Welcome to Litsy!

I'm posting the #BookScavengerHunt prompts in order & today is 'Blood'.

Oops I missed yesterday's prompt so there will be two posts today. This seems to be a YA retelling of 'Carrie' & the MC is biracial giving it an additional angle.

#Flerken #HauntedShelf @puddlejumper #Blood

Maddy Washington deserved so much better than the childhood she'd had. If I could write her a new story, I would. Even though I want to know more, the author's ending is perfect! Themes of racism, bullying, and police brutality. A skillful retelling of King's Carrie.

A YA Carrie retelling. It was a good read. Themes of racism, bullying, classism, and sexism. I did find the writing to be very YA. Everything was really spelled out for the reader, but I'm not the target audience so not a huge deal breaker.

4.5⭐
Wow! So glad this book kicked off my reading year!
Highly suggest listening to this one on audio. It is a full cast and many of the chapters are read as episodes of a podcast. This is a Carrie retelling that focuses on tough topics like bullying, brutality, and racism. It's very well done. 👏
#52bookclub24 - 'A Revenge Story'

#12Booksof2023 #October

Jackson‘s take on SK‘s Carrie that I actually might like better. Loved it!

#FavBook2023

A Black YA take on Carrie. It is so much more than the Carrie of my youth, Jackson is a phenomenon. Every book she puts out is more spectacular than I could hope for, and Weight of Blood blew me away.

The only YA to make my top 10 this year.

I had many favorites this month!

The Weight of Blood - Tiffany D. Jackson (YA)
Two Tribes - Emily Bowen Cohen (Middle Grade Graphic Novel)
Healer of the Water Monster - Brian Young (I highly recommend the audio) (Middle Grade)
Curlfriends: New in Town - Sharee Miller (Middle Grade Graphic Novel)

Least favorite: The Children of Red Peak - Craig DiLouie

#2023Book78

I've never read Carrie and don't read a ton of YA, but I like Tiffany D. Jackson and really liked this! A good, compelling story with multidimensional characters told in an interesting way. I loved how it invites the reader to consider all kinds of biases and assumptions (including their own!). And though at times I felt I could do without the teen romance, in the end I actually quite appreciated how it fit into the story.

Phew, it was a good reading month! November #readingroundup
4.5 ⭐
The Weight of Blood
Woman in Me
4 ⭐
All the Sinners Bleed
The Mercies
Out There Screaming
Into the Drowning Deep
The Only Good Indians
Lessons in Chemistry
Stars in Your Eyes
Half a Soul
Mrs. March
3.5 ⭐
Interior Chinatown
Self Made Widow
Patricia Wants to Cuddle
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
3 ⭐
Princess and the Grilled Cheese
Heart Shaped Box
Turn of the Screw
2.5 ⭐
Real Murders

I‘m a little mad at myself for sleeping on Tiffany D. Jackson over the years. I loved this retelling of Carrie. I think I might prefer hers over SK‘s. 🫢

I‘m definitely going to pick up Jackson‘s other books.

Finished October 19th.

Been waiting all evening for this moment.
#BedReading

Idk why but I couldn't get into this audiobook for some reason. I'm having focus issues with it. I'm bailing for now but will try again another day.

Maddy did it.

😳 Wow. Tiffany D. Jackson can write a story. If you had told me all of the genres this would touch I probably would have been put off - podcast hosts, child abuse, school bullies, supernatural characters, struggling students, and a nerd to love storyline.
I read Carrie years ago and while I appreciate it this is so, so much more and brilliantly put together.
I am blown away by the weaving of this story.
5⭐

Joining #outstandingoctober #readathon w/ @Andrew65 for some #scarathlon points!!

For #listylistens 🎧 @aperfectmjk
🎧Self Made Widow
🎧Into The Drowning Deep - #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks
🎧The Only Good Indians
📖
The Weight of Blood
Out There Screaming
Patricia Wants To Cuddle
Waiting For Ted
Kitty and the Midnight Hour

#scarathlon #photochallenge #blood

This is next on my #TBR and I am so excited!

@FlynnDewey @Clwojick @StayCurious

#ScarathlonPhotoChallenge

Two #Blood titles that are in my #Scarathlon TBR🩸 I‘m hoping to get to both of them.

+6 points for Team #SpookyGhostClub 🖤👻🖤

I made it to Loudmouth Books‘ grand opening today. The store is really bright and fun. Leah Johnson was there, but it was so busy I felt uncomfortable taking pics inside. I picked up the tagged book, three stickers, and a magnetic bookmark.

Early morning reading buddy 😌

The only good thing about waiting rooms is getting time to read lol

I had NO IDEA there were still some segregated proms in the US, to this day, until I picked up this book. I'm sorry but I have to say it... what is happening in that country?!?! This is insane.

We heard the crash first.🩸
#FirstLineFridays

Used a screenshot today because there was so much preamble that I couldn't decide what to call the first line 😅

Carrie retelling?! So in.

I taught high school for over twenty years, so I avoid YA unless the book is incredibly popular. I don‘t dislike YA, I just have spent enough time with teens, and I want to read about grownups. I also love Stephen King‘s novels, so when I saw this retelling of Carrie, I had to give it a try. This is an excellent retelling that brings in the topics of race, exclusion, parenting, and bullying. The audiobook is fabulous!

