Discussion: Overlooked & Underhyped Sci-Fi/Fantasy by Black Authors

Whenever I do a discussion post, I aim for Monday and this one is piggy-backing off my TBR  from Wednesday (9/1): Sci-Fi September & Buddy Reads. For this post, I asked a couple of my favorite Booktubers to lend a hand. As far as I’m concerned they are by far the most knowledgable when it comes to Black Science Fiction and Fantasy.

In case you’re unaware, I’m participating in the Sci-Fi September readathon and I made a conscious decision to focus on Black authors with Black protagonists. I feel, in general, literature by BIPOC authors gets overlooked, is underrated, and under-hyped in the book community. We often read, review, and put greater emphasis and value on the same books

[ARC Review] Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Title: Dear Martin
Author: Nic Stone
Format: Paperback, 208 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: October 17, 2017

[Read | Skim] [Buy | Borrow]

If you’ve been following I’ve decided to read 11 ARCs over 11 weeks. I am seriously behind in reading and reviewing them. The majority of the ARCs I receive are from work, but this one is not. I got this in a book trade. I’ve been wanting to read Dear Martin since before it came out.

Disclaimer: This review reflects my unbiased opinion and as a result I am not able to promise a wholly positive review. My apologies in advance.

[ARC Review] American War by Omar El Akaad

Title: American War
Author: Omar El Akkad
Format: Paperback, 330 pages
Genre: Dystopian
Publisher: Knoopf
Release Date: April 4, 2017

[Read | Skim] [Buy | Borrow]

If you’ve been following I’ve decided to read 11 ARCs over 11 weeks. I am seriously behind in reading and reviewing them. The majority of the ARCs I receive are from work, as is American War. I picked this up last year from the break room because it sounded interesting and plus I wanted to expand my repertoire of reading dystopian literature.

Disclaimer: This review reflects my unbiased opinion and as a result I am not able to promise a wholly positive review. My apologies in advance.

[Book Review] The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Title: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Format: Paperback, 311 pages  
Genre: Science Fiction; Distopia; Feminist Sci-Fi; Speculative Fiction
Publisher: Anchor Books a division of Random House
ISBN: 9780385490818
Release Date:
Rating: ⭐ 1/2

[Read | Skim] [Buy | Borrow]

I read, or rather attempted to read, for my banned books book club.  I always take anything rated as a classic and a must read with a grain of salt.

The Handmaid’s Tale was excruciatingly boring.  I’m usually a pretty fast reader, but I found myself taking at least an hour to read 20 pages.

Our protagonist and main character, Offred, is as static as they come and the other characters are flat.  Along with the lack of character development there is also a lack of plot development.  Atwood does a wonderful job of giving the reader descriptions of various places throughout the novel (i.e.the former Harvard Yard, the Red Center, the market, and the handmaid’s costume).