Unfortunately, this book did not catch my attention, and the formatting along with the writing style was hard to follow. Originally, I was hopeful this would be a good read based off the description, but I just couldn’t get into it. Life is too short and my TBR is too long to force myself to read a book I’m not enjoying, so I DNF this one.

Thank you, NetGalley and Dundurn Press, for providing me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Note to Publisher: I am in the market of supporting books and their authors. Since I DNF this one, I will not be posting my review on external sites like Goodreads or Instagram.

I have mixed feelings about this book, I’m not entirely sure where I stand with it.

This is not a light read. It is heavy. It’s one where I can feel Jade’s grief coming off the pages and it was heartbreaking to read her go through this. I had to read the book little but often to get through it. It does also feel like the book throws you straight into the deep end and into jade’s grief and mind, with her sister already gone, and we learn more about them and their relationship through memories as the book progresses. Although this wasn’t what I expected, I still enjoyed the story being told this way - I found it an unusual narration type so think I enjoyed that element!

The writing style was stunning. It’s very descriptive, full of imagery, metaphors and really brings jade’s world and mindset to life - both literally and metaphorically.

I found the book somewhat difficult to follow at times and the different povs started off really interesting but then became quite tricky for me to consistently navigate and took a lot of concentration. I also found a lot of this book went by with not a lot happening, which I get does make sense for a character led book and character development, but after a certain point, I think more plot is needed to keep the book moving and give pacing.

Also as someone who is not poly, I don’t think I am in a position to comment on the representation of this, however I do think it is more than cheating on your partner with someone else, so if this is someone’s only experience reading that type of representation, it could be quite damaging.

Having said that, I do think it is an eye opening read and has a lot of potential. Just because it wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean it may not be someone else’s all time favourite book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this ARC!

This book had me thinking and reflecting on a lot of things, and I think that was the author's intention. We follow a 24/25-year-old black queer woman in Canada named Jade who has recently lost her sister, Roze. Through the powers of female friendship and self-reflection, we follow Jade on a journey of her healing from trauma and becoming her (more) true self in the process.

Things I loved:
1. The characters! I think they all brought something unique to the story and expanded on the world created. Each of them was distinct in personality and had their own wants and wishes outside of the MC
2. The friendships. I love when an author really knows how to portray a bond between characters, and Tanya certainly does that.
3. The journey of healing trauma. It's messy, it's confusing, and it's raw. Just like life. And Jade is just trying to figure it out as she goes.

Things I didn't love:
1. Pacing. Some chapters seemed to really drag, while others we zoomed through. I think some moments (not speaking in specifics because of spoilers) we really needed some more time with instead of others.
2. Switching POV. I think this story really was Jade's to tell, and switching POVs just kind of clogged up the storytelling. I did like hearing what other characters were thinking and going through, but in the end, I feel like it just became too "big" for the book and we focused on too much at once.
3. Jade and Tay. (this gets kind of spoilery, so beware)
I don't like that through the guise of "finding herself" Jade tricks Tay into a polyamorous relationship. It felt kind of manipulative. If she wanted to be with Tay, great. If she didn't, then she should've left her to find herself. It just felt wrong for me, but others will probably disagree, and that's okay!

For me, this was an enjoyable read with lots of beautiful moments. I think for the right person, this book will heal them and guide them through their personal traumas. For others, it might not be a great choice. However, I'm glad I picked it up and would recommend it to the right person.

i don't mind smutty or sensual books but here it seems that those scenes not only dominate the narrative but that they are presented in a rather cringe way...so not for me i'm afraid.

In this book we meet Jade, who has lost her sister and finds herself stuck in limbo. She doesn’t really know who she is, what she’s doing, or where to go next. The narrative in this book very aptly describes the feelings of grief, as well as those of loneliness and confusion that often take hold in early adulthood and, whilst the descriptions are poetic and often quite beautiful, the storytelling itself felt quite detached at times. I often felt that the book was missing a natural rhythm and flow. As a concept, this book has so much to offer. I found it difficult to connect with the characters and unfortunately this impacted my reading experience.

I received and E-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, this really didn’t work out for me. I love queer stories and was really excited to pick out one about a Black woman, coming into herself and struggling with grief, but this just wasn’t it. I thought the writing was disjointed and confusing, and the cheating aspect was really off putting.
I felt Jade cheated under the guise of figuring out her sexual orientation. There’s a way to do this without cheating, and yet that didn’t happen. I can’t do stories about cheating anyways, and the fact that the author tried to hide it by crying polyamory just wasn’t it.
The switching of POVs was jarring and not done well. I was confused as to who’s POV it was at times, because even with the chapter titles, it didn’t stick to that. And I really didn’t care about any of the characters.
As this is a debut novel, I have hope for Turton’s next work, and hope that some of the issues have been fixed before the finished book comes out.

