A Love Song for Ricki Wilde

10s across the board. The best feeling for me when I read a book is when it gives me goosebumps. And this book gave me so many goosebumps.

I felt all the emotions. I laughed. A lot. I was angry. I was hopeful. I was sad. And I even cried.

I can honestly say that the story I got wasn’t the story I was expecting but I’m glad cause it was so much better.

I saw this book mentioned on Hoda & Jenna and it sounded intriguing. I absolutely loved this book. I love the characters, (I see a bit of myself in Ricki Wilde) the storyline, the supernatural, magic plot twists and the pace of the book, basically everything. I love the setting in Harlem, the author transports you to and from. and how the timelines were easy to navigate. Selfishly I wanted more, even though the author Tia Williams wrapped it all up perfectly. Love Song For Ricki Wilde will definitely be on my list of book recommendations.

Wow! What a story! Everyone has been saying how good this book is and I 100% have to agree. All I kept thinking about while reading is how in Greek mythology Zeus split humans into two so they’d forever wander the earth searching for their other half. It’s kind of like that except Ezra wandered through time to find his soulmate. And Ricki in setting out to find her place in the world found her home in him. Gosh I could cry over this book!!!

5 ⭐️ no doubt about it

I don’t know of it’s the ode to one of my favorite eras and paying homage to some of the greatest creatives of all time or the fact that the two main characters are rooted in artistic wins themselves but reading this was simply art. It’s a slow burn and gives each character their own spotlight, even supporting characters like Tuesday and Mrs. Della. You fall in love with Ricki and her will to Make it almost instantly. I almost stopped reading when they got to the condo voodoo part of it all because uhn-uhn but I was too invested. I could not put this one down. You gotta catch those special nuggets dropped like the idea that we curse ourselves and try to blame others. Where honey. I just have to say I am in love. This was definitely a couldn’t put it down book for me.

Ok like the first couple chapters I was like how is this book going to go? Seems a little rushed like I started watching the movie in the middle instead of the beginning. But at the same time I was intrigued because it was giving “this finna be a movie!” Then CHAPTER 5! Babbbbbyyyy! Who is this man and WHERE IS THIS STORY ABOUT TO GO?

Tia writes MOVIES! I really didn’t have any expectations when ordering. I love Tia as an author so it was a subconscious buy. I didn’t know what to expect and I would’ve NEVER expected this lol.

I will say, close to the end I was able to predict the ending. Nevertheless, great book!

This book started out strong for me. I was loving the writing and the references. Early into the story, Williams throws in a Bravo Real Housewives of Atlanta reference that I got so excited over!

Her writing is captivating! I was getting butterflies and so giddy over the storyline. I always love books with magical realism and when I discovered this one revolved around the Leap Year I was very excited to find out how it all came into play. And there is no doubt in my mind Williams can write! I can definitely see why she is so popular, and even though I keep putting it off, after reading this book, I am even more excited to read her previous book, Seven Days in June.

Not only is her writing magical, but she has an extensive vocabulary that doesn't bog you down or feel pretentious. I was able to learn so many new words I had never heard before and add to my word bank.

But unfortunately, at the 60% mark the story started to fizzle out for me. It started to lose the spark I had at the beginning, and although the ending was predictable, that wouldn't have bothered me if the rest of the story had me hooked. But because it did it made it even harder for me to stay focused to continue reading.

A couple of things I think that bothered me was the story started to feel more clinical or like info dump, specifically as they go on this mission running around NY to stop what is happening. I'm going to leave that as vague as possible, so I don't spoil it and hopefully that alone will not for anyone! Also, I loved how the author laid everything out with the alternate POV and the flashbacks to Harlem in the 1920s, and then how she made it all come together As the reader, you see how it is going to come together a mile off, but that didn't bother me. However, once everything did click together it didn't quite work for me. And I'm not even sure what it was exactly. It could be the pacing but honestly I think it was the plot and just how it was delivered. I wished it felt more like the beginning of the book and not so rushed towards the end.

Overall, this was okay for me, but like I said I'm still very excited to give Seven Days in June a chance and hoping I enjoy it more!