>I love Alaine & her dad
>Love the mixed media entries (journal, email, texts)
>Love the resolution with her mom & aunt
>But what about Stanford boy?
>Interesting inclusion of magical realism & how it effects people/their perspectives/mindsets
>I was quickly sucked in with Alaine's voice & story. She's funny & dynamic & dramatic, kinda reminds me of YouTubers my daughter loves to watch TBH.
>It was pretty evenly paced until the arrest
>Appreciate the education on Haiti & foreign aid
>Wish it had a recommended reading and/or charity list that actually help Haiti
>Totally open for more adventures of Alaine
>3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
>Easily recommendable for all YA contemporary fans

I really wanted to love this book, but I just didn’t. I liked Alaine’s strong personality and was really excited when I learned Alaine would be traveling to Haiti to learn more about her family’s background. I really liked the representation of family curses, economic diversity, and how the characters dealt with Alaine’s mother’s illness. However, I feel like there was just a lot happening in the book and it was hard to follow it all/get really invested in everything. I liked the idea of having the text presented in emails, letters, and Alaine’s voice, but somehow the style seemed very disjointed to me. As for worldbuilding, there was a pretty decent glimpse into life in both the US and in Haiti, though I was left with wanting to know more about the class divisions that exist in Haiti.
I think the cover is cool, and having two Black authors will appeal to many. I just felt like the book was a bit long and disjointed, so it may require some book talking to get it into the hands of readers.

It's more a 2.5 * This book was okay but there was just too many plot twists throughout this story. It was distracting and I wished the plot were a bit simpler or maybe a few less side stories. Since there were so many different plots to follow it became a chore to finish. It would have been better with less. There are some great scenes in this book and I'm happy with the short Haitian history lesson sprinkled throughout the book. I think those were the best parts.

What drew me to Dear Haiti, Love Alaine first was the beautiful cover it had. After reading the synopsis I thought it was something that I would probably enjoy. This story took me by surprise and blew me away. It is a beautiful ode that expresses love for one's culture and history.

Plot 

This is a contemporary so there isn't a huge surprising plot as in fantasy but I have to say that I was captivated by the story. After an incident at school, Alaine is shipped off to Haiti where she is expected to learn more about the history and traditions of her native land. As she uncovers something about her mother and the curse her family is said to have, Alaine goes on a fantastical quest to try to help herself and save all of them. This is very much Alaine's path to discovering who she is. The incorporation of the curse aspect brings it a certain magical realism to it.

The Characters

Alaine is a snarky, intelligent girl with a bit of an attitude. I really enjoyed her story, she was so likable to me. I think one thing that for me came through in the writing was the search to belong. Alaine is of Haitian heritage but born in the USA. She's too American for the Haitians and too Haitian for the Americans. She can't seem to fit on either side but just wants to be herself. It got me thinking about what it would be like to be born in another country, trying to fit in there while learning about your own culture, it can't be easy. You can see that in the beginning, she doesn't seem to know a lot about her culture and the history of Haiti. After she is forced to spend some time there we start to see this change and her curiosity grows. She starts to learn more about the rich culture of Haiti and begins to see it as something to be proud of.

Celeste, Alaine's mother, was such a great character and role model. The fact that she is a world-renowned journalist POC with a TV that everyone watches gives me life. Even though her relationship with her daughter is rocky, Celeste tries her best to mend the gap between them.

Estelle, Alaine's aunt, was another great female character. For me, she was the bridge between Alaine and her mother; as well as Alaine and her culture.

The setting

The story of Dear Haiti, Love Alaine takes place in Florida at first and then moves to Haiti. I have to say that I loved learning about Haitian culture and getting to read about these beautiful places through the eyes of Alaine. Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite really highlighted their country so beautifully.

The writing

The way the story is told is as if we are reading Alaine's report for a class, it's such an original way of depicting a story. For me, it was seamless. I did listen to the audiobook, so the format flowed very easily. If you pick up the book you will see that it is told through a series of letters. The writing style of Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite was funny, witty and bewitching. The love that they have for their country and culture really came through in their writing. It left me wanting to research the history of Haiti.

Final thoughts

I am so appreciative to have read Dear Haiti, Love Alaine which permitted me to learn about the rich history and culture of a country. I can't wait to see what else Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite have in store. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for their next book.

I couldn't really follow the story because of the format it was in. It was tough, even with an audiobook, to understand what was going on

This was a very enjoyable YA read. Overall, this story did not feel groundbreaking, but I really enjoyed Alaine's character and seeing the relationships with her family. The story went a certain direction that was unexpected and difficult for me personally.. But despite this, it was still enjoyable and I loved the style and format of the book and Alaine's school project.

I was glad I took a chance on this story. Alaine is Hatian American, living in Florida with her father. Her mother is a well known journalist, and hosts a major network's Sunday morning show. As a senior at her private school, she has to take on a huge final project, one that will help her delve into her Haitian heritage. Alaine is quick witted and has a snarky/smart tone. And wow, she definitely knows how to nurse a grudge. After a mean girls type reaction to her mother's on camera blow up during an interview, Alaine stages a revenge that gets her expelled. The senior project is so important, she heads to Haiti for two months to stay with her Aunt Estelle, interning at her non-profit and working on the story of their family. Alaine also gets a chance to connect more fully her mother, who is lying low in Haiti as well. I liked how Alaine slowly learned more about her mother, both from her aunt and other family members. Families are messy at times and hers was no exception. The authors are sisters and the book was very well done. In a nod to the teens, parts of it are in texts and emails to break up the narrative a bit.

(Abandoned) I'm not at all a fan of epistolary novels and while I appreciate where this book was trying to go, the format of reading a bunch of emails was too distracting to get anything out of it. I had to set it aside after reading about 25%. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

SUMMARY:
Alaine isn’t afraid to make trouble if it’s a worthy cause. And this last time, she’s in it big! She has to go stay with her mom and aunt in Haiti until things cool off. It turns into the experience of a lifetime as she connects with her relatives and finds a place to make a difference.

CONTENT:
Language: I honestly did not notice any language in this book. I feel like it probably had some, but it didn’t jump out at me.

Sexuality: none

Violence: none

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- some high school drinking


THEMES:
loyalty, family

THE BOTTOM LINE:
I adored this book. It was a fun read that was different from all the others that tend to run together.


STATUS IN MY LIBRARY:
It’s in my middle school.

This book is something fresh and new. With a setting in Haiti and more it was a hit for this reader! I wasn't sure if I was going to like this one when I started as it is written in letters, normal narrative, as well as emails, postcards, and more. Most of the time those kind of irritate me. But this time it worked out so well. It also made this title a very quick read. So don't let those 432 pages scare you!!

The characters and story sound so real and true I could not put this one down. I will say that at times the story felt a little all over the place but other than that the story flowed and the plot was one of a kind.

This was a fun quick read for me. Didn't get too sucked in but I was okay with that. The writing style made everything pretty straightforward.

I enjoyed this book and am always glad to have #ownvoices titles in my library. That being said, I expected to LOVE this book, and I just didn't react as strongly as I had hoped. My eBook copy had some error issue that were causing some pages to skip early in the story, so perhaps I was missing some key details, but I was a bit confused about the relationship between some of the characters in Haiti and why they still had bad blood between them. I appreciated Alaine's voice and the inclusion of her mother's early onset dementia. But it felt like I was waiting the entire story for the pace to pick up or for some excitement to happen, and I kept feeling slightly let down. When Tati Estelle was accused of improperly running her charity, I finally felt some of the drama that I had been looking for, but the events surrounding that issue were a bit predictable. Like I said, I enjoyed it, and I will buy it for my library to ensure that I have titles that authentically represent Haiti and the Haitian culture, but I can't say that this was my favorite book.

Alaine is impossible not to love. She's cheeky, intelligent, and witty with a penchant for drama that reminds me of every high school senior I've ever known. She's a wise kid though, a good studier of people and deep insights into how they tick. But, like anyone this age, she's still so young. She can be childish, she fights back against discomfort with sarcasm and questionable humor and often puts her foot in her mouth. At times her youth breaks through her hardened exterior and we glimpse the little girl still beneath it all, particularly in scenes with her mother which were equal parts heartbreaking and lovely.

But that's what is so great about this novel: Alaine is a real, breathing teenage with all the wonderful hope and dark terror that comes along with that stage of life. She isn't just one thing, she's a tapestry of feelings and thoughts. Characters like her are what make YA so great, characters who are still making their way through life that you can look at and think, "I've been there. I understand. Hang in there, sweetie. It'll get better, I promise." It's the kind of refrain I've said to the real teens in my life and I felt it just as strongly for her.

Haiti is almost its own character in this story. There's great beauty but also brokenness and the reader gets to see both in good measure. I really enjoyed what I learned about the country, its history, and its people. The cultural insights in the story are fascinating and woven into Alaine's life in an organic way. The story is told in an unconventional format that includes regular prose, phone call and chat logs, text exchanges, and it jumps between all of them fluidly. The jumps in time period are also really well-done and I enjoyed the parallels between the past and present. Truly, everything about this novel rings so true. Life never goes according to plan, people are as full of good as they are bad, and relationships change as the days pass. I would absolutely recommend this novel to anyone, YA reader or not. There's something for you here.


Note: I received a free Kindle edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher Harlequin Teen, and the authors Maika and Maritza Moulite for the opportunity to do so.

This was a sweet book about a girl exploring her identity. I enjoyed the elements of magic but I think the characters were not quite where I wanted them in terms of development.

I was initially drawn to this story because the cover is stunning, and my knowledge of Haiti is severely lacking. After seventeen year old Alaine makes a mistake that could lead to expulsion from her private school, she agrees to participate in a spring volunteer immersion program in Haiti, where she will stay with her aunt and mother. What Alaine doesn't anticipate is the news that her mother has waiting for her, and she must find a way to accept it.

As someone who has only visited the Caribbean but not intimately familiar with the culture, I really enjoyed that aspect of this story. Alaine is a fantastic character who is sarcastic, witty, confident, but also every bit as awkward, which is expected during the teenage years. I also enjoyed that the story is told through a series of emails, notes, diary entries, and postcards because it sets up a really unique and fun format that works well for Alaine's situation.

I also commend the sisters for being able to write a seamless narrative that never feels like you're reading a book from two different authors.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the story line and the character development in this book. My electronic copy had formatting issues and so sometimes I got confused with the letters. But overall, an entertaining read.

A rare book about Haiti that doesn't show it as a hopeless wasteland. This book is a little less light than the cover might convey, but it's every bit as interesting as it sounds and runs the gamut of emotions without being depressing.

This should be required reading for all school administrators. As one myself, I will think about this story every time I have to suspend a student.

I'm going to be generous and round up my 2.5 rating to a 3.

This started off very strong for me, but quickly turned into a feeling of confusion. By the end I felt like I had read three separate stories.

Such a gorgeous cover for a gorgeous novel. While I'm slowly leaving behind the YA genre (my age is showing), I can still appreciate a well-written novel. I loved the diversity and exploration of Haitian culture that the Moulite's sisters brought to life in this book. I would recommend for all ages.