Book Review - Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas

 

Kalayla, the debut novel by Jeannie Nicholas, is a brilliant story about three people, a mother, a daughter and a neighbour, who bond as they struggle through life's difficulties. Kalayla is a cheeky eleven-year-old mixed-race girl, and she befriends septuagenarian Lena, who lives in the same apartment block. Kalayla is fascinated by Lena, who always dresses head to toe in black. Kalayla's mother, Maureen, is nearly thirty and is a single parent. Maureen works several jobs to keep a roof over her and Kalayla's heads, and when she is not at school, Kalayla is left to her own devices.

All three have secrets. Lena had four sons. She works part-time with one of them at the family business, her twin sons are dead, and there is one she is alienated from. Maureen is a widowed white girl who married a black man, and her family now will not have anything to do with her and has never seen Kalayla. Maureen has told Kalayla that they all died in an explosion at a family wedding! Furthermore, Kalayla tells her Mum that she spends most of her time at the library, but she is never there! 

Gradually as the story progresses, the secrets come out. Kalayla is an excellent book highlighting many issues, including domestic abuse, racism, prejudice, homophobia and family abandonment. Jeannie Nicholas's sensitive and thoughtful story tells how community and friendship improve lives as the relationship between these three very different people grows.

I loved everything about Kalayla, from the building friendship between Lena, Maureen and Kalayla to the gradual understanding of the lies they all tell and why. The book covers some dark subjects, but it is not without humour, e.g. page fifty-seven, "Now I was in the middle of an alphabet soup that was boiling over with letters I couldn't turn into words." This book is a real page-turner, and I felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend when I turned the last page.

There was nothing I disliked about Kalayla; it is a well-written and thoroughly enjoyable read, storytelling at its very best.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas is well-edited, I did not find any spelling or grammatical errors, and I loved reading this wonderful book!

Due to the relatively heavy topics covered, I would recommend this to an adult audience. I would recommend it to women because it is a story of friendship between 3 female characters, and it covers issues which mainly affect women.

Thank you to Jeannie Nicholas for a free copy of this book in exchange for an impartial review.

Book Review - My life uncensored by Cristina Caymares

My life uncensored by Cristina Caymares is a short memoir of her childhood, growing up without a father, and the various abusive men who came in and out of her life during her mother's relationships. Cristina's father had a heart attack and died when she was two years old, and her mother was left to bring up two small children on her own. Although Cristina lives with her mother in Los Angeles, she spends most of her school holidays with her grandmother in Florida so that her mother can work.

The idea for My life uncensored was promising, touching on child neglect, Cristina losing her father at an early age, and the consequences these have growing up. However, the book is poorly written. There is much repetition, e.g. Page 16 -  The big huge mirror we had in that town house was too big for that house. There are complete sentences that make no sense, e.g. page 29, Her earrings looked brighter, and her teeth got springier. The author seems to have written her thoughts down as they came into her head, making the book unpolished, disorganized, chaotic, and very frustrating to read. 

I struggled to find anything I liked about this book. I admire the author for laying bare her early life. However, it is Cristina's mother with whom I have the greatest sympathy. Her mother died giving birth to her, her father had a lengthy prison sentence and died in prison, and her husband died aged 26, leaving her with two small children. 

There were many things I was not too fond of about My life uncensored by Cristina Caymares. The book would be much more interesting if the author rewrote it as a longer book and expanded her thoughts and explanations. Rewriting would help Cristina see the errors and where more explanation is needed for the book to make sense to the reader. 

I do not recommend this book because the narrative lacks structure, many interesting subjects were left unexplored, the characters are not developed, and the topics call for more insight. My life uncensored reads like a teenager's diary!

I rate this book 0 out of 5 stars. My reasons for this are: the text did not appear to have been edited, as I found errors on practically every page! The writing style is chaotic and challenging, and I did not enjoy reading it! 

Thank you to Cristina Caynares for a free copy of this book in exchange for an impartial review.

Book Review - Wild World by Peter S Rush

 

Wild World by Peter S. Rush begins in May 1970. It is a time when thousands of students across America are holding rallies to protest against the Vietnam War. Steve Logan, a law student and his girlfriend, Roxy Fisher, a medical student, want to make the world a better place to live in. The story begins a few weeks before Steve is due to have his graduation from Brown University. Sitting with his roommates and Roxy in front of the television, they cannot believe what they see. National Guard troops have been called out to a protest by students at Kent State University. The guards are armed and end up killing four students. After meeting a reform-minded police officer, Steve is convinced that getting involved is the only way to change things. He postpones law school and joins the city's police department. Steve is different to other rookie police. He has a good degree, and he is inherently honest. These make him an outsider, and a target for corrupt police, the reality of fighting the establishment soon overwhelms him. His college friends think he is a traitor to the cause, and even Roxy, the woman he loves, has begun to pull away. Devising a plan to shake up the system radically, Steve begins to collect evidence to bring the corrupt police down. Steve's life will never be the same again! 

I loved the fact that Peter S. Rush appears to have named his book after the Cat Stevens song Wild World which was released in 1970, an example from page 62, He turned on a transistor radio, and Cat Stevens sang, "Baby, baby it's a wild world...." I also enjoyed the parts of the book where Steve experiences inner turmoil between his work life and home life when he cannot always go with his instincts but has to play by specific rules to survive, even when they seem wrong. e.g. 'The man had stopped moving, and Steve realized he could be dead. It was under control - he had it under control. Was he responsible for the man's death? Was this police work?' This was very well written, and I could feel Steve's inner turmoil.

This is a great story, written with passion for the subject, but I was disappointed in the number of mistakes. It was as if the book had not been edited or proofread.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. It is a great story, but there are way too many errors to rate it the full 4 stars.

I would recommend this book to older teenagers and adults interested in novels telling American history during the 1970s. The continuous swearing in this book fits with the characterisation but would not be suitable for anyone who dislikes this type of language. 

Thank you to Peter S Rush for a free copy of this book in exchange for an impartial review.