Abby

This is my jam. Right up my alley. My cup of tea.

Every cliché about how perfectly this book includes all my favorite things and how even though I didn't think it was possible, I loved it more than the first book.

Namesake, while still having plenty of seafaring adventure, delved into the characters and relationships that were introduced in Fable.

While I'm disappointed it's only a duology, it also had a wonderful ending. I'm sure I'll be rereading the books many times!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I selected An American Marriage for the library's first book club meeting for several reasons. It was at the top of almost everyone's Best Books of 2018 lists, every patron who read it only had good things to say, and someone donated a couple copies while I was trying to decide on a book.

I may have put off reading it for a few years if not for the book club because of all the hype surrounding it; it's hard to be disappointed when you don't have any expectations. An American Marriage fully lived up to its praise. I also wasn't drawn to the plot. It seemed like something I should read but probably wouldn't like. I enjoyed this book because it was driven by the characters and their relationships.

I wasn't, however, prepared for how frustrating the characters would be. I didn't like them, but I couldn't stop reading in order to find out what happened to them. And that's a testament to Tayari Jones' skill as an author. These people she crafted were flawed and real, but I wanted everything to turn out alright for them.

I read 99% Mine last year, and it was very “meh” for me so I put off reading The Hating Game.

I don't know if the delay helped it, but I ended up liking The Hating Game a lot. The trajectory of the relationship wasn't a complete surprise, but the characters were so well developed that I was actually invested. It was a fun, quick read full of banter. I'll try the author's next book out and hope it's more like this one.