Karie's Updates en-US Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:57:38 -0700 60 Karie's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus9517536848 Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:57:38 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie wants to read 'Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed']]> /review/show/7633926878 Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb Karie wants to read Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
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ReadStatus9514201603 Thu, 05 Jun 2025 21:04:05 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie wants to read 'How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House']]> /review/show/7631599687 How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie  Jones Karie wants to read How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones
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ReadStatus9514122692 Thu, 05 Jun 2025 20:36:18 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie wants to read 'Our Sister Killjoy']]> /review/show/7631547321 Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo Karie wants to read Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo
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ReadStatus9397013666 Wed, 07 May 2025 02:27:08 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie wants to read 'A Broken People's Playlist']]> /review/show/7549864673 A Broken People's Playlist by Chimeka Garricks Karie wants to read A Broken People's Playlist by Chimeka Garricks
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ReadStatus9397012634 Wed, 07 May 2025 02:26:20 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie wants to read 'I Do Not Come to You by Chance']]> /review/show/7549863913 I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani Karie wants to read I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
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ReadStatus9397004993 Wed, 07 May 2025 02:20:08 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie wants to read 'Martyr!']]> /review/show/7549858480 Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar Karie wants to read Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
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ReadStatus9397001905 Wed, 07 May 2025 02:17:44 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie wants to read 'The Death of Vivek Oji']]> /review/show/7549856316 The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi Karie wants to read The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
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Review7549852533 Wed, 07 May 2025 02:13:52 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie added 'You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty']]> /review/show/7549852533 You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi Karie gave 3 stars to You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty (Hardcover) by Akwaeke Emezi
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Rating854991751 Wed, 07 May 2025 02:09:01 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie liked a review]]> /
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
"I gotta be cursed. Almost all of my incredibly anticipated 2021 releases are just not hitting for me.

I know I'm the outlier with my rating on this book, but just hear me out. I see why folks loved this. In my view, it had an extremely strong start, and it had a lot of potential. It had the bones to be a knockout read for me, but didn't quite get there.

I'll start with what I loved about Seven Days in June. Firstly, the book is really funny, which I had not expected based on the book cover and description. I also loved the disability representation here. I think the author wrote about the main character's chronic migraine condition with tenderness and honesty, and I really appreciated that. I also think the chemistry between the main characters Eva and Shane was positively electric, and literally leapt off the page. And that is the whole reason for a romance novel, isn't it? So, slam dunk there. Eva and Shane's connection and dialogue had my heart racing.

What did not work for me, however, sort of outweighed my enjoyment of the above. Firstly, the book is crammed with every single possible millennial Black cultural reference possible, and it feels very effortful and a little try-hard. I get it, this is a Blackity Black book, and I appreciate that, as a Blackity Black person. But it almost felt as if someone who is not a Black millennial wrote it (I have no idea how old the author is, and I don't care enough to google it). It was like just trying way too hard to be hip and relatable. And it started to weigh the narrative down in some parts of the book, where the story could have been more streamlined. Because, the author definitely can write! Really well! But the writing here lacked restraint, lacked any sort of subtlety and falls into the trap of cramming every cultural marker it can into every sentence. Exhausting.

I also think the book is unnecessarily dramatic. I usually love a high-stakes story, I love high drama in my books - when it feels warranted and fleshed out. When it makes sense. So, our main characters met as two messy teens and have an electrifying (and super problematic, tbh) week together, and then don't see each other for fifteen years. However, the teen versions of the characters felt like two characters off the show of Eurphoria. Like, the premise of their week together and not seeing each other for fifteen years is, in my opinion, dramatic enough to keep a reader engaged. And, I'm not opposed to the characters meeting when they were both messy and fucked up kids (I actually like the fact that this romance was not cookie-cutter or typical in that way), but the characterization of teenaged Eva and Shane was just really intense and extreme, in my view. And, we did not spend enough time with them as teens to fully appreciate how damaged they were. It's also problematic to call that week they had together "love," imo. It was intense and all-consuming for them both...but the basis for love? I am not sure that is a safe message tbh.

Lastly, I take real issue with how many of the hood/lower class/working class Black folks are written in this story. It was very much giving classism, and it made my skin crawl. The characters were all these bizarrely outdated archetypes relying on some stereotypical notions of blackness and poverty, and it really soured my view of the book as a whole (and, the author.) Incredibly disappointing.

I had more issues with this read, but my hands are tired from typing so I'ma leave it there. In all, this book had potential but didn't live up to what I'd hoped for it. I'm happy others seem to be enjoying it, though."
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Review7480341898 Wed, 07 May 2025 02:05:02 -0700 <![CDATA[Karie added 'Seven Days in June']]> /review/show/7480341898 Seven Days in June by Tia Williams Karie gave 4 stars to Seven Days in June (Hardcover) by Tia Williams
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