozy Mysteries and how fun they are. The characters are always full of life and the mysteries are honestly quite fun to attempt to solve. I thought this was a great start to a new series and I loved the individual and family character dynamics and the portrait of this small town. I will say, however, I felt that it was a little all over the place…and I’m hoping to see some more linear plot lines in the coming books. Other than that, I couldn’t solve the mystery, so I was pleasantly surprised at the reveal. I can’t wait to keep reading books from Abby Collette in this series!! 😀
characters and the Asia Village plaza, as a whole! In this installment, we follow Lana and the rest of our characters into Cleveland’s Best Noodle Contest where Lana’s family restaurant is competing to get the coveted title of Best Noodles. After the first round, one of the judges who happens to be a local, unpopular food critic gets an ominous threat and then is later found dead!! Lana is off on another adventure to figure out who is threatening the judges, the contest and how to save her family’s restaurant! I know these are so corny, but I love them!! They’re so easy to read and they’re just so fun and wholesome. I am loving them and I am looking into other Cozy Mystery books, so you’ll definitely be seeing more!
nonconforming folk. This was a series of essays written by George sharing their life experiences and how they maneuvered through the world while exploring their queer selves in a Black body. This memoir touched on sex, gender expression and race…and not only is it a timely manifesto, but one of the most honest and bravest pieces I’ve ever consumed. It was so easy to listen to and honestly just felt like George talking to me, which I appreciated. I adored the candor but also the ease of writing style, as if George was just sitting down to talk to you at a coffee shop, a bar or in your living room. It created a warm and safe atmosphere to just dig into their life experiences and I am forever grateful for the opportunity.
deeply passionate about her area of study and I felt that it gave her character so much more depth, in contrast to her anti-relationship stance. Zafir, on the other hand, is so soft and gentle, but comes from a rougher background of being a retired pro-rugby player. Zafir also suffers from anxiety and as someone with diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder…I found the portrayal to feel so real. It was honest. It wasn’t over the top, and it also didn’t consume every single part of Zafir’s mind. Their dynamic was also so genuine and honest, and the slowest burn, sexiest romance you’ll EVER READ!! I love loved it! And I cannot wait to keep reading Talia Hibbert’s books!! 😀
heterosexual privilege I came to assess. Why was I assuming this of Nicos’ story, feelings and thoughts…and would I have thought that of anyone else sharing the same story, feelings and thoughts? I deeply appreciated that privilege was actually something that Nico addressed throughout the entirety of their book. Nico acknowledged not only their White privilege, but their cis, hetereo passing privilege and how that informed the way they maneuvered through the world and advocated for others. I appreciated their candor and their brutal vulnerability to invite us into some of the darkest, hardest parts of themselves…which forced me to acknowledge and assess my own privilege, and reassess my own bias. If you haven’t exposed yourself to many stories from our gender nonconforming, fluid, non-binary community members, please…do so. It is so important to not only hear and amplify their stories, but look at ourselves in the mirror. Thank you Nico for your bravery and vulnerability.
Skyes’ body type is so important as Korean culture is so toxic towards body types outside of a size 0, and it is so sad to see. Korean culture for so long has been so toxic and brainwashing, causing so many young people to believe that they needed to keep lightening their skin, get skinnier, get cosmetic surgery, etc, in order to be beautiful. When in fact, they deserve to be told that they are beautiful just the way they are. This book was honest…so brutally honest. It doesn’t end in the happiest of endings, and it also doesn’t shy around the brutality of Korean culture. This book made me uncomfortable at times because of how honest it was…and I so appreciated that. It was a breath of fresh air to read an author who is willing to not sugar coat and skip straight to the happy ending that doesn’t exist for so many people. I appreciated that she created this strong protagonist for young Korean girls to look up to, who is not only flawed themselves…but also strong, beautiful, intelligent and so electric. I am excited to keep reading from Lyla Lee!
