- Charlotte Nicole Davis
- Debut; Book 1 of a Duology
- Genre: YA Fantasy
- Background: Black
- IG: @cndwrites, Twitter: @cndwrites; www.charlottenicoledavis.com
- Release: 10/1/2019 (Go get it now because the sequel is out next week!)
- Publisher: Tor Teen
- Favorite Character: I’m shocked by this but Violet! I know she is the only fairblood in the group & what not but she kept really really real in this book and y’all know I’m about that keeping it 100% life!
- Favorite Quote: “I worked hard for this room. And this bed. Look, even the pillows have pillows.”-Clementine. I felt Clem on her excitement & the small sense of entitlement she felt, Black girls don’t get that so I seriously appreciated her having that moment.
Hey everyone, I just wanted to give a disclaimer that this post is actually not new. I wrote it a while back but just never posted it (not cause it was bad or anything) *face slaps*. Since the sequel is coming out next week, I wanted to make sure to post this so you all will go out and get The Good Luck Girls & Sisters Of The Reckoning.
When I was at bookcon in 2019 (it feels like a lifetime ago *wails*), I saw the cover to The Good Luck Girls on the wall & took a picture so I wouldn’t forget to be on the look for it. Someone called out “thank you” (It may have been Charlotte’s mom & if so “HEY MRS. DAVIS! THANK YOU!” If not, still “HEY MRS. DAVIS! Thank you for giving birth to an author!”) when they saw me and honestly, I should’ve been the one to say thank you to them at the time! A few weeks later, I ran into author Dhonielle Clayton who mentioned The Good Luck Girls while engaging in bookish talk and if she recommends a book, I know it is going to be a bop (I forever trust her judgment). It was the sign from the Universe that told me that I was meant to read this book! On top of that, there is a beautiful Black Girl on the cover! So it was a wrap, Saran AND Reynolds (wow, my age just showed there a bit, lol)! The cover has since been redesigned to match the sequel’s but I still love the original cover SOOOOOO much! This book was such a roller coaster, I wasn’t ready for so many of the things that happened and Sisters Of The Reckoning didn’t let me down either, it barely let my thoughts be quiet at that if I’m keeping it 100 here (I had the pleasure of reading the E-ARC but fear not, there won’t be any spoilers *smiles*)!
Y’all…I’m so here for this badass band of outlaws! Aster, Clem, Tansy, Mallow and Violet were such an unlikely combination of characters that they worked beautifully. They are so supportive and mindful of one another throughout this book. Though they didn’t always see eye-to-eye, they were diplomatic in how they handled their differences of opinion. I love how they all step up and have their shining moments as well as acknowledge their strengths…they’re like a well coconut-oiled & Shea buttered machine and it’s truly glorious to behold. The closeness of this group, even when they didn’t feel so close, was also endearing. They were free to be individuals which allowed us to get to know each one along with how they functioned as a group.
Something else I dug about this book is the approach to girls/women having ownership of their (our) bodies & lives… Lawd knows that we deserve to feel all the entitlement to ourselves & the memo needs to be posted EVVVVVVV-ER-Y-WHERE! Being that they were in a good luck house, they could’ve resigned to that life but the fact that they didn’t speaks so much to their spirit & character…it’s like the ancestors propelled them forward as they do with us. They were handed a life that no girl/woman should have to live on behalf of their families if it wasn’t what they were choosing for themselves. Despite the reasons being somewhat selfish on the part of their families, they still thought often of their families… Which truly, they were better than me because there is nooooooo way I would invest thought in my family if they sold me (literally) out like that…like there is no effin’ way (I can hold a grudge like nobody’s bidness)! I think it is a testament to their hearts because I’m petty AF. They did what they had to do to hold on to their humanity and “steal their happiness” where they could as Aster says. This group of girls didn’t let the perceptions of others deeply impact how they saw themselves and each other. I really admired their perseverance and fighting spirits.
It’s their fighting spirit & quick thinking that made them such badass outlaws that they would give Jesse James a run for his (stolen) money. They were hella clever & fast…it was like a literary Set It Off but wild west style! Aster & Violet combined were like Cleo, Clem is like T.T., Tansy is like Frankie and Mallow is like Stoney (this is my personal opinion and I am sticking to it). Really at any point in time, they could switch out roles in who masterminded what or took care of whatever needed to happen. If you haven’t seen that movie & are old enough to watch it, I would highly recommend it because a group of four badass Black women tearing ish up is just so epic…I still watch that movie like I’ve never seen it before! Anyways, I imagine that if there were to be a movie for TGLG, it would look something like Set It Off (but a different ending because obviously, there has to be a sequel) & I wouldn’t be mad at it at alllll (lettuce pray that there would actually be a movie or TV series in the not so distant future *looks at production studios*)!
Also like in Set It Off, sisterhood was a big part of TGLG, which I appreciated. While they had their arguments (what sisters, literary or real life, doesn’t fight?!), they didn’t turn their backs on one another. It was a bit like sorority life or living in a girl’s dorm and if you have been a part of either, you know a lot of ish can go down (oh so many memories comes to mind, right now) but there are ways to bounce back from those moments, which I feel these characters do. They embodied the phrase “I am my sister’s keeper”!
TGLG covers so many different themes from trauma & PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), racism, classism and so many others were written between the lines for us to pick up. I really enjoyed this book & felt so empowered by this group of girls and their resilience. I would highly recommend that you go pick up this book, sit down & get ready to get lost in the world of Aster, Clem, Tansy, Mallow and Violet…it’s a wild ride but so worth experiencing the bumps! And I promise you all that Sisters Of The Reckoning does not disappoint either. I damn near had a heart attack several times from the sideways things that happened! I didn’t want to put it down for even a moment and found myself thinking about what would happen next! I don’t want to say too much more because I don’t want to risk spoiling anything, especially because of the way that TGLG ended! So if you love Girl Gangs, a hint of romance and the Wild West, you will really enjoy this Duology!
Well y’all, I’mma end it here so you can go out and pick up The Good Luck Girls and pre-order Sisters Of The Reckoning! Until the next post, Find and Follow me out in these E-Streets on Instagram @bookishgirlmagic, Twitter @bookishgrlmagic and Clubhouse @bookishgrlmagic where you can typically find me in book centered clubs/rooms (also subscribe to this blog puhleeeeaseeeee). As usual, I’m wishing you happy reading and sending you bunches of bookish love! Until the next post, later!
Bookish Girl Magic 