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Series Review: The Brothers Sinister by Courtney Milan

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. This review is for The Brothers Sinister by Courtney Milan. Full Audio Here   The Governess Affair Miss Serena Barton intends to hold the petty, selfish duke who had her sacked responsible for his crimes. But the man who handles all the duke's dirty business has been ordered to get rid of her by fair means or foul. She’ll have to prove more than his match… The Duchess War The last time Minerva Lane was the center of attention, it ended badly—so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention. But that is precisely what she gets... A Kiss for Midwinter Miss Lydia Charingford does her best to forget the dark secret that nearly ruined her life, hiding it beneath her smi...

Punching The Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

Punching The Air uses prose poetry and sparse illustrations to convey a small slice of how it feels to be accused and incarcerated. It is evocative and moving, often despairing and frequently beautiful. 

It was absorbing, sketching the edges of the broader systems of racism which funnel Black people specifically and people of color generally into prison. It delves into the details of how this could go for one person and has gone for many. It’s fiction that mirrors fact. It does something that isn’t quite world building, because it’s set now, but it’s world-illuminating, poking into the often-hidden corners of our unjust reality.

It’s filled with emotional swings, where the MC attempts to gain some stability, some moments of happiness, then something tears it down. It’s about cruelty without being a cruel book, it’s about racism and bitterness without being a bitter story. It handles a difficult story deftly and I’m in awe.

CW for imprisonment, violence, assault.

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A purple and orange butterfly turns into a swirl of matching paint which loops upwards around a Black boy and his upheld fist.


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