The writing wasn't good and it got to me after awhile. I liked Jade's story - at first it felt like there was no story, but gradually it became clear that the story was about Jade feeling stuck after losing her sister, and as she started to figure out how to move on the meaning of the earlier parts became clearer.

This is a novel that has amazing potential, but there was a series lack of direction and grammatical errors that made it harder to read and keep track of everything. There were too many characters and not enough focus on the main character, in my opinion. I love the concept of the story though, as I don't think enough authors really address grief and how much it changes the person experiencing it. This is a good book, but the issues I talked about prevented it from being a great book, but it certainly has potential.

* ARC from Netgalley *

I really liked this book, the emotional trama and how the autor creates this narrative in a sensitive way is what got me. Is one of that books that you need some time after reading just to think about everything in every single way.
This are 2 quotes that I felt the most connected with:

"We were no longer in a relationship with each other- I was in a relationship with my grief. A relationship so complicated and large there was no room for her. No room for long talks on the phone. No room for movie datas and holding hands. No room for nose kisses and scalp massages. I was having an affair with my grief. I wanted to tell Tayja I loved her, that she was my first and made me feel everything nineties love was supposed to be. We had what people cried in the rain for, but I couldn't be with her and my grief."

"We said goodbye. We kissed for the last time, and in that final kiss I knew that who we were would change, had changed, and so we were not merely kissing each other goodbye but, simultaneously, we kissed a version of ourselves goodbye. We released each other into the radiant colours, of the fall, of the city, of the world."

Given the title, I assumed that the story would focus more on the main character. While I appreciate getting a glimpse of the other characters' backgrounds, including their sometimes difficult relationships with their families of origin, a focus on on Jade (and perhaps also *just* her sister, Roze) would have made for a much stronger narrative. That said, I loved how the characters express--and indeed, practice--their diverse views on dating, relationships, and sexuality. I was especially moved by one of the more explicitly erotic passages, notwithstanding the voyeurism of the lone male character in that scene.

I unfortunately DNF ed this book.it was too specific with the cultures and I could not relate to the MC
It is a niche content that do not enjoy.

3⭐️


Thank you to NetGalley & Dundurn Press for sending me the ARC, however all opinions are my own.

This was a quick read that was fairly enjoyable. I found Jade particularly compelling, and hearing her talk about her sister and handling grief in such a way was beautiful, and very well written.

However, I didn’t care for most of the other characters in this book, and found their POV’s to have almost no purpose in the grand scheme of things.

This book also served as an introduction (at least, for me) on Jamaican-Canadian cultures and communities, and I love the use of jargon in the writing.

This book delivered on most of its promises, but lacked in the mystery elements of it (hence the 3 stars.) I will certainly be reading more from Turnton.

I liked this book - not quite as much as I had hoped I would.

I really enjoyed learning more about queer black women, and I feel like it's so important that stories like this are told and it was a sweet coming-of-age story. However, I didn't feel a connectedness with the characters - but maybe as a cis, hetero white woman, it isn't for me to do this.

A really well written story, and I can't wait to see what she does next.

This follows a young black women in Toronto, navigating love, loss and sexuality. It tugged at the heart strings particularly about the loss of her twin sister as I am a twin myself. Some chapters and POVS flowed a lot more than others but I enjoyed Jade's journey to self discovery and the cultural representation in this. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

I’m really sad that I didn’t love this one. I had high hopes for it and it just was not it.

This book follows a queer black woman (Jamaican, specifically) named Jade woman after the loss of her twin sister and shows her going through the grieving process and dating. This novel just following Jade through various lovers as she grieves and left a lot to be desired in terms of being interesting or exciting.

One scene specifically Jade was dating someone but then enters into a sort of group sex situation with a polyamorous couple (though, the man really felt like more of a fetishized only wanting to watch is girlfriend with other women and not a great representation of polyamorous people). And that felt really icky and not because of group sex or polyamory (I’m pro do what you want/be who you are with consent) but Jade just never thinks about her partner and is just like okay cool and like what the heck?!

There are some really great representations of Jamaican culture (to my knowledge) and food and I enjoyed the characters dialogue was written in the way they would actually speak so you could better understand them and the wholeness of who they are. I loved this part of the book, as I’m always looking to learn and intentionally diversify the media I’m consuming.

They also had a great conversation of the dangers of traveling while being black just for being black.

I also did truly enjoy the last few pages for Jades healing journey, those were truly beautiful.

I’m giving this one 2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rare Machines for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this for the most part! It was beautifully written and the prose was both lyrical and atmospheric. However, I had trouble with the actual written relationships moreso than the book itself. The story perfectly encapsulates grief and every aspect that follows- it is painful and heartbreaking and I adored it.

But, the characters just didn't feel as dimensional as I'd hoped they would- I know it's not great criticism but something was missing and I couldn't quite work out what it was. I think if it had been slightly longer there would have been room for the characters to grow and for the reader to grow more attached to them.

Still an absolutely beautiful book! I just wished for a little bit more.

