"You Could Have All Five-Star Books If You Put the Book Down"

It is hot as hell in Washington, DC, Sloane is back, and this week’s reading list ranges from fae kingdoms and mafia families to emotionally heavy historical fiction and one of the most unhinged toxic couples we have encountered in a minute.

LaCie and Sloane break down their very different reading habits, when it is finally time to DNF a book, and why LaCie’s 3.75-star rating might still be somebody else’s five-star read. Because three stars does not mean a book was bad, and somebody else’s rating should never decide what you pick up.

Sloane shares her thoughts on Mind of a Maniac, A Love That Melted a Capo’s Cold Heart, A Halo Like a Frisbee, The Don, and Dolore. She also explains why she put down Desired by a Maniac and finally gave up on Anything Necessary for Her. Meanwhile, both LaCie and Sloane enter the Black fantasy world of Our Vicious Oaths, complete with rival kingdoms, violent prophecies, fae politics, and fine men with grills.

LaCie takes us through the complicated family at the center of Daniel Black’s Perfect Peace, followed by the betrayals, crime-family drama, and unfinished love story in Masterpiece’s A Don’s Love and A Capo’s Love. Then things get completely out of hand with Shae Sanders’ Call Me Mrs. Taylor and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, featuring an obsessive stalker, a man who learns to appreciate her particular brand of crazy, and a relationship so toxic that retaliation might as well be their love language.

The conversation also touches on Katrina Jackson’s Beautiful and Dirty, Shvonne Latrice’s Applying Pressure, and Chenell Parker’s Can’t Let Go and My Little Secret while LaCie and Sloane compare some of their favorite possessive, messy, and deeply questionable fictional relationships.

Then the conversation turns to Children of Blood and Bone. We get into Tomi Adeyemi distancing herself from the film adaptation, the controversy surrounding Amandla Stenberg’s casting, colorism in Hollywood, Nigerian representation, and how much control an author actually has once the rights to their work have been sold.

Spoiler warning: This episode includes plot details from several books, particularly Our Vicious Oaths, A Don’s Love, A Capo’s Love, Call Me Mrs. Taylor, and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.

Follow the conversation everywhere at @urbanwhisperspodcast and follow Sloane at @Sloane_Bueller.