Today I am reviewing “No Thanks, Black Female and Living in the Martyr-Free Zone” by Keturah Kendrick for Suzy Approved Book Tours.

About The Book: 

Release Date: June 18, 2019

Through eight humorous essays, Keturah Kendrick chronicles her journey to freedom. She shares the stories of other women who have freed themselves from the narrow definition of what makes a “proper woman.” Spotlighting the cultural bullying that dictates women must become mothers to the expectation that one’s spiritual path follow the traditions of previous generations, Kendrick imagines a world where black women make life choices that center on their needs and desires. She also examines the rising trend of women choosing to remain single and explores how such a choice is the antithesis to the trope of the sorrowful black woman who cannot find a man to grant her the prize of legal partnership. A mixture of memoir and cultural critique, No Thanks uses wit and insight to paint a picture of the twenty-first-century black woman who has unchained herself from what she is supposed to be. A black woman who has given herself permission to be whomever she wants to be.

Miss W’s Review:

4 Stars from Miss W !

No Thanks, Black Female and Living in the Martyr-Free Zone was an enjoyable well written memoir. The memoir is broken up into 8 different sections, all of them are distinct and different. I appreciate how the author spoke about how she was going to live her life the way she wanted to and not how society or cultural norms expected her to. She never wanted to have children and only wanted to marry for love not because it was what was expected of her. She made choices that were good for her regardless of what society dictates. A well written memoir that gives great examples of how the author lives her life unapologetically.

About The Author:

A New Orleanian by birth and New Yorker by choice, Keturah Kendrick has been penning insights about life at the intersection of race and gender for a decade. Aside from her popular blog, Yet Another Single Gal, she has written for The Unfit Christian, The Not Mom, NonParents, and numerous publications. A practicing Nichiren Buddhist and steadfast humanist, Kendrick seeks to widen the narrative of good black womanhood. Much of her work normalizes and celebrates the black woman who exists outside of the beloved box of gleeful sufferer of fools who sacrifices self for the greater good. She has lived on three different continents and visited dozens of countries. https://www.keturahkendrick.com/

Let me know what you think!

Until the next chapter,

Wilfrieda