Reviews

Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters by Jessica P. Pryde

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katemc's review

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

I really enjoyed this! It took me a while as I would read the essays one at a time. I think like most essay collections, a few are stronger than others, but the collection as a whole is full of good information and really tangible passion for the genre and for the championing of Black romance (obviously). It’s also such a great way to hear directly from authors who usually only speak through fiction!

I particularly liked “Black Cultural Studies and Black Love,” “(Black) Love Is… (Black) Love Ain’t,” and “Black Indie Romance” which (shocker) were some of the more academically bent ones. I really enjoy a clear thesis and when a really smart person does a deep dive into a topic I’m interested in learning more about from a perspective different from my own. This collection had a lot of value for me as a romance reader overall and those above were particular highlights :)

jb4nay's review

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

I enjoyed the variety of perspectives and writers who got to write essays for the book. It did feel like a lot of them arrived at the same conclusion; seeing yourself represented in media is good and necessary (I think it’s right but it did get a bit repetitive). It felt like these could’ve been individual articles published.

That said, there were a few essays that really stood out to me: the Afrolatinx, dichotomous key, and Black indie books.

Overall, I’m glad this collection exists. I think it’s good to give people’s influences their flowers but also point hope much more room there is for improvement within the Black romance genre.

missberlyreads's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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informative reflective fast-paced

Absolute perfection. This should be required reading for every reader, not just romance readers (but especially romance readers my goddd!). I may write more later but for now, just trust me and read this collection of essays on Black (including biracial and AfroLatine) representation in romance.

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