e-Audio, 08:10:08
Narrated by: Alaska Jackson
Release Date: May 14, 2024
Published by: Roaring Brook Press
Read from: May 13, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-audio from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Alcoholism, underage drinking
For Readers Interested In: Realistic Fiction, Romance, 2sLGBTQ+ (Lesbian), Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Biracial), Coming of Age, YA/NAIt’s the summer before college and eighteen-year-old Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella’s acceptance is a sure thing—she’s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.
As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella’s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she’s bold, funny, and unstoppable—and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake’s drinking, until it’s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she’s fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut.
But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success—and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Idk if y’all know this, but the first book by Hammonds made me cry into my chicken strips at lunch one day. And because of that one day, I KNEW I was going to read everything that they wrote. So when I saw that they had this one coming out and I was going to have the chance to meet them in person, I KNEW I had to get my hands on this book. And let me tell you, even though I LOVED their first book, I think I liked this one just as much.
So there’s no secrets and grandmas in this one, but there are some things that would usually five me pause. As some of y’all may know, one of my triggers is addiction. Not because I suffered from it, but because I was one of those left behind by it. Because I was there for when it hurt some of the people I love most. I thought that maybe I wouldn’t be able to read this one, but since it was about her having the addiction and in a toxic relationship, it only showed a small part of the family members she hurt. Or that’s what I unpacked from being able to read it. So if you’re ok with that, maybe you can read it also.
Now that that’s out the way, I want to talk about the writing style. I don’t know what it is about Jas’ writing, but they always suck me in. And the way they wrote certain scenes, like when Blake blacked out and when the raw emotion I felt in her character. I was so enveloped into this story. Everything was just so real and raw and realistic. Jas is definitely a new fave!
Another thing I really liked about this book was the sorority aspect. As someone in one of the D9, I have a very unique connection to this book. And I don’t want to say anything, but some of these things hit very close to home. I gotta say, I had to put the book down for a minute because I found myself like reliving some things. I joined in 2008. I don’t think I’ve thought about that part of it since then lmao So this was a bit hard to read. But only because I related to it so well. This part of the story was also very realistic and very raw.
The romance in this was pretty toxic. And I gotta say, I was yelling at Blake from the beginning until the end. I HATED her girlfriend. And I knew from the beginning how it was going to end. They were either going to kill each other or they would break up and they would heal, but they wouldn’t be together. I’ll let you guess which one it is. I’ll just say, even though there’s no grandmas in this one, I still cried. The entire book was traumatizing, but also very healing. And I love that it felt like that because in the author’s note Jas also said it was healing for her to write about. They definitely conveyed that message through their writing.
This is the second book by Jas and the second book of theirs that I gave 5 stars to. I don’t really know how I’m going to make myself wait another year. But I will be waiting. I hate reading books early for this reason lol Why did I do this to myself?
Overall, I give this
