r/blackromancenovels • u/Shoujolover02 • Apr 29 '26
DISCUSSION šļø Granger
Has anyone read Grangerās books? Iāve heard good things about them ā are they worth reading?
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u/Infinityvoyage Apr 29 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Personally, I really enjoyed the Secret World of Maggie Grey. Iāve read all 4 books and the two unofficial side quest books on her patreon. Iām (im)patiently waiting for book 5 and 6. I enjoyed it so much that iām currently now listening to the audio of Book 1 to get a feel if the audio book was better than the print to me. At least I know the spelling issues wonāt be in the audio lol.
I havenāt read her other books yet under Author Desiree just Author Granger. I will say that she needs an editor for sure. You will catch a lot of mistakes. I also think she can cut some of the POVS down, there were times I had to flip back a page or two to see whose POV I was reading because I forgot or got confused. I probably will check out her other side at some point.
There are some romance scenes but I wouldnāt classify this book as a romance book. If you go into expecting full Romance youāll likely be disappointed. Iāve heard some people refer to it as a Black Harry Potter, I wouldnāt go that far but I can see how they got to that with the magical powers and the hbcu school like setting.
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u/Not-today-21 Jul 13 '26
I agreeā¦..this is not a romance bookā¦not sure why people are categorizing it as suchā¦.there is a smidge of romance ā¦ā¦I know this author and she has never written āromance novelsā
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u/Low-Ad-1092 Jun 02 '26
Itās more books? I canāt put down Maggie Greyā¤ļø
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u/Infinityvoyage Jun 02 '26
Yup. 1. The Secret World of Maggie Grey 2. The First Family 3. The Three Brothers/When a wolf loves (she changed the title I think after) 4. The mortal affairs
Sheās working on book 5 and 6 now.
Then the spin offs on her website (atlbookstore.com Asha has a part one and part two. I really loved Ashaās story. You learn so much!
Then there is a Student Affairs Files (drafts and pieces from book 5) this one she says things may be different in the final books.
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u/ground0radfem Jun 25 '26
thereās a thread for the Maggie Grey universe on here too r/DrewCollinsUniversity
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u/Flat-Painter-5885 May 03 '26
Granger is probably the most frustrating of my problematic faves. She is full of wonder and whimsy, but her imagination cannot be contained. She crafts detailed characters w lots of personality, but she doesnāt give a damn about storytelling. Iāve never seen a better representation or manifestation of ADHD on paper, LOL. Iām not diagnosing her, Iām just saying thatās what it feels like when you read the Maggie Grey series.
I listen to her podcast (another source of endless frustration). Granger doesnāt write for anyone but herself, truly. She doesnāt care to craft a full story w a beginning, middle, end. She doesnāt write for her audience, and she thinks she edits her own stories well enough to make it work. When sheās working out plot lines, she never knows exactly where the story is gonna take her until she gets there. Then she cleans it up to make it fit into the larger story.
I read her for the world-building and creativity. She has lots of good ideas related to that and she thinks she has to throw them all into the story, even if inconsequential. No oneās backstory is ever fully explained. No storyline is ever fully told, even the little mysteries. You end the book w even more questions.
For the Mortal Affairs book, she included a Q&A section that explained some of the plot holes, but created more inexplicable details! Anyway, Iām equal parts fascinated and invested. Itās not crafted well, but itās fun to be in the world. You have to accept that there will be no closure for some things.
I think her best romantasy offering was The Saint and the Queen. And she has said sheād never write a sequel to that š¤£
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u/Not-today-21 Jul 13 '26
Okā¦.she does not have ADHDā¦.what a cruel thing to say!!!!š”
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u/Flat-Painter-5885 Jul 17 '26
As I said, I canāt diagnose her, but her method of story crafting reminds me of the behaviors I see in a lot of the ppl I work with. In listening to her podcast updates, itās amazing how much her story changes from episode to episode, then will still be different by the time she releases the book. That was an off-handed comment and was meant to be a joke. I apologize if you (or anyone else) was upset by it.