From the first page I was struck by Tanya Turton's sultry use of words to envelope the reader in the atmosphere of her story. I highlighted so many sentences that felt like silk and would definitely recommend this novel to anyone a good description. I did however struggle to stay engaged at time as the story is meandering. It is far more about the atmosphere and the characters surround the principle Jade. So many chapter are dedicated to how those in Jade's orbit relate to her, with frequent flashbacks to explain their connections. Little happens in the main thread of the story until the third act but this works as it mimics Jade's internal journey. At it's core this is a story of grief, letting go and allowing yourself to bloom. Give it a chance if you enjoy slow, melodic stories that a slice of real life.

Just beautiful. The protagonist Jade really does find herself after the death of her twin sister. The novel is emotional and reflective on grief and how progress is made. The other characters, Tay and Amethyst are also brilliantly written. This book is packed full with humility and love, and is about a black community in Canada. The plot and storyline was addictive.

As a queer teenager, the mention of many queer characters and their stories. Includes: unlabelled, bisexual, lesbian characters and wlw relationships. I really enjoyed this book and can’t fault it at all. I can’t wait to see what other books this author comes out with.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book, the synopsis and the representation in this book is so important and there needs to be more books with queer black women in them. However, I just couldn't connect with the characters.

My version had really bad formatting to start with that made it difficult to read. There were some lines where one word was on one line and the rest of the sentence was above or below. Occasionally letters were in a different place than the rest of the word but since this is an ARC version I put it down to that and hopefully this has been fixed in the published version.

Moving on from that, I came into the issue where I really did not understand what was going on in some of the book. I have been informed that some characters were speaking in Jamaican Patois which although I get the reasoning to include this as it is close to the authors heart, it made it difficult to read. As one minute the character would be speaking in English and the next they were speaking in Jamaican Patois which I couldn't understand. I could recognise what some of the phrases were meant to mean but for some of them I had to just move on. I understand why it was included in the book but it really distracted me when I was trying to read.

I also think that there was no advantage to having the different points of view in this book. Usually I love having the different opinions and experiences of the characters but I feel like it didn't add anything substantial to the story in this case.

Again I really wanted to enjoy this and I am sad that I didn't but hopefully the author will keep writing and refine her skill especially as we need more Black Queer authors writing own voices stories.

I can’t recall what specifically it was about the description for Tanya Turton’s upcoming novel, Jade Is a Twisted Green that first caught my attention but I’m always drawn to novels that explore the ways that grief and trauma change our understanding of ourselves and the journey of discovering just how many ways we’ve changed. What Turton’s novel demonstrates beautifully is how we may focus on our personal trauma but everyone in the world around us is navigating griefs and traumas all their own. Everyone is in a different place in their processing and distance from their trauma and it leaves us all living our lives at different paces, drifting apart and then catching up and growing back together but in new and unexpected ways. And coming to terms with that reality can be difficult but also freeing.

Jade knows that she’s struggling, even several years after her twin sister Roze’s death. She needs to change and most of the time she wants to change, but she isn’t sure how to start or if it’s even possible. Even those who understand aren’t sure what might help Jade to feel less stuck and move on. But when an old flame, Tayja (the girl Jade was dating in high school when Roze died) shows up in her life again, Jade finds herself thinking more and more about Roze and who she is without her sister there to define herself against. In addition to Tayja, Jade’s best friend Amethyst introduces Jade to other new friends who help her confront her past and discover what she wants her life to be.

Though it is clearest with Jade and her struggle to figure out who she is even years after her twin’s death, throughout the novel and even with the other characters there’s a subtle exploration of the ways we use others as a means to define ourselves (as well as the positives and negatives that come with relying too heavily on those definitions). Seeing the interactions of those habits with trauma is also fascinating. For both Jade and Morgan, those habits become rooted to the trauma they’re coping with – in Jade’s case, losing the sister who was an integral part of her identity from birth and, in Morgan’s case, not only personal loss but they accompanying responsibility for taking care of his father. Of course, in many cases it’s important to be clear on how you define yourself with regard to other people – in romantic relationships, for instance (another lesson Jade learns with a few bumps along the way). But there is a difference between using other people to help define parts of yourself and your entire sense of self being tied up in those around you.

What I appreciate most about Turton’s examination of this theme is the way that it’s reflected in the narrative approach to Jade’s relationship with Roze. It took me a while to feel like I was really getting a true sense of Jade as a character. So much of Jade in those early pages is focused on Roze’s absence, it’s like neither of them is present. When around other people who knew both sisters, Jade homes in on comments or impressions that leave her feeling the comparisons between her and Roze. But despite Roze being the focus of Jade’s thoughts and grief, she isn’t a fully sketched out character either. As Jade’s sense of self begins to sharpen and grow more defined, the reader gets to see a more fleshed out version of Roze as well, not just glimpses of the idealized version that is left in the memories of those who knew her.

Jade Is a Twisted Green will be available October 11, 2022.