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Lol, you don't have to recommend that people read Lovecraft. He's one of the most famous authors of American literature as it is.

Love the queer romance recs.

I so understand what you’re saying about Jasmine G! I read By The Book and the entire Wedding Date series. Reading her series in order helps just a tad cause you make cross connections between characters and storylines: basically her books a easy, quick “let me get out this reading slump” books for me

Yay! I’m so happy I discovered your channel today yet I must admit I’m a little made the algorithm didn’t bring you my way sooner. I truly enjoy Tia Williams’s wit, humor, and writing.

Little rot was wild! I didn’t know if I wanted to cry or laugh or eat popcorn! 🍿 😢😂 In the end it made me feel very sad for queer people living in the communities with a severe problem of homophobia 😢

I have a sample of a love song for ricki Wilde I haven’t gotten too and the emperor one that I did start reading, I also have a sample of by the book by jasmine but I haven’t read it yet either and I just got a sample of a necessary chaos based on your recommendation! I really enjoyed this video ❤ keep up the amazing work !

I agree about Jasmine Guillory. It took so long for me to get through By The Book. I feel like she is a good author but she doesn’t grab my attention and hold on.

6:15 That's so true. Whenever I've come across a Black contemporary romance, it's been indie.

i loved this review and, after reading the book myself, i agree - i think Emezi does a great job laying plain the highs and lows of humanity in a gripping tale. thank you!

I think im the only one who liked felix and declan lol. I hated felix and ezra but idk.

Thank you for the reccomendations ~ going to get good women

I love your style and your videos! Oh my gosh! I followed your book instagram and book blog here too!!!

Thank you so much for discussing how black queer people are represented in media and books. It means the world to me and my friends too.

Bro am I high right now? I’m sorry, but this book is ass. Everyone’s singing its praises, even Seth Meyers like how tf 😂 Once I learned it was originally supposed to be a short story in Friday Black everything made sense. I liked most of the stories in Friday Black. You can tell short fiction is Nana’s strength and you can also tell he was out of his depth when it came to a project of Chain-Gang’s scope. As far as messaging and world-building goes, he knew what he was doing. He put a lot of detail into how his dystopia would work. I liked his message about the American prison industrial complex and state-sanctioned violence. But oh my god, this isn’t sufficient in itself to make people enjoy your story. Setting is only a third of the equation. You need to have a compelling plot and characters, this book had neither. It’s apparent from the first chapter. Characters behave as if they know they’re characters. For example, Melancholia makes a dumb decision purely for the sake of plot and that makes for a dull opening. And it’s not just her, it’s everyone. When people enter gladiator fights, I don’t feel anything for them. It doesn’t feel frightening for our protagonists. Some people have complained that you can’t care for the Links because they’re guilty of the crimes they’re being punished for, but I disagree. I think we don’t care because Nana doesn’t make us want to care. Which leads to my next point, the stakes suck and the plot meanders. I’m only ~50 pages in, but that’s more than enough space to give people stakes and characters to latch onto. But he wastes all of it on verbosity, aimless fight scenes, and an equally aimless activism B-plot. I feel like Nana is trying to reach a word count rather than particular story points. He’ll spend so long yapping about extraneous stuff that you almost forget what’s happening in a given scene. It makes you feel like the story isn’t building up to anything! This book has no excuse for being this boring to read. It’s not long. It doesn’t inundate you with technical details and jargon. It’s action-packed. Plus its premise is Sorry To Bother You meets The Hunger Games. I should be on the edge of my seat. In the end, I’m left thinking this should’ve remained a piece of short fiction, perhaps in the novelette to novella range. He could’ve focused on one particular character in a gladiator fight. Like Ralph Ellison’s Battle Royale. He clearly didn’t know what to do with this much length. What matters isn’t the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean.

👍

Listened to Don’t Cry for Me and wow! Def purchased for my library.

Missed your videos. You always give me ideas on what I should read next

Super glad to see you! I've already ordered the book

I relied on audio to get me through _Braiding Sweetgrass_ recently. It was read by the author, and I tolerated (and even enjoyed) things that I wouldn’t give a pass to in text only.

Do you recommend this as a first book by Akwaeka to read? Sounds like a very good book

I haven’t read _Freshwater_ yet. 😢 Glad to see you back.

so happy to see you!!!

YOU'RE BACK!!!

Happy to see you, and very happy that this book was a hit for you. It's in my DRCs awaiting its time at the top of the heap.

Glad you are well, thanks for this review I pre-ordered this book!!

Yay 🎉🎉 it been forever!!!

