Book Review: The Almost Sisters and NYX Lippie Countdown Day Four

One of my favorite experiences is picking up a new book and falling so in love with the story that you can't stand to put it down. The book fully consumes your mind and all you want is to see what happens to the characters. The most recent book that consumed me was The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson. This was a book that had frequently popped up in recommend reading lists so when looking for a new lunch time read I decided to give it a chance.

Picture Credit: Goodreads.com

Initially, I didn't think I would like the main character of Leia. She makes her living as a graphic novelist which is a genre that I have never been interested in. The story immediately opens onto Leia talking about her pregnancy and debating about how to break the news to her stepsister, Rachel, and other family members. On the day Leia has decided to break the news to her family she is suddenly informed of a possible health crisis with her Grandmother, Birchie. Leia rushes to a small Alabama town, almost like Mayberry, where Birchie lives with her childhood friend Wattie. This story follows Leia, Birchie, Wattie, and Rachel as they deal with family secrets, and discover the meaning of sisterhood.

Like I stated above, I initially didn't like Leia because I didn't feel like I could relate to her. But as the story continues I discovered that Leia is actually likeable and a strong character. The author, Joshilyn Jackson, brings each character to life, from minor to major, and gives them each a distinct personality. This really helped draw me into the book because it brought the characters from being on a page to people I could have actually known in real life.

Not only are the characters well done but the story surprised me. I was expecting "fluff fiction" about a family that's full of happy endings and lacking any deeper meaning. Ms. Jackson takes what could have easily been "fluff fiction" and turns it into a thinking piece. The character of Wattie is an African-American and a large portion of the book is dedicated to something Ms. Jackson has dubbed the Second South where Wattie has experienced discrimination simply because of her race. The picture that is painted of this Second South makes you stop and think. You suddenly start seeing that despite it being 2017 many of these issues are still alive and well.

Overall, I am a complete fan of this book and have already recommended it to several friends and family members. I look forward to hunting down other works by Ms. Jackson and devouring those as eagerly as I devoured The Almost Sisters.

Today is day four of the NYX Lippie Countdown! If you're wondering why I'm talking about a random lipstick then please see this post. Yesterday was a bit of a flop. It wasn't a bad color but it wasn't a color that I would normally wear, so I was excited to see that today's color looked like it was a nude shade.

Upon opening the box I was happy to see that this color was from the NYX Lip Lingerie line which had been the entire advent calendar last year!

Once I pulled out the color I was even more excited to see that this was the Push-Up shade which is a nice, soft peachy nude.

This is extremely easy to apply with the doe foot applicator and because it is almost a perfect nude shade for me I don't  have any issue fixing mistakes. You do need to be careful with the Lip Lingerie line because occasionally they do get a bit clumpy so check your wand before applying. This color lasts a long time, there will be some flaking onto glasses and things but for some reason it always looks fresh on my lips until around lunch time.

Now one fun thing that I did notice was that this shade is a touch lighter than the one I received last year. They both look the same when applied but in the tube they're a bit different.