Tembe Denton-Hurst

fiction - Black lesbian writer is laid off from her New York City media job after being treated horribly (esp. when compared to her white co-worker with the same job title but much lighter workload); after signing a nondisclosure agreement not to write about the (subtle but persistent) racism she experienced there, she starts to spiral into depression, putting extra strain on her relationship with her girlfriend and partner of 5 years and forcing her to reconnect with her past.

This is so extraordinarily messy and complicated with all the imperfect relationships and human emotions and I loved it. It strikes me as an extremely difficult book concept to pull off, but Denton-Hurst has certainly accomplished that and more.… (meer)

Mickey is fired from her job at a publication for very shady reasons. Mickey has tried her best, isn't slacking at ALL, but this job wants blood. It is an abusive place to work. But when Mickey is fired, the narrative shifts. To be entirely clear, I'm not exactly sure a book so heavily focused on social media is really a book for me. I'm just not a person who cares about social media. There is a ton of social media in this book. This is a book written by someone who has previously worked for magazines, and it does seem like it, if any book can seem like it was written by a magazine person, I would guess this is one. Which isn't a bad thing if that is what you're in the mood to read! Also, the description seemed to focus more on her job than focused on her relationships, so that was another aspect of the book that just isn't my thing. (I made sure to double check and read the description after finishing the book.) This might be a case of the description of the book setting up disappointment for the reader: the description focuses heavily on Mickey's struggles with racism at her job, navigating work as a Black woman. And that is the book I wanted to read. But Mickey loses her job early in the book, so any discussion about her job is really only featured in the first 50 pages and the last part of the book -- bookends to a narrative about a romantic love triangle that I just did not want to read. I don't read romance -- it's not my thing. And sadly, anyone who would want to read a book focused on relationships wouldn't really find that in the description of the book. So the book didn't really deliver on what it promised. BUT even before I got to this specific passage, this is strictly the reason I did NOT want to bail on this book: "Work twice as hard because she was Black. Three times because she's a Black woman. Four, because she's gay. Five, because if nothing else, Mickey had something to prove." (page 111) And because this passage alone would have this book banned for about 1,000 reasons, I did not want to give up on this book. On a sentence level, the book is fine -- fast-paced, fresh, very Now. But there are too many elements here that just weren't for THIS reader. So I want to assume I am the problem for this book.
I would set this on the shelf beside: 'Such a Fun Age' by Kiley Reid and 'Luster' by Raven Leilani (one of my faves).… (meer)

Mickey is a young adult who doesn’t cope well with losing her job. She wallows in self-pity, gets defensive and sabotages her relationship with her partner, Lex. The book is somewhat claustrophobic with much of it occurring in Mickey’s small personal space, with her in sweatpants and looking at her phone. Not a lot happens here and much of the time I felt like I was watching the kettle, waiting for the water to boil. It never did, or at least not by the half way point, which is when I gave up on it. The writing is fine, which is why I didn’t give the book a 1 star rating.
I was provided with an ARC (thanks to the author & publisher!) and I am voluntarily posting my honest review.… (meer)