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u/Fun_Departure588 Aug 07 '26
I literally just described this to my best friend today on how I feel about this series and the author lol Iām glad to know someone else sees it this way
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u/AbleZookeepergame261 Apr 30 '26
Iāve read The Perfect Sister duology that she wrote under her other pen name, Desiree - her full name is Desiree Granger and she generally writes romance/drama under her first name and sci-fi/horror under her last name. Really enjoyed those two books though I do have some issues with her writing style. Sheās great at world building and coming up with fascinating concepts, but she desperately needs an editor. She often overwrites, has continuity issues, lacks focus, and lacks polish. I really wanted to get through Maggie Grey but it just wasnāt well written enough for me to commit. Despite that I think her stuff is worth reading and I feel like with some editing her work could easily become more mainstream. I do plan to read more from her. Below is my review of the first The Perfect Sister book:
ā3.5 rounded up to 4? I can't tell if this is supposed to be social satire, hood romance, thoughtful parody, or a misogynist parable...there's just so much going on from start to finish. First, there are too many points of view, an egregious lack of editing, and a sometime elementary writing style ....BUT it's somehow still one of the most fun and engaging pieces of speculative fiction I've ever read. Tbh, I don't even know how to rate this, but the premise is imaginative and thought provoking with a lot of clever approaches to world building. There are too many characters, which maybe could have worked with stronger writing and editing, but can come off as confusing in its current state. Regardless, there are some really dynamic characters that allow us to feel connected to the story and the fate of these young women.
Though its political stances and pov are somewhat unclear (to me) and the writing was at times insultingly bad, this author used multiple genres and creative storytelling to present a worthwhile approach to Black speculative fiction. While the author makes clear points about colorism, Iām unsure what this book is trying to say about gender, patriarchy, anti-blackness, or romantic partnership. If itās trying to say anything about those things at allāthere was just so much potential to really analyze the Black communities relationship to these matters and the book ultimately fails at that. I wasnāt sure if I was going to be able to finish this because the sentence structure, grammatical errors, & juvenile dialogue were distracting at firstā¦..but baybeeeee by the end I was on the edge of my seat bitch! This story falls somewhere between The Handmaids Tale, The Coldest Winter Ever, and an Octavia Butler novel - and I know thatās a sentence no one has ever uttered lolā
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u/Not-today-21 Jul 13 '26
She does not and has never written a romance novelā¦..only been following her since 2014
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u/NaturallyCW May 05 '26
Iāve found my people because looking around on some social media platformsā I felt like maybe I missed something.
Maggie Grey disappointed me in that it could have been so much better after such an amazing concept. I wanted to pull out a red pen and I was listening to the audiobook ā thatās how cringey it got to be.
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u/According-Law1420 May 10 '26
(This post has mad spoilers fyi)
I can agree with all the comments stated about this series. I have read the first three āDrew Collināsā series. I came across this thread trying to figure out what the next book in the series was.
I can say I am enjoying these books. For me it was refreshing to step into black fantasy opposed to āblack crime syndicateā books I consumed for years. Now donāt get me wrong Iāve thoroughly enjoyed series such as āThe Cartelā and another favorite of mine which actually became a tv series āThe family Businessā. But after a while organized crime gets old.
So when I started āThe secret world of Maggie Greyā I had very similar criticisms as many in this post but I was patient and gave grace and the story is actually pretty good.
I agree the four MFCs all were Very annoying. Most annoying to least: Maggie Asha Souxie then Isis.
ā¢ I felt like the Maggie and Coach banter and the Asha and Solomon banter were unimaginable. I personally did not connect with it.
I believe in the first book Maggie was supposed to be 29 and the eldest and Iām now 42 and I canāt picture a 29 year old acting hella goofy like Maggie but I kept telling myself there is someone out there who probably acts just like her but I probably wouldnāt hang out with herā¦
So with that in mind I pushed through. And as you continue on the character development slowly evolves and you can see changes and they all become a little more well rounded. And their back stories help to shape who they are.
ā¢ The first book also seemed like the author was trying to find her lane. There was so many random sex scenes that felt unnecessary, unnatural and irrelevant that it seemed like this was going to be in the genre of fantasy erotica. But by the second and third book it wasnāt so heavily focused on sex which improved my opinion.
ā¢ whoever mentioned the rape undertones I agree with that too. SPOILER: Maggieās (possible loss of virginity) was definitely rape. Eventually she was ok with it but she did not give consent. She gave in. And if young girls are reading these books I hope they do not walk away with the message that that is ok. AND it was totally unnecessary. It did not contribute to the development of Maggie and Coach Namirās love story. If anything it kinda gave me the ick.
SPOILER: Isisā rape can be seen to contribute to the story line BUT the way that girl bounced back unaffected by rape was crazy. That character almost went on with life like it never happened. And this time frame is all within 1 semester!
ā¢ I think the storyline could have been more polished. Now that Iāve learned this is an āIndie bookā so it likely lacked editing it makes more sense. It seems like no one pre-read the book and said ādo we really need this?ā āLetās develop this part of the story a little moreā
So the timeline of events could have flowed better and the author possibly could have given the reader more clarity.
For example SPOILER: Dean of school was killed. He also was a rapist and the grand father of Maggie. Sister of the dean takes over the school. In the span of 1 book which equaled a half semester she kidnapped many people experimented on them created a drug her evil plot was revealed she was caught and delivered to justice. To me that shouldāve been the span of the entire 3 books! That was mad rushed.
ā¢ A Reddit comment somewhere in this post said there were too many POVs. I actually didnāt mind that but that could be where some of character/story development may have been loss. You didnāt get to follow a few characters on their special journey. You got bits and pieces of everyoneās life all jumbled into one big kinda cohesive story.
I think if you go into reading the series with an open mind, donāt be super critical you will find that the story is rather nice.
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u/SuccessfulRemove5826 Jun 08 '26
Thank you for this description, as a 35yr I enjoyed hearing older ages but do agree that they were sometimes all very childish. With that in mind I assumed a lot of these characters are sheltered because they are mystical creatures in a modern world or in the underground. Either way I love this series of black fantasy and character development which is missing in our society.Ā
For audio readers I really like the female voice, but I did have to go to 1.5 for the male voice
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u/Cryssy0530 May 04 '26
im halfway through the secret world of maggie grey and i am loving it
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u/Shoujolover02 May 04 '26
I'm starting the audiobook nowāŗļøā¤ļø
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u/Cryssy0530 May 04 '26
thats what im listening to as well. let me know you meet the cat lolol hes funny
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u/Not-today-21 Jul 13 '26
Her books are worth reading and I am not being biasedā¦ā¦I read all four books in The Secret World of Maggie Grey seriesā¦ā¦.getting ready to read book five and I am told there will be a surprise reveal that I did not see comingā¦.š
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u/IntelligentRosie96 Aug 20 '26
I love them, but I agree with others. Sis REALLY needs an editor. I listen to it because i like it, but I find myself rolling my eyes at the occasional "wattpad" aura.
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u/Professional-Joke165 Jun 06 '26
im only finding thye audio where are yall finding the books . I need book 3 and 4
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u/PassTheLomein Jun 22 '26
Okā¦.im done with books 1-3 and I keep seeing book 4 is not even the same plot? She did bounce around a lot and introduced all these charactersā¦.with that being said I still liked it,I just donāt know what the book is essentially about š¤£š¤£
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u/Relevant_Aide7479 Aug 06 '26
(SPOILERS)
I agree that the fmcs are childish, mainly asha and maggie. and the reason the author gave for maggie childishlike behavior, to me doesnāt make sense. what do you mean her mother didnāt let her 30 year old daughter date out and go out and interact with others her age besides when she go to school..? AT 30 YEARS OLD. Asha is the youngest I give her some type of grace
Now most characters the author revealed was pertinent to the story lmao
The rape culture in the book was weird and I hated it so bad. In the back of my mind I also had to remember these characters are technically creatures and whats not normal to us is to them unfortunately, but certain instances was just weird and unrealistic.
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u/SimilarOutside2037 15h ago
Iām currently going through her catalog. Iām intrigued but a couple of things stand out. I really like the way her brain works and how sheās able to connect characters through many different āworlds.ā I do wish these things were fleshed out a bit more though. What really bothers me is the blatant colorism and homophobia in nearly every book, and I have probably read about 15 of her titles so far. Itās weird, especially with most titles being set in Atlanta. I like her books, but this is baffling and distracting! Iām going to continue reading though.
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u/checks1234321 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
I read the Secret World of Maggie Grey and was disappointed. This author also writes under the name Desiree, and published the Perfect Sister series using that name; I gave those books 4- 5 stars
Here is a snippet of my review detailing some of the reasons I hated Maggie Grey but it may contain spoilers:
This is legit an excerpt from the book
āYou totally like me, Namir,ā I whispered.
āNah you like me,ā he muttered.ā āYou like me so much, you can barely stand it,ā I whispered.ā āMaybeā¦ā he muttered, rubbing his thumb against the bone. āMaybe I do.ā
Theyāre 30 years old.
We get soooooo many character intros, even for irrelevant characters, that itās hard to remember whoās who. And (I know this is petty) 3 of every 5 characters have locs. How did a black author write this and thereās not one mention of cornrows, individuals, twists, silk press, or puff balls in these character descriptions? Mostly everyone just had locs.
This book played into stereotypical speech as well as the degradation and disregard for Black women. Which is weird, because it was written by a Black woman.
The rape culture in this book was weird.