I have to say. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by what Charlamange accomplished with this book. It was funny, insightful, uplifting and sobering all at the same time. The anecdotes coupled with the lessons learned made it easy to forget sometimes that this is a memoir and it felt like just listening to him tell a story. Which I guess in a sense he is.
The Charlamange you get on the radio, or in podcasts, on TV shows or in interviews is the same Charlamange you get in Black Privilege.
He managed in one book, to uplift the reader to believe that anything is possible if you put in the effort, time and work while at the same time instilling a sense of reality. Yes, opportunity comes to those who create it, but those opportunities have to be realistic and fit YOU.
Charlamange was a dumb ass when he was younger. It's a wonder he's even made it to where he's at now because most black men would be in jail for the rest of their lives if they did doing only a quarter of the things Charlamange did. It's a Testament to the glow up because his was definitely REAL.
If you're confused about your life and need a bit of inspiration from someone who looks like you, can relate to you and have been through the same struggles as you, then you should definitely check out this book.
"Because…when truths disappear, they leave behind blank spaces, and that is also dangerous…" - Teddy
Its been 6 months and 12 books since I finished Graceling, the first book in the Seven Kingdoms trilogy. And BOY was it a nice little surprise for me to come back to these books and find that this book brings the return of characters i so truly love.
Bitterblue is a book about, Prince Po’s little cousin who was saved by Katsa in Graceling, coming into her own as a queen of Monsea, discovering the betrayals and deceits of the people she most trust and trying her hardest to understand and fix everything that her father Leck broke in his 35 year reign over the city.
This book had so many different elements and everything was exciting and interesting to read. Bitterblue is so young and she doesn’t really have her bearings as far as her queen-ship and what she should be doing, but as boredom and curiosity starts to overwhelm her she takes matters into her own hands and starts an avalanche that doesn’t seem to want to end.
I could NOT put this book down. With Bitterblue’s new friends Saf and Teddy making her night life the most exciting thing she’s ever experienced ever, the return of my favorite characters, Katsa, Po, Raffin and Bann and reading about their travels and adventures, i loved just having a little bit of each of them to read about. The discoveries that Bitterblue made about her own advisory team and just how deep her father wounded and broke them and the effect it was having on their present day activities. Navigating the different obstacles put in front of her all at once….this book was just amazing
Kristin has the best way of building a world for the reader without making it too overwhelming or excessive and her characters are so colorful and brilliantly developed. I really didn’t want to put this book down but then i did because i didn’t want to reach the end and have to live with the fact that this may very well be the last time i get to experience these characters…
"People are real. People Matter" - Jasper Francis Dent
Jasper is back at it! in “Game” Jasper is back to his old antics. Only this time he’s graduated from the small town prospects in Lobo’s Nod and he’s rolling with the big dogs up in the big Apple. NYC. the Hat - Dog killer is terrorizing the streets of NY and who better to catch this killer than the son of the greatest serial killer of all time….only this time, is Jasper in over his head? Mysterious messages meant for him popping up at crime scenes, coincidences that cannot really be coincidences connecting the NY murders to the Impressionist (Billy Dents Copy Cat) In Lobo’s Nod….and who is pulling the strings? is it Billy himself?
Who is Ugly J, Who is the Crow King, and what is this GAME everyone is playing?!
This time around, all hands are on deck and everyone is a part of the Action.
Connie, Jaspers black girlfriend is pulled into the madness, finding out information about Jazz that could be life changing and could alter his reality in both a good and terrible way. In a quest to prove herself, and show that she’s an adult and she doesn’t need anyone to tell her what to do…she’s got herself into something that she might not make it out of….
Howie. my beloved Howie lol. in the middle of their antics as usual he’s also gotten himself into a bit of a bind…one that might possibly get him sent to jail or ruin his friendship with Jasper…or both.
Jasper….Jazzy my boy. i think your father was right when he said you might be in over your head….and your predicament is a testament to that fact. What the hell are you going to do boy?! Jasper has gotten himself into a heap of trouble and even if he makes it out…he’s going to do at LEAST 15 years in prison lol….and what is he going to do with the information he’s just found.
This book man….so many questions. Who is The Crow King? Who is Ugly J? What the hell is going on with Jazz’s origin story, who is actually controlling this ‘Game’ and when does it end…. and how the HELL is he going to get out…..gah. I’m so upset Barry ended the book this way but he’s definitely ensured my purchase of his next book in this series!
This book was such a letdown for me…i honestly don’t even know what made me want to read it in the first place. but like i said, I’ve been contemplating reading it for a while now…I’ve seen the movie (kinda — i kinda let it play in the background while i was doing something) and idk the weirdness of the characters intrigued me…but this is another rare instance in which i would have to say I’d have been better off just watching the movie instead of reading the book….
