Before We Were Yours

One of the last books that I read was Before and After, which focused on Georgia Tann and the survivors of her black market baby business which she ran through the Tennessee Children's Home Society (TCHS).

Before We Were Yours is the fictionalization of a family directly affected by TCHS.

It's told in two parts.

One storyline includes Rill and her 4 siblings who live on a shantyboat. They're river gypsies through and through and have no desire to live any other way. But when their mother Queenie goes into labor with twins, she and husband, Briny, take off to the hospital in an attempt to save her and the babies. Little do they know Georgia Tann is about to enter their lives.

The other storyline follows Avery Stafford, a young lawyer who has moved home to help her ailing father with his next political move. When Grandma Judy begins losing her sense to dementia, they decide the best move is to put her in a top of the line care facility. In an attempt to make the political gossip die out, Avery and her father attend another care facility where they meet an elderly woman by the name of May......

May goes on to steal Avery's heirloom dragonfly bracelet. Her mind made her believe that bracelet belongs to her and her sisters.....which isn't entirely wrong.

The two storylines obviously overlap to bring out the horrors of TCHS. Their lives become intertwined in a secret that had been kept away for more than 50 years.

Personally, I enjoyed reading Rill's story far more than Avery's.

Rill tells the tale of being ripped away from the shantyboat, from the only life they ever knew and thrown into a dark home for adoptees. The abuse they were dealt at the hands of the TCHS workers made me sick to my stomach. The life Rill and Fern live after TCHS is like nothing they every expected. But they learn that family doesn't always have to be related by blood.

But when those secrets come bubbling back up, I believe these families deserve to hear the history of their bloodline. Two sisters who had never met in 50 years is astonishing. There are still families today affected by Georgia Tann's antics and some that will never know their history.

Looking for the companion book?

Before and After

Saving Ruby King

I was honestly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

I went into Saving Ruby King having no idea what the book was actually besides the quick synopsis.

So, the majority of the book takes place in a church in Chicago's South Side. It deals with many topics such as religion, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, incest, suicidal tendencies, and gun violence. But it also deals with deeper topics like mortality and guilt. Lots of hard hitting topics smashed into one book, and it definitely worked.

Ruby King, the girl, cannot bare the thought of having to live with her father Lebanon after her mother is shot and killed trying to unlock their front door. Everyone knows whose behind her murder. She never could quite hide the scars and bruises Lebanon left on her. He fits the description of her murderer and everyone knows it. Ruby thinks she's tough, tougher than her mother ever was. She will not let Lebanon lay a hand on her, even if that means killing him herself.

Layla Potter, Ruby's best friend and confidante, will fight to the death to save her friend from suffering the same fate as Auntie Alice. Layla has an innate need to protect Ruby from everyone. Now, she is a tough cookie. She stands up to her father, the Reverend. She believes there is more to life than doing the bidding for someone like Lebanon. She believes there is a life outside the church that her father is downright oblivious to.

But there's a history between Ruby and Layla's dads. Once upon a time they were the best of friends. They would, and did, do everything together. They protected each other. They had secrets buried that could destroy the lives they built.

But the aspect that really got me, and got me a turned around a few times, was that their GRANDPARENTS were all friends. Which came with a whole slew of secrets they kept from their children and grandchildren. Forever, and to the end.

This book was actually really good for a number of reasons.

Besides being a debut author who happens to be black and a woman, it fits a new genre that I'm dying to read more of. Ruby and Layla are both in their early-mid twenties. It's hard to find books that tackle this many topics, let alone one that features characters my own age. It was amazing and heartbreaking to set foot into Chicago's South Side with Catherine Adel West's words.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for sending me an e-arc of this book!!

Saving Ruby King hits shelves June 16, 2020!

Looking for the rest of the series?

The Two Lives of Sara

Before and After

Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived The Tennessee Children's Home Society

This book is unlike any other book I've read.

For those who don't know about the Tennessee Children's Home Society (TCHS), founder Georgia Tann was essentially running a black market baby business under the guise of an adoption agency. Tann preyed on young women who were forced into motherhood, unwed mothers, and pregnant teenagers. Many didn't understand that when they signed papers with Georgia Tann they were effectively giving up their parental rights. Many thought they would be reunited with their children. However, some mothers are suspected for actually selling their babies to Tann.

Tann had many tactics, some of which included telling the birth mothers that their babies had died shortly after birth. She altered birth certificates, forged documents, and in some instances changed birthdays and names in an attempt to make the child harder to trace.

Authors Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate set off on an unknowing adventure to bring some of these adoptees together for a reunion of sorts. They had no idea what would happen or how many of the adoptees would even want to talk to them. Over the course of this book we get to know several of the families directly affected by Georgia Tann and her baby selling business. Some feel that Tann helped put them into a life worth living. Others remember being placed in homes where families constantly fought and ended up in shattered homes. Regardless of where the ended up, they all came to the same conclusion....something was missing in their lives and they never could place it. Many sought out their adoption records in the hopes to meet their birth families, to meet the people who gave them up and learn their stories. Judy and Lisa recognized this fact and decided to help them right the stories these families wanted to share.

This book was absolutely awe-inspiring and heartbreaking all at once.

The lives these adoptees have lived and the lives they've created along the way will forever be tied to Georgia Tann and TCHS. We may never know how many children were separated from their families. We may never see these families come together with children lost. But one thing is for sure, these adoptees will always have one another.

Looking for the companion novel?

Before We We Yours

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Coriolanus Snow is a douche.

Sorry for that blunt comment, but it's true.

The long awaited prequel to The Hunger Games is finally here!

 

This book follows Coriolanus Snow, better known as President Snow.

 

So, this takes place during the 10th Hunger Games and for the first time, the Capitol is allowing academy students to act as mentors to their district tributes. Obviously, Snow gets the short stick and ends up with a small girl from District 12. But he admires her fierce snake attack on another potential tribute; what really does it for him is the moment she starts singing. Snow cannot imagine a world where Lucy Gray could ever possibly win the Hunger Games. The odds are not in her favor when lined up with the rest of the tributes. But Snow is determined to find a way to make this girl a winner.

Having the academy students mentor this tributes gave a new perspective to the Hunger Games. It created a hands on experience for the students involved. The games are very simple, kids get thrown into an arena to fight to the death. The games were originally created as punishment for Districts revolting against the Capitol. They want the Districts to suffer. But the games needed some improvements and the floor was open to the academy students. But it's Coriolanus's idea that sticks, let people make bets on who they believe will win. They can show their support by donating money to their very own tribute. The money can be spent on food, water, basic necessities and it's up to their mentor to get these items delivered into the arena.

Now there's some twists and turns that I'd really love to spill but I don't want you guys to hate me for posting spoilers.....so I can't even really talk about part 3 of the book.

BUT, I do see many, many connections that I'm dying to get off my chest so if you're interested in spoilers and are dying to know what I'm not posting....PLEASE MESSAGE ME.

Looking for The Hunger Games Series?

The Hunger Games Trilogy