This is a great, modern spin on Carrie by Stephen King! It takes the bullying in that story and amps it up with racism and gaslighting in a small, southern town. I loved the mix of various POVs, snippets of a podcast trying to figure out what exactly happened the night our main character, Maddie, seemingly murdered most of her classmates, and more to give a well-rounded, multifaceted look at what really happened. Great writing! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Racism in the 21st century…..meets Carrie!

The only reason I read this is because it‘s on the short list for the best YA novel at the Stoker Awards. Thank goodness it was because hearing about a remake of Carrie, something most of us has read or at least seen the movie, I was like-ehh. But Ms. Jackson makes it new and fresh. I was elated to find myself hyped while reading it, and in the end, in love with all of it. Pick!

One character I resonate with in The Weight Of Blood is Ms. Morgan who is constantly being realistic and opening the truth up to people who have been blocked away from it. I connected with that because I feel that sharing my perspective is always important in making decisions and being realistic is one of my main specialties.

I listened to this via BorrowBox,

I enjoyed this Carrie retelling, it is a dark story so beware.

Read for reading challenges.

4.25/5

The writing style of my book is very fast-paced in places where it's needed so you don't feel like you're wasting time but also slow in certain areas that need more explanation on the character's background. It's well written in that sense and the author's stylistic choices are nice because it bounces back and forth between characters and a podcast that tells the story almost.

Wow! This was a great listen! I‘m so glad I listened to whom ever initially recommended it ( @CBee and/or @5feet.of.fury ) anyway so so good #YouPickTBR23

(Picture of just a pretty window —- just because)

Wine, bath and some intrusive babies :) #AudioSelfCare

I can't recall who recommended this to me, but I am counting it as a #YouPickTBR23. I also needed something as a new #AudioCommute and #AudioChore book.

THIS WAS SO GOOD. I love the homage to Stephen King and Carrie! It changed some things, which I liked, and kept me engrossed the whole time. I couldn‘t put it down. ❤️❤️❤️ @magyklyXdelish @babyruth2510 @Bookish_AF

Finished a Stephen King AND a Stephen King retelling today.

This was really well done. The characters had depth, the racial tensions aspect added to the story. I audiobooked it and between the chapters had blurbs from a true crime podcast & breaking news. Incredibly entertaining.
👸🏽

This is a retelling of Stephen King‘s novel Carrie and it was hard to get that book out of my head while reading this one. 16-yr-old Maddy Washington lives with her controlling father. She has a secret; she‘s bi-racial and NO ONE can know. When her secret gets out it sets off a series of events which culminate at the school prom. This book does have interesting things to say about racism and was readable, for sure, but it‘s not ‘original‘.

This is a modern retelling of Stephen King‘s Carrie. I found the new take to be mostly effective and timely. Maddy is our main character and is a biracial teen passing as white. In this version she has a father raising her very strictly and she lives in a very racist southern town. There is a podcast portion of this story, updating the journal version of the original. ⬇️

This started slow, but I was certainly hooked by the end. All the ways structural racism affected the characters was fascinating, and I was never sure how everything was going to play out, even with the podcast interludes. Deserves the hype! #yalit #yahorror

This is a modern “retelling” of ‘Carrie‘, in which the catalyst is rooted in racism. I wish there was a bit more of a departure because this does follow ‘Carrie‘ almost beat for beat with one minor twist.

A very good retelling of Carrie, with racism as it‘s main focus. I did enjoy the book and it‘s exploration of entrenched, institutionalised racism.
What I didn‘t enjoy, again, from a US author was the use of the word spazz and spazzed. It‘s especially disappointing in a book that is about discrimination.
It‘s discriminating and derogatory to disabled people. I know I‘ve said it before, but I will carry on saying I guess.

Powerful, horrifying and wild. Highly recommend.

This book was an interesting homage to Stephen King's Carrie because it tackled overt racism. It was done well, and just like I'm the original story, the biggest horror isn't in the gore. I thought it did the original justice and had merit all on its own.

I‘ll be honest - I like Stephen King, but the only book of his I‘ve read is The Stand. I‘m a scaredy cat, mmmkay? But THIS BOOK! Y‘all. It‘s the homage to Carrie that we NEED in this day and time. Violent, sure, but not overly so and really not until the end (and ok, I was rooting for Maddy and those assholes got what they….you get my meaning). LOVED IT.
Only tiny complaint is I wanted a little more resolution at the end. Phew 😅

I'm not a person of color (at least, I'm usually not perceived that way), but this hit me in a way that is hard to describe.
I can attempt to, but I'm not the person to lead that conversation.

A Carrie remake by one of my favorite authors! I hear this is one of her best yet and I can‘t wait to read it!

#ScarathlonDailyPrompts #PhotoChallenge Day 16: #Scared #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2022

Gotta have some laughter to break up the despair in this tale 🤣

Ho-ly s#*+ 😬

Listened to this on audio and it was amazing. I loved the multi cast narration as well as this racism reimagining of the Stephen King classic, Carrie. #Scarathlon #TeamMonsterMash #LittenListen #BookSpinBingo #promptmaze #31by31 +286 pts

Man am I glad the library had a copy! The cover was nagging at me with its resemblance to King's CARRIE since my work got it in. After reading the synopsis and then glancing at the acknowledgements now I know why. This is basically a retelling of King's novel where our protagonist is a white-passing biracial girl in a small, racist town. CARRIE is one of my favorites, so of course I'm going to read this! Only a little ways in rn, but I'm excited