I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my open and honest review. I find it difficult to write about fantasy novels because often, many of the same tropes are used – the oppressive king/dictator, the band of spunky rebels, forbidden magic, etc. And because many of these tropes are used often, … Continue reading
It’s that time of year again! Time to look back on the calendar year and reflect on all the books I read over the course of the year. 2017 was a pretty good year of reading for me. I managed to shatter my original goal of 70 books, by reading over 100 books, totaling over … Continue reading
TW: death, oppression and violence based on sexual orientation Can one angry boy save the world? I have not read a more accurate tagline in a very long time. Heathens by Jonah Bergan follows Holden, an extremely angry teenager in the aftermath of the fall of civilization as we know it. This is a ‘young … Continue reading
What would you do for fam? American Street is the #OwnVoices debut novel by Ibi Zaboi and it packs a punch. This is not a happy story; however, it was very powerful and before I get to my thoughts, I want to recommend this as a solid read with the following warnings. TW: drugs, domestic … Continue reading
For the past week, I have been thinking about a tough question about representation in all forms of media – TV, movies, books, and in particular board games. This mainly stems from the idea of the #ownvoices movement in literature. This means that an author is writing characters from their own experience. So for example, … Continue reading
I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an one and honest review. Before reading my review of God Smites and Other Muslim Girl Problems, please read these fantastic #OwnVoices reviews of the book: Saadia’s review Ruzaika’s review Please let me know of other #OwnVoices reviews I can link up! God Smites and … Continue reading
Wow, the month of November flew by super fast! This was my first attempt of hosting a blogging event and I learned a ton and had a fantastic time reading and signal boosting Native Hawaiian authors. Below, I have outlined all the posts featured this month with a 2-3 sentence description. Please check them out … Continue reading
I want to thank Wendy from What the Log Had to Say for participating in my event and writing a fantastic review. Please take the time to check out Wendy’s other reviews and posts! I was so very excited when I saw that Brendon was doing a month-long focus on native Hawaiians to celebrate Indigenous … Continue reading
I reviewed This is Paradise: Stories as a part of my Native Hawaiian #OwnVoices event for the month of November. It was such an immersive collection of short stories, focusing on the real Hawai’i, the tensions between tourists and locals, and authentic self. If you have not read my review yet, please go back and … Continue reading
This is Paradise is a short story collection written by Kristiana Kahakauwila, a hapa author of kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian), German and Norwegian extract. In efforts to set up this blogging event, a person contacted me through my blog with the recommendation I reach out to and possibly feature Kristiana during this month. I immediately went to Goodreads to … Continue reading