It wasn’t that the story sucked…the story was good in a weird kind of way….3 kids who have lived privileged lives has it all taken away from them and instantaneously they go from being privileged happy children to miserable parent-less and unhappy children.
The story revolves around the kids now living with their evil, weird uncle Count Olaf and trying to figure out a way to halt his plans to somehow steal all of their inheritance…
like i said. it wasn’t that the story wasn’t good…it was the writing. I don’t know when this book was written and maybe i should have done my research before hand, but he writes as if his readers are simple and illiterate, stopping his story telling in the middle of a sentence, to explain what “briskly” means…like negro i know what the fuck it means…it wouldn’t have been a problem if he didn’t do it about 10 more times with words that really DID NOT need to be explained and the one that kinda did?….CONTEXT CLUES HOMIE!
idk…that really just ruined the whole experience of reading it for me because i felt like he was patronizing me while i was reading like ‘…now i know this is kind of a tough word for you to understand sweety so I’m just going to help you out a little and tell you the meaning’ i don’t need your help!
all in all the story was good..but i will definitely NOT be reading any more of the “unfortunate events” books….
"Are you determined to leave me in this world to live without my heart?" - Archer
This book, a semi prequel to Graceling (as the events of it happens before the events of Graceling…however it can be read as a standalone book) is quite possibly the most charming book I’ve ever read…and I’m not saying that because i don’t have anything good to say about it, or because it wasn’t good because it was VERY good….it was just very CHARMING. i found myself smiling alot while i was reading it……Ive been finding myself drawn more and more to these books that take place in a time where they used swords and rode on horses….i think it’s because of the way they speak and call each other Lord and Lady =). the author Kristin gives her characters so much depth and i don’t know, she really knows how to capture your attention and hold it. The pace of the book was definitely steady, but the promise of something incredible as well as just the enjoyment of the characters is what made me read this one so fast…
It took me a while to get over the fact that i would no longer be reading about the characters that i fell in love with in Graceling, which is why i read this one so long after reading that one. But I’m definitely glad i decided to go ahead and read it.
This book is about Fire…a “monster” with bright and beautiful neon, orange, yellow and pink hair who can control the minds of people around her. There are other kind of “monsters” in the book as well…animals, like dogs or cats that are red, blue, yellow or pink, fish that are green, orange or purple, and raptors with a thirst for blood that are all colors of the rainbow. What makes these animals as well as Fire “monsters” is their ability to enter the minds of the people around them to kind of entrance them and make them desire you….to make it easier for them to kill you.
Anyway, Fire is anything but a “monster” in any sense of the word. She is smart, brave, generous, head strong, and plagued with the effects of people’s feelings towards what she is because of the actions and atrocities committed by her father. It seems that every where she goes she has to prove herself to the people around her.
Archer who is Fire’s childhood friend and sometime lover is a jealous, overprotective asshole and i love him with every fiber of my being. He’s in love with Fire but not because of what she is, but because of who she is, and that love is endless and sometimes smothering but one can’t help but love him more for it…because if there is ever a time when Fire needs a shoulder to lean on, an arrow to kill her enemies or someone to talk to, Archer is there.
Brigan =) …. the confident, strong minded, skilled and charming Prince and commander of the Kings Army…..i can’t really say much about him without giving the story away…just that i love him!
The books has many many characters…all of which you get to know intimately, without being drowned in unnecessary information, and all who play a very important part in how everything plays out. One character in particular…is also in Graceling and some questions about him that arise in Graceling are answered in this one…so it is a good idea to read this after reading Graceling.
One thing I’ve noticed about this author…..most authors put their main characters in a bubble in that nothing necessarily bad ever happens to them. nothing negative or life changing ever happens to them. But with Kristin, she gives her characters something that they love….and then she does something to the characters so that they can no longer enjoy the thing they love. ie. With Graceling, Po loved beautiful things such as Katsa’s face and the mountains in the back of his house. But then she makes him blind so that he can no longer enjoy Katsa’s beauty or the mountains…in this book Fire loves the fiddle, however…something traumatic happens to her to make it so that she can no longer play the fiddle the way she once did.
My overall impression is that the book and this author are awesome…I’m just said that yet again I’m not going to be able to read more about another set of characters I’ve fallen in love with.
"Hey, honey, I’m an alien and apparently i just doused you with some radioactive loving! Wanna Catch a Movie? — yeah, not cool" - Dawson Black
As promised, i finished this book before the end of the day…which was expected considering i have so much time on my hands when I’m at school and the book is only 180 pages long
This particular book or (novella) is a prequel to the first novel in the Lux series and it is about the OTHER Black brother Dawson. The exact replica of his older brother (only by a few minutes) Daemon — Dawson is actually completely different. Where Daemon is a Witty little ASSHOLE! Dawson is a confident gentlemen. Where Daemon is too good to admit he likes anything less that Luxen Royalty, Dawson is more open in his thoughts on human and non Lux creatures.