I’m using 1-lb weights. I thought that after doing said intense weight-lifting program, that these 1-lb weights wouldn’t feel like anything. I was already set to skip straight up to 5-lb weights, which is the highest that is recommended with this program. But oh jeez…was I definitely wrong!!!! The hardest exercises in this program are genuinely these weighted pulsing movements using the 1-lb weights. And this was such a needed humbling reminder. A reminder that I am continuously growing and that my goal should never be of “arriving”, but of continuous growth. This reminder that I assumed that the weight-lifting fitness program would be harder and somehow more satisfying than the Barre program.
without a trace. No one knows where the twins would have gone. Ten years later, one of the twin sisters comes back with her daughter. The other twin is still disappeared, as she has “passed over” and is now living life as a white woman. This book is a generational story following not only these sisters, but also their daughters and explores colorism and the idea of “passing over”. This book really reminded me of other generational stories like Homegoing and Pachinko, both of which I also loved. I found myself often breathless and deep in reflection about the exploration of colorism, racism and “passing over” and what that means within the Black community. Reading from both of the twins’ perspectives really hit me emotionally, as you read about the straining of their relationship as they drift apart and the vast differences in their experiences. This book is EXCELLENT and I gave it the full 5-stars. I highly recommend this book and I will definitely be picking up more Brit Bennett moving forward!!
definitely went back to the style of Christina Lauren books that I really enjoyed. I found the characters super endearing and the plot super interesting. I liked that the romance was centered around the assistants of this power HGTV bickering couple, and so it felt like two different plot lines happening. The slow breaking apart of one relationship, while the slow building up of another. This book also alternated not only between the two protagonists, but also through other media pieces like transcripts, blogs, Reddit-like posts, etc. I liked the multi-media mix up in this book and I found that it definitely boosted up the plot. All in all, I am happy to report that this definitely drew me back into Christina Lauren!!! ❤
liked this one SO MUCH MORE than the first one. I definitely see the appeal of the “Cozy Mystery Books” as I’m not a huge fan of intense thrillers/mysteries/horror books, but I do like some mystery-spice in books. I just can’t read things that feel super intense and this genre of books feel right up my alley. This series follows Lana Lee and her family’s Chinese restaurant, that is part of a bigger plaza full of Chinese businesses. Lana had left her last job and had left a serious relationship, so is now filling the space with working at her parents’ restaurant before she can pick her life back up again. In this book, Lana is left in charge of her parents’ restaurant as her parents have to go to Taiwan to take care of her grandmother. This definitely throws a wrench in Lanas’ plans, but not more than the double-murder that is found in the store next door. Thus, Lana finds herself in another mystery in the midst of Asia Village. This is honestly so much fun and I have such a fun time reading these. These are fast-paced because it’s a murder mystery, but it’s not too intense that I can’t read through these super quickly. I have found myself surprised by both books so far, which I am definitely pleased with 🙂 I will definitely be continuing with this series and looking into more Cozy Mystery books, so if you have any recommendations for me, please send them my way!! 😀
by Akwaeke Emezi. I read this for the recent 48-hr Queer Blackathon, in support of the Black LGBTQIA+ community and the recent loss that the community has faced due to police brutality. I picked up Freshwater because a) one of my favorite BookTubers, Jesse at Bowties and Books, raves about it and b) I need to broaden my reading within the LGBTQIA+ community. I have found that my reading has been very limited to the LGB community and that’s not right. I can’t claim any kind of attempt in allyship if I’m not supporting the whole community and currently with the hate/discrimination/murdering of the Black trans community, I knew that this was a read that I couldn’t pass by in this moment. And….I urge you all to do the same. If you are claiming to be an ally or are working towards being an ally towards a certain community, then make sure that you are stepping up and doing the work.
this book or so, I actually wasn’t into it. I couldn’t connect to the main character and the story fell flat. But then…it all just hit me. The internalized oppression of a Korean-American child of immigrants and the halted family relationship due to generational differences were experiences that spoke too true to me. By the time I got to the end of the book, I was speechless and left in tears. This book forced me to really re-look at my own relationship with my parents, with my Korean-American identity and what that means for me in the current Black Lives Matter movement. What it means to be an ally to the Black community and how to continue to honor my own identity as a woman of color in America. I’m excited to read the follow up to this novel, as this is definitely going up there as one of my favorites of the year.
