Month: February 2026

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Absolutely wonderful, heartbreaking memoir of a Black boy adopted by a white Pentecostal family, and how he is never truly a part of that world because his family never understands him. Harrison tried his entire childhood to be who his parents wanted him to be. He was desperate for their love and acceptance, but his parents “didn’t see color,” so he was never truly seen for who he was. He was even mocked and derided for being Black.

Harrison’s story is unfortunately not uncommon. Plenty of white people adopt Black children with a savior’s heart, especially within the Christian fundamentalist community. Stories like Harrison’s need to be told and digested so this pattern can end. The way his mother, especially, treated him just gutted me. How she could say the things she did to her child was unbelievable. By the end of the book, Harrison meets his West African birth mother, which forges a new bond, but also a new complication. This book was beautiful and should be on required reading lists.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

Naomi works with clients who are victims of domestic abuse. Her client, Jacob, is dealing with an abusive wife, so when he decides to leave his wife, Naomi crosses boundaries and offers him a flat she and her husband own and rent out. Another client, Anna, also needs help, so Naomi lets her and her children stay in her home for a while. Naomi’s husband is in the dark about most of this.

This book was so bad. It was as if the author wrote 85% of the story and left the rest with gaping holes. Naomi was the dumbest character. She literally made the worst decisions. I hated her and her stupidity. The character motivations were never explained. Why would her husband of 17 years jump to the conclusions he did? Why did Naomi, after years of being a psychologist, help these two clients? Nothing made sense. It was such a terrible book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I’m always fascinated by stories about cults and the impact they have on their followers. When the follower is also a family member, the story is usually very different, as that person has the inside track on what goes on. Dowd’s grandfather was the cult leader in this case.

Dowd was an abused child in every way, which makes her story completely heartbreaking, but she tells it with grace. She was mostly left to her own devices growing up. She learned to eat off the land, as was her family’s choice. Each chapter includes a Field Note about a plant she encountered growing up.

Dowd was just a kid, but was frequently blamed for simply existing. She was a constant disappointment and embarrassment to her family, even though she really just did typical kid stuff. But because she was in such an extreme devout Christian cult, the expectations were very high. This story was a devastating look into her childhood but also so fascinating to learn about her survival skills.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I’ve been finding more indigenous horror these days, but not many in Canada, which has over a million indigenous people. I’ve been aware of the crimes against the population thanks to podcasts like Finding Cleo. So reading a book by a member of the Cree Nation, about the Cree Nation, was wonderful.

Mackenzie wakes up after a fitful night of dreams with a severed crow’s head in her hands and is sufficiently terrified. She knows she can’t handle this alone and heads to her remote hometown. She hasn’t been back in years, even though she needed to, especially after her sister died unexpectedly.

Her family surrounds her, and together they wade through her dreams, discuss how to use them to find answers, and take care of her during her most difficult realizations. I really enjoyed this book and learning more about the Cree culture. The supernatural element ramped up the creep factor. Definitely recommend this one.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

This book was really preposterous, which was really disappointing. Georgia is blamed for her sister’s murder, and her recently-discovered separated at birth twin comes to her rescue. Georgia is in the locked ward of a psychiatric hospital, and her twin, Mandy, has to figure out what really happened since Georgia says she didn’t commit the murder.

I never believed Mandy was willing to help, given that Georgia makes it clear the situation is dangerous. Twin or not, why would anyone risk their lives for a stranger? And what if Georgia really is the murderer? Mandy has complete faith that what Georgia tells her is true. I sped through this book, mostly because I just wanted it to be over.