Oh man this movie was so bad

NWA said “Black police showing out for the white cops “ wiser words have never been spoken

I remember the riots in Baltimore in 2015 because I watched it all go down on the news and because it was happening right outside my door I (naturally) very scared because I had no idea what was going to happen I remember taking my brothers to my room (as I’m the older sister) and playing with them all day and then after that day we went back to school but I could feel the climate was changing because I was 13 I wasn’t dumb and I got home from school early and went to my room to do my homework and then I heard the TV in my parents room the news was on and they were talking about the aftermath of the riots and I remember standing in my parents room and crying because I couldn’t believe it

I remember watching it with my dad and he loved it first of all and second because we lived in a city with a lot of shootings and stuff in it I (in particular) could relate to it

PRAYING FOR THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND

Black is beautiful all of the time

I haven’t read this book, as it got so many awards, I knew it was going to be a book putting BW in a bad light. The book is now been made into a TV series on Channel Four in the UK. The first two episodes were shown together. I caught the second half of the second episode, then watched the repeat of these episodes on catch up and I was stunned at the character and her “antics”. In all my life on earth, I have never encountered a BW like Queenie. She is 100% unrelatable to me. Her general cluelessness, hyper sexual, promiscuity, the yte boyfriend relationship, etc. The character isn’t real. In terms of BW representation in media and entertainment is no where near the stage where this type of fictional character can be put out there. The misrepresentation of BW is still rife and Queenie has added to this continual denigration. I will not be watching this again, nor do I recommend it. The flashbacks in the book, equally do not work in the TV version.

I haven't read 'The Hate U Give' but am planning to this year. I read Thomas' 'Concrete Rose' and was stunned by how much I learned and enjoyed the book once I was done reading it. I almost gave up on my read because, in the beginning, the story felt like something I'd read before and didn't want to indulge in any further. I stuck with it though and ultimately began to see the importance of such a story. With all the criticism I've read and heard a bout 'The Hate U Give' I'm hoping for the same results when I finally take up the novel to read. I do enjoy Thomas' writing style. Great video. Thank you.

Just finished reading the book. I just hope Feyi lets go of Jonah and live her life to fulest. Even though someone had to get hurt for her to meet Alim, their love was beautiful and magical🥺😭❤️

I’m in the middle of the book right now and I just ADORE it. My English teacher recommended it to me along with some other books and I’m just obsessed. I never read but this book has been making me read. As someone who is trans, Mexican, and a teen, I feel so seen and it’s crazy just seeing what it would be like as someone who fell in love with an undocumented citizen. When Ander described towards the beginning of the novel that they never had a deep, genuine fear of ICE-besides just the general fear of ICE catching the undocumented workers at the taqueria-because they knew that they were documented, that hit hard. I felt the same, and I can’t imagine how much your perspective must change after being put in their situation and falling in love with someone who’s undocumented. I love this book so much and I can’t wait to finish it.

I thought this was a very good book. I often go to this when I’ve got nothing new to read.

I love your videos! I have a book recommendation for you. Eddie & Alan is written by black gay author Anthony Amiewalan. It sheds light on the complexities of relationships between men, the fluidity of sexuality, and what happens when the lines are blurred.

I’m now so confused. So I want to find new authors of color and go in with a more informed approach. I just want to read a good book that might provide me some insight and be a better reader of authors of color - as a white person. Which of these books would you recommend for a white reader. I’ve read and am reading the more foundational black authors. Ellison, Baldwin, Morrison, Walker, and other authors of color as well - (though from these other authors nothing has been set in modern US. ) And just other note. A lot of your criticism of the white readers makes me think you think people who read books about 100 yr old teenage bodied vampires fighting werewolves and the like would also have any degree of reflection, self-awareness, a shred of interest in exploring and understanding their own reactions. In other words, the audience these books are written for are as deep as the first page. 😉 By the way. Your dog is the absolute greatest dog ever!! What a beautiful sweet babe!! Thank you!! 😍

I expected tears by the end of the book. I expected an uncontrollable, sobbing mess. Instead I'm left mourning in silence, for the fact that I will never read this book for the first time again. It was beautiful, heart wrenching, and infuriating. It was so amazing, I really am just speechless. I flew through the book not wanting it to end, but so badly needed to know the end of all this.

Recently read this and loved the complexity of Philyaw's characters. Your review is excellent also. I'll definitely check out your recommendations. I'm from the UK and white but grew up in the church (spent my latter teen and young adult years in a diverse pentecostal church) i found myself so seen in her writing of complex women who grew up in church as queer women . Religion is often not discussed in books, particularly in this way. I feel like i know a version of every woman in this book. It's perfect: each story works within the theme of the book but are also distinct.

Hipe you are well havent seen a new video from you in a while on TH-cam peace and love and blessings!

I am listening to this one today. It's fantastic

The main thing I am trying to understand is what is the film trying to say? Did the writer intend to incite self reflection to commentary and conversation ? or was the movie/book not aware of itself considering how it ended, it came across as just another toxic gay black “love story?”