What would Ula read?

 5 out of 5 👸🏾 Queen of Black Feminism  'Queens of the Resistance' is a series of books about modern-day politicians committed to making an impact on our everyday lives. They advocate for a change of the existing administrative model to be more inclusive and welcome for every gender and skin color. These Queens are concerned about racial justice, everyday problems of lower & middle-class Americans as well as undocumented ones, and climate change. This volume tells the story of Maxine Waters, who knows all about the struggles of lower-class Americans, Black Americans, women, and single parents. She faced Jim Crow laws and scrutiny of white congressmen, yet she hasn't stopped advocating for women and people of color. The biggest advantage of the series is language, pure gen Z / millennial slang and references made me smile. That whole attitude made the book more enjoyable and easier to digest. I enjoyed that piece and want to read more books of that series!! Thank you N...

4 out of 5 👊Cinderella and her #metoo story A little disclaimer here first: The original version of Cinderella is obviously problematic with strongly patriarchal worldviews, yet didn't mention any actual abuse and forced marriage. Cinderella seemed very happy with the story plot and her life choices. In 'Cinderella is Dead', we got to know new facts about her life and the kingdom that added a whole new female-abusive layer. Hence my title. Two hundred years after Cinderella fairytale and the glass shoe incident, the annual ball gathers young women 16 to 18 years old and 'eligible bachelors' with no age limit to pick their new treasure wife. Female participation is obligatory and failure to attend (or not being picked) equals atrocious consequences.  Since her early childhood, Sophia was reading Cinderella's story but would rather marry a princess than Prince Charming. Although her family accepted the relationship with her childhood friend Erin, they knew she mu...

5 out of 5 🌟 Life as we don't know it  'Call Me American' made me astounded since page one. It a memoir of Abdi Nor Iftin, a Somalian man who immigrated from his home country to the USA. The story starts with Abdi's parents who were nomads living in Somalian wilderness herding camels, hunting and, occasionally, fighting with lions and hyenas. His family has settled in the city of Mogadishu where their hard-enough life was brutally interrupted by the war in 1993 and - long story short - anarchy that comes after. Abdi has been always fascinated with American culture and taught himself English watching Hollywood movies. His lifelong dream was to move to the United States and this memoir tells the story of his long and dangerous journey through war and bureaucracy. This book left me speechless and while I'm gathering my words to write this review, I know I won't be able to do it right. 'Call Me American' tells about a life that's an exact opposite of an...

3 out of 5 🌟Interesting ideas with poor execution Mayhem and her mother Roxy have fled their abusive stepfather/husband from their house in Texas to a family home in California. Roxy hasn't been to Santa Maria, CA since the day she left to start a new life. Yes, there's a dark secret involved. The book comes with a trigger warning about rape description but it does not include all the other things that threw me off when reading. This supposed to be a young adult, hence I didn't anticipate the number of expletives I encountered while reading and yet, that wasn't the worst part. I was unpleasantly surprised with gruesome descriptions of homicides and * Spoiler Alert * the fact than they were committed by "good" characters in the book and also treated as something noble (what!?). People cheering, giving presents to the murderous vigilantes... Is that still a book for teenagers? Plus, descriptions of doing drugs endorsed by the family members and friends. * Spoil...

3 out of 5 🌟 Craving for love Claire is a 17-year old teenager whose father died of cancer and whose mother has been depressed ever since. Her best friend got a boyfriend and consequently, they're spending less and less time together. Claire finds her escape from all these problems in music. She's a talented pianist and being the best piano player is her chance to get a scholarship. Claire's new piano teacher impress her in every possible way. He is an accomplished musician and teacher, and he is nice to her, which in these circumstances is enough for Clair to become fond of him. My main issue with the 'Private Lessons' was that for at least 80% of the book I wasn't sure what the story is really about. It gave me the creepy 'Lolita' vibes and I wasn't really sure if the book wants to be a romance or a cautionary tale. Towards the ending, things got clear, and Claire's behavior started to make so much sense from the retrospective. She was not a t...

4 out of 5 🌟Wonder not-yet-a-Woman, a social justice warrior Wonder Woman, as every comic character from both DC and Marvel worlds, has been recreated multiple times with a new origin story. Sometimes they are related to each other, and sometimes they built with totally different narration. 'Tempest Tossed' belongs to that second category, the plot is unlike any other iteration of Diana's beginnings. That creates a great opportunity to jump on the Wonder Woman's bandwagon even for readers who don't know DC Universe. Amazons live in Themyscira, a secret island far from civilization, unbeknown to people. Loosely based on Greek mythology, these warriors are the favorite making of the Ancient Greeks' Goddesses. Wonder Woman vel Princess Diana is a teenager, or rather a "changeling", as she's called on her island. Diana has never been outside of Themyscira and amidst the story's events, she gets to know our world and tries to make sense of it. ...

3.5 out of 5 🌟Girl Power Fantasy Full disclosure : I used to love fantasy books and I know if I'd read that book ten years ago, I would've given it 6 out of 5 stars. But after reading a lot of fantasy I couldn't stop cringe seeing yet another  chosen one  that proven herself/ saved the world/ fulfilled her destiny. That book is redundant to all classic YA fantasy topics but at the same time, it makes it sounds so much better. If I could forget all other titles about girls with extraordinary abilities and know only this one, I'd do that without hesitation. Let's imagine the world driven by patriarchy where young women need to prove themselves pure in a sacred ritual when entering adolescence. The ones that fail, are condemned to death and their families are disgraced. It wasn't hard to imagine, was it? The word created by Namina Forna resembles real people's experiences, therefore it feels personal to readers. Deka, the book's protagonist was notoriously...

3 out of 5 🌟Interesting story with gorgeous artwork Moving to L.A. sounded for Daphne like a dream come true. She was going to spend more time with her boyfriend who also moved her and live her best life. Just before the move, she broke up with her best friend who was trying to bring her down. But, as always, nothing went as she has planned... Ghosted in L.A. vol.1 was a fun read with a captivating plot and oh, amazing graphics! I enjoyed every square of Siobhan Keenan art, perfect mixture, and cute and cartoonish style. I was also really appreciated in the first part of the novel but the further read was more disappointing. Daphne as a character is a wishy-washy pushover who could date a total jerk just because 'he's cute'. In the era of strong female role model characters, she looks like someone who needs help to discover her voice. Also, the dialogs were lukewarm and boring, and some scenes ended in the middle of a conversation (or I just didn't get them). ...

5 out of 5 🌟W onderful and touching story Have you ever been forced to spend a whole Summer with your relatives in some faraway small town? That’s something that happened to Ethan Charlie Harper as a punishment for his misbehavior. Ethan was living in Arcadia, Washington and perspective of spending his whole Summer down in Ellison, Alabama sounded extremely boring for him. He would’ve been right if not the fact that Ethan was a mixed-race kid and it was the year 1955. It’s a beautiful and touching story about friendship, race, searching for your inner circle and a place where you belong. It’s impossible to finish  The invincible Summer..  without feeling wrath and resentment towards all the unlawful actions that have happened before and happens today against people of color. This story affected me in so many ways. It made me cry and laugh and — most importantly- made me think about all the privileges I was born with.  The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones...