This book was a fast read once started and I enjoyed every minute of it and wish I savored it more! This was a strong YA debut and I love that it was written by two sisters. This story tackled some heavy topics but was beautifully written. I loved the snark and it had me chuckling every so often. The Caribbean setting and descriptions has me ready to book my ticket!

ARC provided by the publisher, all opinions my own. Also, clearly, I have taken way to long to read this as it has been out for almost a year.

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine follows Alaine, a Haitian-American high school student in Florida, as she finds herself dealing with being sent to Haiti as a punishment for being suspended from school. The book weaves Haiti’s history in with Alaine’s present, and once she is in Haiti, Alaine must cope with family secrets, the declining health of someone she loves, and perhaps breaking a family curse.

I have mixed feelings about this book; it has an abundance of strengths, which I will shortly enumerate, but also avoided the full exploration of topics it was so close to in a way that didn’t mesh with me very well.

Starting with the positives! The writing is wonderful, Maika and Maritza Moulite write together so seamlessly; the character voice is incredibly consistent throughout the book. I did like the humor of the book, Alaine is funny, assertive, and confident in a way that I found refreshing. I would undoubtedly have loved to be friends with Alaine in high school.

Speaking of high school, I was not super keen on the resolution of the plotline with Alaine’s school friend and other classmates. Mostly because it did not exist. The beginning of the book had almost no bearing on the rest of the book, except it was a launching pad to send Alaine to Haiti. I really just wanted a conversation with Alaine’s Florida best friend, something that resolved the way her friend was unsupportive in school initially or even just an exchange that showed her friend actively supporting Alaine and not just her being a vehicle for the audience to know the rumors going around back in Florida. Another nod to something I found enjoyable is I am also a Florida person, though neither Miami nor the rural bit mentioned in the book, and I really like reading books set in-part near me.

Part of my conflict over how to feel about the novel is it talks about so many important topics but stops just shy of actually diving super deeply into it. The book is slightly more lighthearted than I would have preferred. The authors repeatedly bring up the poverty of Haiti, and show the audience the tension between a country being reliant on international aid but also being stifled by it in other aspects. But I really wanted them to explore farther the privilege of Alaine’s family. All the exploration of her family’s position seemed rather surface level. There was mention of the sins of Alaine’s grandfather, and a passing conversation about the inherent problem with them having Roseline be a literal slave in their household in her childhood (and Roseline’s character resolution was kinda messed up, basically ‘her life as hard but she is vengeful, so I will just join the family ignorance of her’). I wanted more discussion here.

I was especially disappointed by the handling of Alaine’s aunt and the app, Patron Pal. When the app is first introduced, it is immediately followed with an excellent analysis of why this kind of charity work is problematic and inherently exploitive. But the narrative ends up just completely forgiving this because it makes the characters feel good to do it, even when the only person on the page that is a benefactor of this app talks about how he feels he is exploiting his children through it in order to be able to send one of them to school. And Alaine’s aunt was the literal head of a company that was founded as a money-laundering scheme and is presented as innocent and unaware of her own involvement in this. She does give information to the authorities or the press to expose this behavior, but I cannot believe that the head of the company could not be complicit in such an action. I was so disappointed that the end of the book had Alaine not seeing the flaws in this exploitation of children and that she wanted to salvage this shady company.

I really liked the character of Alaine, and she does learn a lesson and grow as a person by the end of the novel, but it really just happens right at the end of the novel. We are following her through her own grieving process as she tried desperately to break the curse on her family to rid her mother of early-onset Alzheimers. I will give a note that I really found this plotline to be handled delicately and truthfully (at least truthfully to my experience with family members with this disease), and I don’t have complaints at all about how this plotline ended. Being that the story is one of acceptance, once Alaine accepts her mother’s fate, the book just kind of has a three-page summary of what’s next for everyone and abruptly ends. It was abrupt and jarring. I wanted to see Alaine process these feelings a little bit more throughout the novel; it would have made my desire for more explanation at the end lessen.

I liked the way the story structured the magical realism elements—the introduction for people unaware of the literary convention, then the slow introduction of the family curse. I really really liked that the magical realism elements were not used to explain the sicknesses and death at the conclusion of the book (of the death’s in this book, I think the one that happens later in the book is also not addressed enough).

So those are my complicated feelings on this book. I really liked some elements, the character voice, historical elements, and the writing, and I was put off by the surface level discussion of some of these very important topics.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in stories of the Haitian diaspora, as well as most late middle schoolers/early high schoolers. The book’s voice is quite young in a way that I think would very much appeal! Not to say older folks should not pick it up as well, I am clearly out of that age bracket, and I did!

I gave this book three stars.

Such a lovely story about the power of sisterhood. Really enjoyed all of the characters. I found it a bit slow, but still very enjoyable.

I really really liked this book. It was honestly like a breath of fresh air for me. I loved our main character because she would tell it like it is, be a little bit sassy but also a huge heart. The family dynamic was one that I really liked learning about because it had all of these intricacies and twists and turns. This book also featured one of my favorite things, a family curse, which just added to my enjoyment of the book overall.

4 Stars Out of 5 Stars. This was well-written and interesting YA Contemporary novel. I struggled with the format, most all in ARC form, and it took away from my reading experience.

This is an incredible book. Alaine is such a smart, funny, whirlwind of a character! The formatting of the book - including letters, diary entries and emails - was a really cool storytelling tool. The descriptions of Haiti were fantastic - it really felt like a secondary character in the book - and the romance was cute :) It’s a surprisingly light, easy read (it’s long but doesn’t feel like it) with Haitian representation.

5 stars!!!!!

As a Haitian-American, I can finally say that I truly relate to a character and culture so well! With the use of #ownvoices, the authors Maika and Maritza Moulite, seamlessly created their worldbuilding and character development. They incorporated several cultural references that I understood immediately, but for a reader unfamiliar to the family dynamics, cultural distinction as a first-generation, and the island of Haiti, it is still effortless to be absorbed into the prose and follow the story. This story follows a teen named Alaine who gets “shipped” to Haiti after an incident at her Highschool. Now she has to write a report on what Haiti means to her. This sense of self-discovery is a trope that is loved in the young adult genre, but rarely do we see it featured with BIPOC voices. To unapologetically allow her story to flourish on Haitian soil was the most exciting to me. The experiences of being raised as an American is not monothlic, and the Moulite sisters proves that beyond measure. I could read this again and again and feel joy each time! I cannot reccomend it enough.

This book was cute and fun. While it fell into a lot of tropes YA contemprary usually does, I still really enjoyed the story. The characters were engaging and I found myself rooting for them all the way. This was a solid read.

Alaine is being gifted a laptop. She is accepted into Columbia to study journalism. I didn't like some of the dialogue. I liked Alaine.

A great story and love the different setting of this book. I think YA can have an aspect of sticking to a tried and tested formula but I liked that this book strayed from that and really succeeded with a different and unique narrative. Great characters, unusual story and a beauty setting. This is a lovely YA

This book was so so so so good! I loved it a lot and I am hoping that the authors write more. AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the narrative voice of this book. Alaine is smart, funny, and hopeful, and will really connect with many of my students. I also love how details of Haiti are woven in throughout the story, almost standing in as a character and not just a setting. I may pull passages of the text to really show students how important the setting can be as a literary element in the upcoming school year. Definitely a must have for secondary classroom libraries.

Such a fun YA read! Unlike any other YA book I've read before. I was admittedly unfamiliar with Haiti before reading this book, and I really enjoyed the insight into a country I knew very little about.

I'm not usually a reader of YA books, but I adored this book. The two writing styles blend seamlessly and so impressively.

