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A review by miss617
Joaquim by A.H. Cunningham
3.0
I absolutely loved the fact that all of the characters were Black fantasy writers, as that is one of my favorite genres, and one in which representation is still lacking. I also love how the author incorporates different languages and cultures—isiXhosa is not one I've seen a lot, so I thought that was cool.
Clocking in at just over 200 pages, this was a quick read, but it also felt very rushed. The reason for the trio's fallout needed to be developed more considering it led to eight years of silence. Nevaeh forgave Jonathon entirely too quickly, and he had A LOT more apologizing to do. To be completely honest, I didn't care for him as much individually as I did Joaquim, but he did have his moments. I definitely felt more protective of Joaquim, especially as someone who also struggles with anxiety. Nevaeh helping him through it with the breathing exercise was dope though.
(Minor quibble re: Nevaeh as this is the second time I've seen this in a novel, but becoming a surrogate without having previously been pregnant is generally not a thing. So although the first one would have qualified her for the second, what qualified her for the first? Just something that stuck out to me from my own research.)
Leave it to A.H. Cunningham to bring the representation, but this one just fell a little flat to me.
Clocking in at just over 200 pages, this was a quick read, but it also felt very rushed. The reason for the trio's fallout needed to be developed more considering it led to eight years of silence. Nevaeh forgave Jonathon entirely too quickly, and he had A LOT more apologizing to do. To be completely honest, I didn't care for him as much individually as I did Joaquim, but he did have his moments. I definitely felt more protective of Joaquim, especially as someone who also struggles with anxiety. Nevaeh helping him through it with the breathing exercise was dope though.
(Minor quibble re: Nevaeh as this is the second time I've seen this in a novel, but becoming a surrogate without having previously been pregnant is generally not a thing. So although the first one would have qualified her for the second, what qualified her for the first? Just something that stuck out to me from my own research.)
Leave it to A.H. Cunningham to bring the representation, but this one just fell a little flat to me.