Some would think….why is she making a prequel when we basically already know everything that happened with Dawson and Bethany (Dawson’s human girlfriend) — But if you intend on reading the fourth novel in the series Opal, reading this short story is very important.
There are some characters that are introduced in this novel that play an intricate role in the fourth novel. Not to mention it helps to kind of have an emotional connection to ALL the characters involved.
This book kind of does that for you, introducing you to Dawson and Bethany, letting you into their love story and sealing a place in your hearts for them so in the end you’ll better enjoy the fourth book. (something tells me there’s going to be some cry worthy shizz going on in Opal)
It’s a very quick read — Jennifer doesn’t go into TOO much detail considering — we already know everything that went down. it’s really just a book to get you emotionally connected to the other important characters in the series before she digs back into the flow of her story.
" Modesty is for Saints or Losers….I’m Neither ;) ” - Daemon Black
Talk about some shit going DOWN! usually when i read a sequel it rarely is better than the first one however!!! DING DING DING DING DING! we have a winner!!!
This author definitely knows her shit — the story progressed and moved forward so beautifully, nothing was rushed and nothing took too long to happen….well except that one thing, but i think she did that on purpose lol.
Daemon and Katy basically pick up where they left off in the last book — getting on each others last fucking nerve! lol.
Only this time, because of the events in the last book … they’re kind of stuck with each other —— for life! (its complicated - READ THE BOOK!)
This installment of the Lux series is basically about Daemon and Katy handling their newly found ‘connection’ and Katy trying to figure out if Daemons sudden interest in her is due to his true feelings or because of said connection (kind of like what Damon and and Elena are going through in Vampire Diaries with the Sire Bond)
As well as dodging the DoD (a secret government agency) and the Arum (the Luxens sworn enemy)
Katy discovers that because of their ‘connection’ she’s … changed … and she meets a boy named Blake who is just like her…and in an effort to try and figure out what is going on with her body — and put some distance between herself and Daemon she starts to —- idk see this guy.
But Daemon of course does NOT like that idea and does everything in his power to cock block.
Favorite part of the book — Damon refuses to say Blakes name and comes up with every name in the book besides Blake when referring to him….there were so many that i had to write them down
Least Favorite Part of the Book — Katy’s never ending need to push Daemon away because of the way he treated her in the first book…even though she admits MULTIPLE times that she UNDERSTANDS why he was being such a jackass….if you understand, then why do you keep using that as an excuse to push him away??? -.- unamused
Anyway this author is really talented and i love her writing style. Usually when books have as many elements as this one had, you kind of lose touch with the ‘regular’ side of the people’s lives that you’re reading about. but She really balanced everything out — while Katy was dealing with her powers and her Daemon issues and the issues that came along with him, we still got to see her regular everyday issues as well like, having to study for exams and dealing with her mom dating someone else for the first time and not spending enough time with her friends.
It’s an all around good book with alot of shit going on that will keep you reading nonstop until you’re finished.
“I’ve always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are the ones who are quietly unaware of their effect.” - Daemon
HOT ALIENS EVERYONE! — and the kicker? he’s a Witty Dickhead lol. i guess even Aliens have ‘bad boys’
This book was REALLY good….evident maybe in the fact that it only took me 3 days to read it? — it wasn’t what you would expect it to be….where girl meets guy, guy is cool and funny, on top of being smart and gorgeous, guy and girl fall for each other and then all hell breaks loose and guy has to reveal he’s an alien in order to save girl…NO!
they HATE each other! lmfaooooo and i think that’s what makes it all the more fun to read.
it starts out with Katy “Kitten” moving in next door and trying to get to know her neighbors but what she’s met with is a gorgeous JACKASS. and they’re off from there.
She’s a book worm like me =) smart, cute and quick with the comeback when she’s going back and forth with Daemon
Daemon is an ASS who is obsessed with ‘bonus points’ lol — but we soon find out that he’s only that way because he’s been burned in the past and he just doesn’t want the same thing to happen again.
Dee is Daemons twin sister and Kates best friend…kind of a hard thing to handle when your brother and your best friend HATE each other, but she’s starved for a real friend and doesn’t give up
there are some weird things going on in the town (like the fact that all of Daemon and Dee’s friends hate her on site for no apparent reason), but she chalks it up to just being a ‘small town’ type weirdness. she sees things she can’t explain and peoples reactions to her neighbors aren’t exactly normal but she thinks nothing of it…until she’s almost killed. and then things get…..interesting.