Night after wanting to read it for a long time. This YA Nigerian-influenced fantasy duology intrigued me with the synopsis of a sin-eating protagonist, that is indentured by mages to eat the sins of royalty. The idea of eating sins was fascinating and I immediately fell into this book. We follow Taj, the most talented aki, sin-eaters, as keeping sins keeps you impure and unable to live the holy life that they were supposed to live by. Because of their ability to consume sins, it is then left to the aki to bear the sins of others, literally tattooed on their bodies. This creates a class difference between aki, 
royalty, mages and other people. The duology follows Taj as he is thrust into a conspiracy to destroy their main city of Kos. Taj has to determine who to trust and what it would mean to destroy Kos. The thing that stood out most to me in this duology are the deep themes of redemption and forgiveness. What it means to forgive and how to forgive, mainly ourselves. This is something that really speaks to me as this was something that I actually worked through in therapy years ago. The feeling of bearing the sins of others and then having to reconcile that within oneself is unbearable and you really feel that as you read the book. This duology is fast-paced, vivid and incredibly profound – I highly recommend it!
the entirety of her Reluctant Royals series and I loved them all, and this novella was no different. I was pleasantly surprised by how complex and sweet this was in the shortness of the book. Both this and the other novella were actually stories that I would’ve loved full books exploring their stories because I actually found them the most fascinating out of the entire series. This one followed the do-over love story between Likotski (the advisor to the Prince) and Fabiola. Likotski and Fabiola first met on a dating app and fell into a whirlwind romance, which was then abruptly cut short by Fabiola with no closure for Likotski. Some time later, Likotski is back in New York and runs into Fabiola. Fabiola wants Likotski to trust her, but Likotski doesn’t think that she can without knowing what happened the first time. This was unbelievably sweet and like I said, very complex with deep themes that I don’t want to call out as it is a bit of a spoiler. I highly recommend this entire series if you a romance book reader. I am hyped for her spin-off series coming out later this year AND her thriller!!!!
pro-football team and the women connected to the team. This was the second book in the series and I definitely enjoyed it. I was SHOCKED when I read the first book about how much I liked it. I did not think that I would ever enjoy a sports romance book, especially a football romance series. The first one was GREAT!! This second one was also good, but I definitely enjoyed it a little less than the first one. The plot of this second one fell a tiny bit flat for me, but what Alexa Martin does really well is character development. I love her characters and this second book is no different. The main protagonist, Poppy, is a fantastically complex leading lady that you just want to root for the entire way through. There was so much potential for an exciting plot too, but there were just elements that both fell flat and felt far too convenient. I will definitely be continuing with this series, so I am looking forward to things picking up a bit with the next few books.
effect. In this book, we have Jack and Kate and their love story. How they meet. How they fall in love. And then how Kate dies. Should be a pretty short story, right? Nope…remember, Groundhog Day effect!! Kate’s death keeps bringing Jack back to the beginning of it all, the moment of their first meeting. As this happens once or twice, Jack realizes…maybe this is all happening for a reason? Maybe he’s meant to save Kate? But what lesson do all of our beloved time travelers eventually learn? Choices have consequences. And when the consequences jeopardize Jack’s other loved ones…he has to choose. The possibility of a life with Kate? Or a life without his greatest love? This was so unbelievably sweet. This broke my heart into a million pieces, put it back together again and broke it all over again. Jack is the sweetest protagonist ever written and I just wanted him to be happy. My heart soared and broke with Jacks’ and I can not believe how invested in these characters I ended up getting. The age old question of what would you do if you could go back in time is done so well with this story, and ultimately brings us to a truly satisfying ending. This is definitely one of my favorite love stories I’ve read in a while and I very much urge you to pick this up, if you need a good dose of sweet love to brighten your day.
best, but as always my books offered me a place of refuge through the slightly tumultuous month that I’ve had. Overall, I had a pretty good reading month and I’m hoping that I’ll have a better reading month in April! 🙂
the bookstore until hit by inspiration. And then bam! This book stuck out to me with its’ adorable, UK book cover. And if you know me…I am a sucker for UK book editions. I picked this up without knowing much about it and I was pleasantly surprised! This was a sweet book following a 40-something woman who somehow manages to travel back in time to a pivotal moment in her early 20s. At this point, she finds herself experiencing two different progressing timelines; one, a different life with her current husband who she seems to have fallen out of line with and two, an exciting life with the one who she worried was the one that got away. This book was unique and super sweet. I listened to this one primarily via audiobook and I thought it ready wonderfully. Not only was this a great romance book, but it also highlighted the power of female friendships, motherhood and a woman finding her own sense of empowerment again.
happy that I actually picked up a BOTM book in the month that I got it. I am planning on doing my usual “Worth It?” BOTM post on this, but my quick review is that this was incredibly unique and a surprising emotional hitter. Taylor Jenkins Reid definitely did it again and is really solidifying herself as a new favorite author!
