Cruisin' Books

During spring break, we took a cruise with my parents. I didn't read a lot (I took Dramamine and napped instead) but I did finish a few books:

The Other Black Girl (by Zakiya Dalila Harris) 

I read this for the Read Harder Challenge category "social horror, mystery, or thriller novel." I still don't know exactly what that category is all about, but the Book Riot newsletter recommended it for this category so I went with it. My hopes were high as I've heard a lot of buzz about this! But sadly it fell flat for me.  The plot never sharpens into focus, there are too many point of view characters whose narratives are unresolved and whose identities aren't even always clear. More power to those who loved this book as I do feel it had interesting things to say about racial identity but the execution was, in my opinion, not good.

Forget Me Not (by Alyson Derrick)

I loved She Gets the Girl so I was excited to get this one as soon as possible and timed it so it could be my first true vacation read (once I finished up TOBG). As with her previous novel, Derrick deals with the real pain of coming from a rural, impoverished, homophobic community.  The romance is well done and the relationship doesn't quite go to some of the predictable places I expected it to go. I've read a lot of YA (you don't say) and so unpredictability is always a plus. I'll be first in line to read whatever Derrick publishes next. And speaking of YA....

The Love Match (by Priyanka Taslim) 

A Bengali-American girl in a Pride and Prejudice-esque love triangle. It's very well written and Begali-American culture is integrated organically. I think the ending is an homage to natok/Bollywood, which is why it's a bit over the top and silly, and weirdly elides the culmination of the big romance. But still, a delightful read and a wonderful main character.

Seven Percent of Ro Devereaux (by Ellen O’Clover)  

I cried so much over this book my eyes were puffy by the end - something about it was so emotional for me, possibly because all the emotions are dialed up to 11 from start to finish and Ro is such a terrific character.  You'd think it was about a terminally ill character instead of someone who develops an app that goes viral.  Of course, the way this plays out doesn't quite make sense but if you suspend disbelief a bit, you'll go on a lovely emotional roller coaster ride. Also I cannot believe any human is named Ellen O'Clover, so I'll have to look into that.