In my opinion, the perfect book needs to make you laugh, cry and you’ll never forget it. Fortunately, I cry very easily so most books fulfil at least one of my requirements. On this page I’ll post my honest reviews of all the books I’m currently reading. From young adult to historical fiction, latest releases to classics, I’ll share my unfiltered opinion in 500 words or less.
Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah – Ace of Spades
Acevedo, Elizabeth – Clap When You Land
Adebayo, Ayobami – Stay With Me
Adeyemi, Tomi – Children of Virtue and Vengeance
Alammar, Layla – The Pact We Made
Alvarez, Julia – How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Amaka, Rosanna – The Book of Echoes
Arthurs, Alexia – How to Love a Jamaican
Ashour, Radwa – Granada
Atwood, Margaret – The Testaments
Azumah-Nelson, Caleb – Open Water
Babalola, Bolu – Love In Colour
Benary, Margot – Castle on the Border
Bennett, Brit – The Vanishing Half
Bourne, Holly – Am I Normal Yet?
Bourne, Holly – The Places I’ve Cried in Public
Bracken, Alexandra – Lore
Braithwaite, Oyinkan – My Sister, The Serial Killer
Brooks, Geraldine – People of the Book
Burns, Anna – Milkman
Burton, Jessie – The Miniaturist
Castillo, Elaine – America is Not the Heart
Chadwick, Elizabeth – The Summer Queen
Chadwick, Elizabeth – The Winter Crown
Channing-Brown, Austin – I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
Cole, Teju – Every Day is For the Thief
Cruz, Angie – Dominicana
Dalcher, Christina – Vox
Daré, Abi – The Girl with the Louding Voice
Dawson, Juno – Clean
Dawson, Juno – Meat Market
Edim, Glory – Well-Read Black Girl
Ephron, Nora – Heartburn
Ephron, Nora – I Feel Bad About My Neck
Evaristo, Bernadine – Girl, Woman, Other
Evaristo, Bernadine – Hello Mum
Evaristo, Bernadine – Mr Loverman
Gregory, Philippa – Tidelands
Gyasi, Yaa – Homegoing
Gyasi, Yaa – Transcendent Kingdom
Haynes, Natalie – A Thousand Ships
Haynes, Natalie – Pandora’s Jar
Healey, Jane – The Animals at Lockwood Manor
Herbert, Adrienne – Power Hour
Honeyman, Gail – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Hosseini, Khaled – A Thousand Splendid Suns
Jackson, Naomi – The Star Side of Bird Hill
Kent, Hannah – Burial Rites
King, Stephen – On Writing
Lahens, Yanick – Moonbath
Lawton, Georgina – Raceless
Larsen, Nella – Passing
Lefteri, Christy – The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Lee, Min Jin – Pachinko
Loupas, Elizabeth – The Red Lily Crown
Machado, Carmen Maria – Her Body & Other Parties
Mengiste, Maaza – The Shadow King
Miller, Kei – The Last Warner Woman
Millwood-Hargrave, Kiran – The Mercies
Morris, Brittney – The Cost of Knowing
Morris, Stephen – Black Tea
Morrison, Toni – The Bluest Eye
Mustapha, Sahar – The Beauty of Your Face
O’Farrell Maggie – Hamnet
Okechukwu, Nzelu – The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney
Onuzo, Chibundu – Sankofa
O’Porter, Dawn – So Lucky
Owens, Delia – Where The Crawdads Sing
Papillon, Buki – An Ordinary Wonder
Rahman, Khurrum – East of Hounslow
Rahman, Yasmin – All The Things We Never Said
Reid, Kiley – Such a Fun Age
Rhys, Jean – Wide Sargasso Sea
Rooney, Sally – Normal People
Roy, Arundhati – The God of Small Things
Rushdie, Salman – Midnight’s Children
Ryan, Madeleine – A Room Called Earth
Saint, Jennifer – Ariadne
Sebald, W.G. – The Rings of Saturn
Selmi, Habib – The Scents of Marie Claire
Shamsie, Kamila – A God in Every Stone
Shamsie, Kamila – Home Fire
Shafak, Elif – 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World
Shreeves – Lee, Jac – Broadwater
Shukla, Nikesh – Brown Baby
Slimani, Leïla – Lullaby
Smith, Zadie – Intimations
Söderberg, Hjalmar – Doctor Glas
Straub, Emma – All Adults Here
Taddeo, Lisa – Three Women
Tartt, Donna – The Goldfinch
Taylor, Brandon – Real Life
Thomas, Angie – The Hate You Give
Ward, Jesmyn – Men We Reaped
Washington, Bryan – Lot
Weir, Alison – Katherine of Aragon
Weir, Alison – Anne Boleyn
Weir, Alison – Jane Seymour
Weir, Alison – Anna of Kleve
Whitehead, Colson – The Nickel Boys
Wilkinson, Lauren – American Spy
Williams, Alicia.D – Genesis Begins Again
Woodson, Jacqueline – Red At The Bone
Yousafzai, Malala – We Are Displaced
Zayyan, Hafsa – We Are All Birds of Uganda
Zoboi, Ibi – American Street
Here’s my rating system:
***** = I hold this book in my heart everywhere I go. I will mention it in every conversation until I die. The characters will haunt me throughout my days.
**** = I will recommend this book to everyone I come into contact with for the next three months. Several of my friends and family will receive it for their birthday presents.
*** = I will forget the details of the plot after a couple of weeks but I will smile when I see it on my bookshelf.
** = I will cry with disappointment at the time wasted trying to finish this book.
* = I stopped reading before my soul was crushed.
