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There’s no way they weren’t aware this is clearly an attempt to spin the narrative it was netanyahu and not the whole of Israel and the apparatus behind it itself

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every time i remember that photo of the little inuk girl with her puppy i engage in inconsolable hysterics

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A woman reaches under a block from the apartheid wall trying to hold the hand of her mother on the other side. Many families have become segregated after the Israeli occupation regime completed the construction of the wall which runs through Palestinian lands. This is just one of thousands of cases. 

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🇾🇪🇵🇸 Scenes from the million-man march held yesterday in Sanaa, Yemen, in solidarity with the Palestinian people amidst the Israeli violence in Gaza.

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https://x.com/Attaphia/status/1767515507819745513?t=g9dgacQMANSLAko-C9C3WA&s=09

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I thought I understood the situation on the ground. But I didn’t. Nothing can truly prepare you for this dystopia. What reaches the rest of the world is a fraction of what I’ve seen so far, which is only a fraction of this horror’s totality. Gaza is hell. It is an inferno teeming with innocents gasping for air. But even the air here is scorched. Every breath scratches and sticks to the throat and lungs. What was once vibrant, colorful, full of beauty, potential and hope against all odds, is draped in gray-colored misery and grime.

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AI defenders will make it seem as if art is this gatekept pastime that only the most elite can partake in and they’re making it possible for the “normies” to create meanwhile one of the most memorable pieces of recent art I’ve ever seen is “My son’s drawing of safe”

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In Search of Romance

I’ve been asking myself why I read romance. When I pick up a romance book, what is it that I want to experience?

The answer to this question is fairly easy when I read a book like Stalked by the Kraken (2021). I’m there for the salacious, erotic fun. This particular book follows the love story of a matchmaking witch and the Kraken shapeshifter that falls for her. It features sexual exhibition, metaphysical mating, breeding kink play and some light detective work. It was a campy delight. Lilian Lark is a new favourite author for monster romance… not that she has much competition, in that area.

I wish I could mentally fracture off this kind of reading in my brain. File it away with all the other mindless, low simulation activities that I do – like doom scrolling or painting my nails. They don’t scratch my reading itch. That desire to free fall into someone’s emotional existence or a new world. I am still capable of enjoying books like this. It is clear to me, however, that they are over-represented in my reading life and that, in general, the kinds of books and authors that I read has not expanded in pace with my taste.

I’ve set a goal for myself to read more Literary Romance. However, this isn’t really a genre category. I made it up in an effort to articulate why I loved romance novels more than others and I think it comes down to ambition. How high are they aiming with the quality of the writing, the characters, the plot? I am still trying to define the exact qualities that I like, but if I am reading books that are looking for that Romance/Literary Fiction crossover appeal, I should be in the right place.

(Literary Fiction as a genre is so nebulous in and of it self. The best definition I have found is here: Characteristics of Literary Fiction, if you are curious. I am hoping to discuss what I look for in a Literary Fiction book soon.)

My first official read of the year was Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan. This is a widely acclaimed romance about a couple finding their way back together after loss and betrayal. It was sold to me as well written and emotionally devastating. Kennedy Ryan is often hailed as one of the best currently writing romance authors. She is a major figure in the romance space. She’s a an ideal author to look to for Literary Romance novels. The problem is, prior to this year, I’d DNFed every single Kennedy Ryan book I’d ever tried.

The first one I tried was Coming Home (2023), an Audible original short story about college sweethearts reuniting. I really tried to get through this but I couldn’t get past the 30 percent mark. I found the writing cloying and overwrought. Every emotion was over explained and articulated in an unnatural way. The characters thought about their lives as if they were writing a term paper – extra points if you can perfectly articulate your struggles with the dispassion of a clinician.

I didn’t really have any plot complaints. It’s a novella. The exposition dragged, but that likely is because of the writing style.

Its the kind of writing complaint that doesn’t bode well for an author’s other work. I had similar problems as a teen with Ann Brashares’ writing, the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books and she never improved over the 4 books I read.

Not long after that, I gave her another try with Long Shot (2018).

This time I picked up a full length novel that I’d seen widely recommended. It follows the romance between a basketball player and his arch-rival’s wife. Just the kind of taboo shit that I love! It started off strong. They meet at a bar with no idea of who each other are. I was feeling the chemistry between them. However, as their lives expanded beyond that initial flirtation, she lost me. The female lead didn’t feel real to me. I couldn’t get a sense of her personality beyond her trauma. Then there were time jumps that further disconnected me from her. I didn’t feel like I was experiencing the love story with the characters, which is always the goal for me. I DNFd around 28%.

After all of that, I was very hesitant about Before I Let Go. I told myself this was Kennedy Ryan’s last shot with me. It hurts to even think about writing off a black author but so far, Ryan just hadn’t delivered. My search for a new literary romance author seems to be directing me away from Ryan.

It’s got me thinking though… If I reverse engineer my complaints about the two previous Kennedy Ryan books, perhaps I can get closer to answering this question..

This doesn’t say much about what I want from a romance plot, but, honestly, that is way less important to me than the writing and the characters.

So how does Before I Let Go (2022) hold up next to that list.

Fairly well, actually.

I was shocked and relieved to find this book emotionally rich. Their problems were realistic and raw. Combined with the characters sexual chemistry, it made for a very engaging read.

My only complaint is her editorializing. There were about 30 moments throughout the book where I felt like Ryan got up on her soap box to overexplain a situation or emotion with the obvious intent on making some grander social point. She takes the subtext and makes it text. Ryan insults her readers when she writes like this and, as evidenced by this book, she is a good enough writer that she doesn’t need to do this to get her point across. Every single time she did it, I had already gathered her point via implication. I didn’t need her to spell it out. Thankfully, I primarily read this book physically, which allowed to to skip these parts more effectively. I read the other two books via audio, and perhaps I would have been able to finish them if I hadn’t.

So Ms. Ryan has redeemed herself in my eyes. But seeing as this is her most recent full length release, I’m inclined to suspect that her backlist may not be for me.

So, is Kennedy Ryan a literary romance author?

I wouldn’t go that far, but I think Before I Let Go counts as a literary romance novel. I think the writing is strong enough and the problems the characters face are complex enough.

Can she do it again? She has another book coming out in February in this same world. We’ll see. I am cautiously optimistic.

#romance #book reviews #kennedy ryan #black authors #black romance #literature #books #literary fiction

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Agreed.

I'm not usually one for the "solve the love triangle by putting the competing corners together" (k*ryb*bs can burn in hell), but most of the conflict in this show would have been solved if these two would have kissed... just sayin...

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DJATS Appreciation Week, Day 2: Favourite song/music moment –– The Evolution of "Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)"

"Those lyrics. That small gesture. For one moment, Daisy didn’t remind me that I might fail. She sang the song like she knew I’d succeed. Daisy did that. Daisy. I didn’t know how much I needed it until she gave it to me. And it should have just made me feel better but it hurt, too. Because if I was the man I wanted to be—if I could give Camila the life I’d promised her—well, I mean…there was loss in that, too."