bbwesquire

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (2019) by Talia Hibbert is the first of the Brown Sisters trilogy, and a sheer delight! I will be putting the other two–Take a Hint, Dani Brown (2020) and Act Your Age, Eve Brown (2021)– on my TBR list in 2024. Why was I so delighted? Hibbert checks all ofContinue reading “Get a Life, Chloe Brown”

The Unfortunates

The Unfortunates (2023) by J.K. Chukwu is probably better read than listened to, although I very much appreciated it, as it deals with themes of microaggressions, body size, queerness, depression, and the alienation of a black college sophomore student at a primarily white institution. Told from the perspective of Sahara, a half-Nigerian pre-med student, inContinue reading “The Unfortunates”

Yours For the Taking

Yours For the Taking (pub. date December 5, 2023) by Gabrielle Korn is a completely-engrossing, near-future (set in 2050) story about one possible solution to climate change–governments building completely-enclosed compounds called “Inside” and taking applications for those who would be chosen to live Inside. Each Inside would be self-sufficient and built strong enough to withstandContinue reading “Yours For the Taking”

For Never & Always

For Never & Always (pub. date November 28, 2023) by Helena Greer was luckily in my NetGalley queue and immediately available for me to read after I read Greer’s first romcom Season of Love (review coming in late December). The cover is gorgeous–a curvy, plus-sized woman looks from afar at a handsome, dark-haired man, soContinue reading “For Never & Always”

Now You See Us

Now You See Us (2023) is the newest novel written by Balli Kaur Jaswal (Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters) and is just as good as the others of hers that I’ve read, in a completely different way. Set in Singapore, Jaswal tells the story of a murder throughContinue reading “Now You See Us”

Scorched Grace

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy (2023) is a mystery that intrigued me for the unlikeliness of its primary amateur sleuth–Sister Holiday, guitar teacher at St. Sebastian’s School in New Orleans. Sister Holiday is the former Holiday Walsh, the queer (but not practicing), tattooed, former punk rocker and addict, who joined the Sisters of the SublimeContinue reading “Scorched Grace”

The Future

The Future (pub. November 7, 2023) by Naomi Alderman was just as good as her 2016 The Power (now an Amazon Prime limited series I still need to watch) but in a different way. Where The Power highlighted feminism and what could happen if women suddenly obtained an innate power to protect themselves, The FutureContinue reading “The Future”

The Manor House Governess

The Manor House Governess (pub. November 7, 2023) by C.A. Castle is a unicorn–a novel that feels like a classic with the writing, the setting and the plot, but is supremely modern with its genderfluid protagonist named Brontë–shortened to Bron. Orphaned young, Bron lives at boarding school, where they don’t fit in with the otherContinue reading “The Manor House Governess”

Master Slave Husband Wife

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo (2023) read like fiction, although it is an exhaustively-researched true story. Ellen and William Craft were enslaved in the same town in Georgia, married, though living in different households. Ellen, a seamstress, was a very light-skinned woman and the half-sister ofContinue reading “Master Slave Husband Wife”

Zero Days

Zero Days by Ruth Ware (2023) had a cover review and interview with the author earlier this year in my favorite place to find recommendations: BookPage. I was completely intrigued by the idea of a penetration tester on the run and having to use her skills to save herself. Jacintha (Jack) Cross and her husband,Continue reading “Zero Days”