Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

4 reviews

uranaishi's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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zluvsreading's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Okay so main character is Richard Wilde aka Ricki Wilde the 2nd named after her dad who wanted a son and they had everything in order so they just didn’t change the name at all. She has three sisters Rae and Rashida and Regina. She is the youngest and her family owns (her dad) a funeral home business. However she is a horticulturist and loves plants. Moves to Harlem with Ms Della and lives below or above or in her brownstone. 

So basically this is leap year of 2024. February. We meet Ezra Walker the 3rd or fourth in 1923. Leap year!!!!! February!!!!! Him and his cousin Sonny. So basically he’s a musician and is really good.
Starts at The Nest. However Sonny turns into an addict and leaves him his dog GROUCHO BARX in 1927 or so!!! He still has the collar on 2024. Weird right??? So he’s not a ghost because he can be touched but is he forever stuck at one age? Stuck in time? Stuck in February leap years for the rest of his life. His ex had a tragic death! Was that Ricki???? Is that why he feels so drawn to her and it’s like they know each other??? PAST LIVES PERHAPS????????? 

Not a coincidence that he called Ricki a tornado and called his old girlfriend Felice a hurricane and tornado like!!!! NOT A COINCIDENCE AT ALL!!!! What the fuck?

Okay so Ricki lives now where He once lived. I think! Also I think the piano she has was his own personal one. That’s why he was so gutted seeing it. WAIT ACRUALLY THE SEX SCENE WHEN HE NEEDED HER TO COMPLETE THE SONG???? Can I just say hot but also so fucking devastating in the best way possible?
Like I was crying and then the next moment I was like oh fuck yeah they’re hot! The NEED. The need for each other in that moment. I’m fucking scratching my eyes out idk. 

Felice is so obviously manic but is she actually hurting people or just doing voodoo and they’re getting hurt from that.
Nah she seems wild enough to actually be doing the stuff. LMAOOOOO. 


OH MY FUCKING GOD DELLA IS ADELAIDE AS IN FELICES BABY THAT SHE LEFT BEHIND OH MY FUCKING GOD OH MY FUCKING GODFDddhisvdosbdo

Starbucks mentioned 😒😒😒😒😒😒😒

Them savoring all the time left no I’m actually a mess! 

NOOOOO DELLA IS THE HUMAN SACRIFICE TO BREAK THE CURSE OH HELL NO NO IM SICK IM SO SCIK

OH MY GOF NO I DIDNT WANT TO BE RIGHT WHAT THE HELL NO WAY 

Okay so beautiful so stunning. The Harlem Renaissance backdrop and history interwoven in this, Black history to be more precise was so well done. I felt like I was in Harlem in the 1920’s. Tia teleported me there and I love her for that because it was so atmospheric.

You can feel the pain and grief that Breeze was going through and living with in the 20’s after he moved from South Carolina. Everything was said in a raw and explicit way and I love that. I would definitely check trigger warnings. 

The writing was beautiful and I am now forever a Stan of Tia Williams. Devastating is the only way I know how to describe this book, but also devastatingly tender. ACHING. Ezra in present time was. SO PAINFUL. Even before we knew what was going on, you can FEEL the longing through the pages and AHHHHHH that just makes me wanna cry even harder. 

The way that everything was linked.
THE LEAP YEAR. DELLA. THE BUILDINGS AND PLACES!!!!! JASMINE FLOWERS!!!!!!
Rah, I love Tias mind. I would like to live inside of it. 

Not only would she have to make up a current story and timeline in the year 2024, but also do so much research for the environment, people, clothing, trends, music and everything else for the 1920’s and the location and how everything was. The language and dialect and just everything seeped in rich history was just so well done. It hurts my heart that history like this is trying to get taken out of schools today like !!!!!! 

Books like this deserve to be made into movies. Documentaries or something cause what the hell?!?! I saw it playing in my head but no I need to see this on the big screen like fr. It won’t do it justice at all but oh my god I’d love to see them try.  

I am definitely going to be trying out the audiobook of this because I know it will be so good with the Black voices and everything else!!!!! I so want to hear that and be transported back into the magic of this story. 

God bless Ricki for finally
sticking up to her dumbass sisters dumb dumber and dumbest!!!!!! They are Awful people with a capital A. Her mom is literally in need of help. Her dad, iffy but also I like that he was proud of her, at least a little bit. 

I’m so sad I was right about the sacrifice being Della. So sad. I wanted to be wrong but unfortunately
I felt it in the air. 

I just simply must come back to this book every once in a while because it was stunning. I have no adequate words. 10/10 love!!!!!
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kreglow's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Overall, a good read. It does become an erotic novel about 2/3 in, then snaps back to the main fantastical plot in the last 1/4. If that's what you're into, cool. It got to be a bit much at times, though.
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belreadsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5


A Love Song For Ricki Wilde is a heart wrenching romance spanning 100 years with a focus on found family, curses, soulmates, and a little history too.

I found the story to be quite slow to start. Also, I wasn’t surprised at all by anything in this story? I felt like everything was very easy to predict, but surprisingly that didn’t affect my enjoyment. I went into this story knowing nothing (outside of the title and the stunning cover), and I wasn’t disappointed. Overall, A Love Song For Ricki Wilde was a sweet, heartwarming tale that had me rooting for everyone in the story. If you’ve read from Williams before, or simply crave or want to try reading a magical realism romance, this is for you!

I am so grateful I got to read this early. This is available now - out today, Feb 6!! 

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own. 
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