Book Review: ‘A Toast to Life’ A Memoir by the Actress Juliet Ibrahim

23rd August 20199th February 2020 Lara T. Kareem1 Comment

Author – Juliet Ibrahim

Publication – August 2019.

Publisher – Prestige, Kachifo

Genre – Memoir

From Liberia to Lebanon, Ivory Coast to Ghana, Juliet Ibrahim survives the upheaval of war across countries, being torn away from the familiar and losing memories. But this is only the beginning of her story.
In A Toast to Life, Juliet is a child with body-esteem issues, a teenager dealing with abuse in silence, a young woman making mistakes in love and an adult finding cause to celebrate life.

Books Featuring Mostly Queer Female Main Characters!

14th August 201922nd May 2021 Lara T. Kareem3 Comments

In this case, the word Queer is an umbrella term. I read a lot of queer romance, but many are on the romance and erotic side, so would need a seperate list for that haha!
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Book Review: ‘La Bastarda’ An Unapologetic African Queer Tale by Trifonia Melibea Obono

11th August 20199th February 2020 Lara T. KareemLeave a comment

Title – La Bastarda

Author – Trifonia Melibea Obono

Translator – Lawrence Schimel

Publication – August 2018.

Publisher – Modjaji Books

Genre – African LGBT+ Literary Fiction

The first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, La Bastarda is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other village outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of “mysterious” girls reveling in their so-called indecency. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself falling in love with their leader and rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture.

Book Review: Stab Love with Flower Stalks by Amethyst Saw

18th June 201918th June 2019 Lara T. Kareem5 Comments

Title: Stab Love with Flower Stalks
Author: Amethyst Saw
Publication: June 18th, 2019.
Genre: Erotica, LGBT+ & Adult Fiction

Blurb: Journey through time with a flower goddess as she grapples with love, how its delicate beauty holds her captivated and it’s stem filled with thorns so harsh, brings pain to who seeks to hold it forever.

Get lost with a soul, who has repeatedly travelled through time, listen to the scary confessions shared with a lover, be enamoured by the fluidness of her relationship with love as it’s vividly painted in the poems that comes from feeling the fiery passion that vibrates through her.

Stab Love with Flower Stalks is a collection of 13 flash stories and poems, which are mostly queer romance and erotica, narrating the delicate beauty and jarring pains of falling in love.

Tagged for: POC Representation (Black People), Bisexuality, Sapphic.Read More »

Book Review: Emilio Sanchez by Besidone Adewunmi Edun

30th May 201918th June 2019 Lara T. Kareem2 Comments

Title – Emilio Sanchez

Author – Besidone Adewunmi Edun

Publication – 17th, May 2019.

Publisher – Parrésia Publishers Ltd.

Genre – Mystery, Young Adult Fiction

Emilio Sanchez, a young determined lad in Equatorial Guinea finds his life spiralling off-course after the death of his parents. Taking his life in his own hands, Emilio in the company of his friend Pedro leaves for the capital city with the blessing of his godfather, Padre Antonio.

In Malabo, the capital city, Emilio finds work and trouble. After a few months, he is arrested for theft, because his red handkerchief had been found at the scene of a crime.

Locked up behind bars, Emilio discovers the truth about friendship, loyalty and trust, and an unusual friendship forms behind bars.