Bitter over Sweet

by Melissa Llanes Brownlee

coming November 2025 from Santa Fe Writers Project

"One of Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2025"

Hawaiian native Tita works to escape a vicious cycle of poverty and abuse, only to realize along the way that life can not only be better, it can be whatever she wants it to be…

Take a deep dive into the lives of real Hawaiians as we follow Tita and other native women living and struggling against abuse and despair in a world controlled by tourism’s long tail. These stories of resilience offer readers a glimpse behind the bird-of-paradise curtains and a look at what’s not in the travel magazines.

What is it like to live day in and day out in a place that everyone else considers paradise? To live within America but not be considered American enough?

“A stunning collection. I’m a sucker for flash, for voice-y lit, for the unexpected, for the problematic, for Brown girls, for pop culture, and for playing with form, and Llanes Brownlee brings this all together beautifully in Bitter over Sweet. It’s a feat of fresh style, intricate language, imagination, grit, and so much heart.”

—DEESHA PHILYAW, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

Preorder Links:

• From my publisher, SFWP - Click Here!

• From Bookshop.org - Click Here!

• From Amazon - Click Here!