When an incident at her school gets Alaine almost suspended, she is told to go back to her country and complete a internship at her aunt's non-profit organization. Its called PATRONAL, which is an app created to help fund children in need in Haiti. While in Haiti she's able to learn more about her country, and of course develop a cute crush on one of the interns. The book is full of lots of Haitian history and culture(I would've liked if this also talked about beautiful areas in Haiti). She learned quite a bit of her family history as well....especially when there's a curse involved.

Follow Alaine as she takes you through her island, and some rather heart wrenching moments, especially those involved with her mom. I think it's so important to see how she dealt with her moms dementia. That was honestly one of my fave parts of the story (not in a messed up way). Another great thing about this novel is that it's written by two sisters. Kudos to Maika and Maritza Mountie. You created a beautiful story full of representation. Thank You to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I definitely need a copy of it on my shelf.

I really appreciated the representation of this story, it was really nice to see a book with a person of color with background from a culture and country that is almost absent save for very few Haitian authors in the industry. One thing I didn't like was the voodou in the book. I felt like it could have been represented better. In American Street by Ibi Zoboi, she did an excellent job and I came away with knowing more about the religion.

Alaine has always heard stories about Haiti from her parents but now that she has gotten into trouble at school, she's going to get to visit her parents' homeland first hand. While she is there, Alaine needs to deal with her mom's progressing dementia, learning about the family history, and finding out about the family curse that her mom has hidden from her.

I was given a free copy of this book from #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Alaine got in trouble at school and is suspended. Her mom decides to send her to Haiti to spend the rest of the school year doing an "immersion" project in her home country of Haiti. Alaine gets to experience her culture in ways that she hasn't before, and gets to develop deeper relationships with her family. I really wanted to love this book, but just didn't.

I was extremely lucky to receive a digital ARC of this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

I read this whole book even though the formatting of the eARC was pretty bad, so that right there tells you whether I liked this book or not. Yes, sometimes the text was out of place (normally when there were emails or articles - the email address or article title would be at the top, and then it would start in the middle of the text, so you have to skip ahead and then come back), but I was so interested that I didn't care that much.

I think one of the best parts of this book was that it was mixed media - we get Alaine's diary entries, emails, post cards, newspaper and online articles, and school reports, just to name a few. I love reading mixed media books - add in the fact that Alaine was so witty and enjoyable to read AND we got an unusual setting in the form of Haiti, and I was quite happy with this debut.

The main reason I didn't absolutely fall in love was because I sometimes feel a bit confused. I didn't realize how much this book would focus on Alaine's alleged family curse, which just threw me a bit - I thought it would be totally realistic. There also might just be some confusion because this is an ARC and thus subject to change, plus the wonky editing. Obviously, the formatting won't be a problem in the final edition, so not counting that against the poor book. I also had to take a bit of a break before the end, since SCHOOL, so that caused some confusion because I had to remember what had happened.

This wasn't a perfect debut, but it was an enjoyable debut. I want to see what else the sisters who wrote this book come up with, especially if it blends in a lot of interesting elements (early onset Alzheimer's, Haiti, apps meant to help those living in poverty but are maybe just fun "games" for middle class Americans, divorced parents co-parenting, political drama, and Haitian history) like this one did. Maybe someday I'll pick up the final book and see if it fixes the weaker elements - in the meantime, though, I definitely want more from these authors.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I wanted to love this book but unfortunately I didn't. At first glance the story was extremely appealing. I loved the idea of the visiting Haiti with all it's spiritualism. But for me there was just too much going on in this story. The beginning (before Haiti) too too long to get to. Then once we were in Haiti there were too many storylines and I found myself not caring.

One of my greatest joys of reading is letting the words wrap themselves around me and pull me in. I wanted to be in Haiti. But that never happened. I think this is mostly in part to the epistolary style of this story and not the authors writing.

I'm curious to see what what else these sisters have in store and will definitely consider another book from them.

Thank you to the publisher for this copy via Netgalley.