I’m switching it up a little today and making this a book review post. In honor of National Women’s History Month, the links are to women-owned independent bookstores throughout the country. We have no affiliation to them but encourage you to support them or any independent and/or woman owned business of your choosing.

I’ll post my spoiler free reviews below, but you guys can post spoilers in the comments because I know you want to talk about some of these, specifically Mexican Gothic. And OMG – Mexican Gothic! Depending on how crazy the day gets, I’ll try to jump in and join you in the comments when I can.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
I think I might be the only person who actually liked Brit’s book The Mothers slightly more than The Vanishing Half. But that speaks to how much I loved The Mothers. Brit has an incredible way of writing relationships as if the reader is a part of them. She is so good that you get overly invested in the characters and they break your heart when they expose their flaws. The Vanishing Half is about light-skinned black twin sisters growing up in the ‘60s in a town inhabited by light-skinned residents. After their father is lynched, they run away to New Orleans where one of the twins realizes she can pass. She spend her life doing that and leaves for California. The story is a fascinating look at race, sexuality and deception. Brit is fantastic about not giving you white hats and black hats. She shows you how much grey area there is in the choices people make. She also doesn’t answer all the questions, letting the reader make their own determination, which I appreciate. (Featured bookstore: The Black Pearl )

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson

I loved this book but it’s a hard read. You need to free yourself from distraction when reading this lest you get completely lost. It’s fantasy that takes place in the 40s that deals with the war, the mob, race, unrequited love and dark magic. It’s violent, but the violence is a natural part of the story so it’s not offensive. It was recommended to me because I loved The Night Circus. It’s nothing like the Night Circus, except that I couldn’t figure out what was going on for a bit. The story centers on Pea, who has a supernatural way with knives and is hired by a Manhattan crime boss to carry out his whims in return for protection and wealth. She forms friendships with the others in his crew and when she learns what’s really going on, she takes control of her destiny. It’s a compelling story that doesn’t let you take much of a breath throughout. Like I said, it’s a tough read, but it’s worth the work. (Featured bookstore: Books and Crannies)

Cinderella is Dead by Kaylnn Bayron

I got this recommendation from a Book Riot post, I think. If you are new here, let me restate that I love fairytales and will read almost any form of fairytale so I was quite intrigued by this story. It takes place 200 years after Cinderella has died and her Ball is now an annual ritual in which wealthy men select the available girls for their mates. The protagonist, Sophia, wants no part of it, but her whole family will be punished if she doesn’t concede. It’s YA and YA is not my genre, so consider that when I give my critique. I would have loved this book if it had been written by a more mature writer or even edited a few more times. But Kaylnn’s story is so good: the twists are shocking, the classical tie-ins are clever, the reinterpretations are deft. But she’ll have the reader racing through a forest with blood pumping, tension mounting and all of a sudden, we take a pause to describe an outfit in unnecessary detail. There were too many winks and nudges to convey relationships or characters which were established several pages ago. I loved the story so much, I want to forgive its flaws. It’s great, it’s just young. (Featured bookstore: Antigone Books)

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

This was highly recommended to me and it’s well written but for some reason, I never connected with the story. My mother loved it, though. Washington is a young slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados who is taken under the plantation owner’s brother’s wing. The brother, who I found slightly unbelievable, is obsessed with flying machines and enlists Washington as a manservant. A bunch of unfortunate events happen that lead to a worldwide adventure for Washington, but being a slave, he spends most of his life looking back over his shoulder. The descriptions are beautiful and I enjoyed the mental traveling as I read them. But that’s all I really enjoyed about it. (Featured bookstore: Books Are Magic)

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

This is about a girls school which was the site of several grisly deaths. When the school closed due to the scandal, it caused a decades long fascination with the assumed cursed buildings. But the real story is about the people who owned the land, the book that led each girl to their death and those who were chosen to tell the story to others. I recommended this on my birthday post but I hadn’t read it at the time. The author bit off a lot more than she could chew with all the different stories she tries to tell. It had moments, but overall the story is bloated. However, it does have history, the supernatural, modern day Hollywood/influencers, forbidden literature and a bunch of yellow jackets – so something for everyone. The same things that put me off Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell put me off this book, although at least I finished this one. (Featured bookstore: The Ripped Bodice)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My gawd I loved this book. It was so weird and wonderful. I am going to be annoyingly vague here because if I’m not, I will get excited and spoil things. Briefly: glamorous and privileged Noemí Taboada is sent to check on her beautiful, sweet cousin who sent a disturbing letter to Noemí’s father about her new husband and her living conditions. Once at High Place, the home of her cousin’s handsome English husband, sh*t’s not right. But just when you think you’ve figured out what’s going on, you so haven’t! The writing is solid. The characters are creepy, lovely and provacative. The story wraps you up and just kind of strangles you. And the house! Thornfield has nothing on High Place. (Featured bookstore: Nowhere Bookshop)