Club”, which is a worldwide book club for women in new cities looking to find community. I moved to Seattle this past September with my husband, and I’ve been looking for some new friends and a new community. As someone who majorly struggles with social anxiety, I figured a book club would be the best way for me to meet some new people. And it definitely was, but back to the book! Second funny thing about this book, is actually that my mother-in-law bought me this book like a year ago! Well…I’m so happy that I finally got around to reading this horrifying and poignant memoir of a half-Korean, half-Japanese man in North Korea. This harrowing memoir follows Masaji as he is moved from Japan to North Korea on the promise of a better life, but as you can guess, is met with anything but that. We don’t get to read many memoirs of life in North Korea, and I believe that we need more stories like his in order to bring light to the deplorable human rights issues in North Korea. This memoir was incredible and I highly recommend that you give it a try.
First a short synopsis: every Winter, the human population hibernates, during which the Winter Consuls are responsible for ensuring the hibernatory safe passage through the Winter. Of the Winter Consuls, we have Charlie Worthing working through his first Winter. As Charlie begins to maneuver through this first, harsh Winter, an outbreak of viral dreams arises which at first, the Winter Consuls dismiss. But then, the dreams start killing people…then, Charlie starts dreaming these dreams which is odd as a member of the Winter Consul…and then, the dreams start coming true. Charlie now must set out to investigate these dreams before it’s too late.
of a book and honestly, I couldn’t connect with either protagonist which I think really slowed me down. But then, about 3/4 of the way through, it really started to pick up and grab my interest.
NOT disappoint. As I understand it, this story pulls a lot from Angie Thomas’ life and that definitely made the story so much more meaningful to read as it was quite the impactful read. It was definitely a different kind of impact from The Hate U Give, as it should be because it was a different book! I’ve seen a lot of reviews comparing the two books and I definitely don’t think that’s a fair thing to do. Overall, this book was raw, relatable and emotional and I highly recommend checking this out ASAP!!!
keeps getting weird, spammy emails claiming she’s the missing betrothed princess to an African prince. Like any reasonable individual, she keeps ignoring the message. Cause duh…right? Well…Prince Thabiso (the aforementioned African prince) is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo and is traveling to New York to track down his missing betrothed. However, when Prince Thabiso finds Naledi, not only does she mistake him for someone else allowing him the opportunity to get to know her free of the crown, he learns that there’s more to Naledi than he assumed there would be. This was super fun, a little bit smutty and a wild ride from New York to Africa. My only real complaint was that it was a built of a slow build and for a contemporary that makes the book a tad bit difficult to get through. I still very much enjoyed it, though, and I will definitely continue with the rest of the companion series!!
audiobook which I definitely recommend. Now this book caught me by surprise because when I read Jasmine Guillorys’ first book, The Wedding Date, I was definitely let down. I went into this a little apprehensive and I am sorry that I did. This book was definitely a step and a half beyond her first book, and honestly it actually made me look back on my original rating of The Wedding Date and up my rating. The Proposal was super fun, juicy and a very sweet read. I loved our two protagonists, but even more so…I LOVED the side characters that we ended up following throughout the book. The side characters honestly added so much more to this book, as compared to how The Wedding Date felt to me which really was so heavily focused on the main couple. I really appreciated that, obviously, the love story was the focus in The Proposal, but there were also themes of family, female friendships, abuse and female empowerment. I am so happy that I gave Jasmine Guillory this second chance and I am so excited for the third companion novel in this series!!
historical fiction book that explores culture, history, and Chinese superstition. When 11-year old Rens’ master dies, he has one last request of his houseboy. To find and return his finger to the grave, reuniting it with his body. The catch? Ren only has 49 days to do so or else his masters’ soul is doomed to roam the earth, unable to rest in peace. In a parallel story, Ji Lin has always wanted to be a doctor, but as this is the 1930s in Malaysia, a more suitable occupation for her is a dressmaker’s apprentice. Secretly, Ji Lin moonlights as a dancehall girl in order to make enough money to help pay off her mother’s mahjong debt. One night, Ji Lin finds something that catches her off guard…a severed finger.
Avid Readers Mediocre Writers 