The Girl Who Cried Poetry

September was an indifferent month in the beginning when it came to picking up a book. I entered a reading slump and then one day, I read four books at once. I recommend not having data in your phone if you get easily distracted sometimes. Especially when you know there’s nothing else you have going on.

I didn’t have any specific theme I was centering on for this month. I just wanted to give Vanilla romance novels a break for a while and explore other interesting genres. Apparently, other interesting genres meant gay porn— sorry, gay romance novels(I’m gatekeeping) and thrillers.

*nervous laughter*

Don’t stop reading. I swear, I’m not that weird.

Right. Let’s get into it.

1. She called me woman — Nigeria’s Queer Women speak.

Synopsis

| She Called Me Woman is a collection of first-hand accounts by a community telling their stories on their own terms. This engaging and groundbreaking collection of queer women’s narratives includes stories of first time love and curiosity, navigating same-sex feelings and spirituality, growing up gender non-conforming and overcoming family and society’s expectations. What does it mean to be a queer Nigerian? How does one embrace the label of ‘woman’? While some tell of self-acceptance, others talk of friendship and building a home in the midst of the anti-same sex marriage law. The narrators range from those who knew they were gay from a very early age to those who discovered their attraction to the same sex later in life. The stories challenge the stereotypes of what we assume is lesbian, bisexual, gay, and *trans in Nigeria and they offer us a raw, first-hand look into the lives and realities of our family, friends, neighbours and co-workers who are queer.

I was scouting for Nigerian Queer Literature when I came across this book. I am always intrigued when it comes to hearing/ reading stories from Queer Nigerians— the ones in the closet and even, out of the closet, so it’s no surprise why I picked this one up.

While I was a bit disappointed that it was only queer women—really, I want to know how it is for queer men— I got over it fast. From the very first story, I learned so much about what it’s actually like to be trans. Not only that, reading these women’s stories about the horrors they went through from their homes, family and community just because they were queer made me quiet. It made me angry. Sad. There was this one where the narrator’s dad almost shot her for being a lesbian. As in, with gun.

Ah.

I recommend. Truly. I realise that people judge Queer people without hearing their stories and it’s unfair. I reckon that this book might not change who you are or your opinions, but it will have you questioning, rethinking, learning, relearning and unlearning.

“Why do I have to ask you to consider me human? Can’t you see I have the same body features as you? How am I less of a human because I’m a woman, because I don’t have sex with people who you have sex with? What does that have to do with you? Does it affect the money you spend when you go to the market? How does it affect the price of rice? “

She Called Me Woman

2. It happened one summer by Tessa Bailey.

Synopsis

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar… in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.


Tessa Bailey is one author I admire for her writing style and smut. Mostly the smut of course. While this book did not disappoint at all, I have little reservations about it. I admire the relationship between Hannah and Piper. I love the fact that they are willing to go lengths to help each other. I love Piper because somehow, she speaks to me. It’s okay to not completely have your life figured out. Maybe you’re just in the wrong place.

But wait, now I think about it, naming your main character Brendan is just something. See, I’m not judging at all(I am). But see, Brendan gave off sugar daddy vibes, so I guess he’s alright. I mean, just look at what he said here:

And the women shall cry, “God when?”

One day, my loves.

3. Ricochet by Krista and Becca Ritchie.

Synopsis

As a sex addict, Lily Calloway must do the impossible. Stay celibate for 90 days.

Cravings and fantasies become her new routine, but while Loren Hale recovers from his alcohol addiction, Lily wonders if he’ll realise what a monster she really is. After all, her sexual compulsions begin to rule her life the longer she stays faithful to him.

Progress. That’s what Lily’s striving for. But by trying to become closer to her family—people who aren’t aware of her addiction—she creates larger obstacles. When she spends time with her youngest sister, she learns more about her than she ever imagined and senses an unsettling connection between Daisy and Ryke Meadows.

With Lily and Lo’s dysfunctional relationship teetering and unbalanced, they will need to find a way to reconnect from miles apart. But the inability to “touch” proves to be one of the hardest tests on their road to recovery. Some love brushes the surface. Some love is deeper than skin.

Lily and Lo have three months to discover just how deep their love really goes.

This book is the sequel to Addicted To You in the Addicted Series. This book tells the struggles faced by Lily in overcoming her sex addiction, while she awaits her boyfriend, Lo, who is away for Rehab. It’s kind of tough.

Unlike other addictions, Sex addiction is a really confusing and tough cookie and funny enough, many people don’t know the extent of its damages. I felt Lily’s pain and really, all I want is for her and Lo to be okay.

I admire their relationship honestly. All their lives, they’ve been enabling each other, but now, they’re willing to help each other so they can be together. Amazing stuff.

There are three more books in the series. I recommend. I really do.
3/5.

4. Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson

Synopsis

Christine wakes up every morning in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar man. She looks in the mirror and sees an unfamiliar, middle-aged face. And every morning, the man she has woken up with must explain that he is Ben, he is her husband, she is forty-seven years old, and a terrible accident two decades earlier decimated her ability to form new memories.

Every day, Christine must begin again the reconstruction of her past. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more unbelievable it seems.

This book was a lot. Really. Imagine waking up everyday with no recollection of your memories or whatsoever with a man who claims to be your husband and a man who’s your supposed doctor calls you for treatment unknowing to your husband?

I really don’t know how to review this book without giving out spoilers and spilling everything, but this book filled me with a sort of adrenaline from beginning to end. The plot twists were too crazy. See, I highly recommend. Have at it.

A 5/5.

5. This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Njikamp

Synopsis

Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun…

10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m.: The auditorium doors won’t open.

10:05 a.m.: Someone starts shooting.

Over the course of 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun. In a world where violence in schools is at an all-time high and school shootings are a horrifyingly common reality for teenagers, This Is Where It Ends is a rallying cry to end the gun violence epidemic for good.

See, this book blew my mind. This is the deepest book I’ve read this month and somehow, it tops all the books I’ve read this month as well. The adrenaline rush from the beginning to the end is just crazy. I had to stop a few times to actually calm tf down. I played the GUTS album(Olivia did magic fr) to set a calming, but thrilling tone for my reading. At the end, I cried. You know the book is fire if it gives you PTSD.

This Is Where It Ends is a book featuring themes of Gun Violence, LGBTQ+, family relationship, revenge, grief etc. A boy keeps the whole school hostage during assembly time and starts shooting. It’s so horrid to read. This book will have you at the edge of your seat. Panic and anxiety are sure emotions when you read it. In the end, it’s sad. It’s very sad. Highly recommended. 5/5.

We are not better because we survived. We are not brighter or more deserving. We are not stronger. But we are here. We are here, and this day will never leave us. Nor should it. We will remember the wounded. We will remember the lost.

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I couldn’t add the other books I read because I didn’t want it to be long and also, the Jetpack app almost drove me mad, scratch that, it drove me mad— Really, why must it take hell to upload one post?— but I delivered. Thankfully.

I don’t usually have a main theme/ general for the month when I read, but October will be different because I’m reading…

*Dramatic drum roll*

Dark Romance. The dark romance genre is my love hate companion. One of these days, I’ll give reasons on a blog post why it’s my not so favourite genre now. I’ve decided to go back to my first love and see if I’ll love it a little more now. Recommend your favourite dark romance novels to me and if it blows my mind, I’ll be too happy to write a review and dedicate it you.

I hope you enjoyed my reviews and check out the books here. They have great potential, I tell you.

Also, tell your friends about my book blog.

Toodles, book bestie.

With love and po—

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