Ni-Ni Simone

I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

I enter a lot of giveaways and sometimes I end up with books that I would never have picked up in the bookstore.That's ok though because it broadens my reading horizons. Down By Law is a book that I would have passed right by, being a white, suburban, more than middle aged male. In spite of my drawbacks, I have to say I enjoyed it. I lived through the 80's and the references ring true. The characters are consistent. The moral, perhaps, a little too predictable. Even with that, this is a book I would recommend and an author I would read again.… (mehr)

This title and author were mentioned during a street lit webinar. The slangy dialogue flies fast and furious for several chapters. Then the story finally picks up when Seven meets the manly Zaire during a rough patch with her high school sweetheart Josiah, a future basketball star. It's all relationship drama, missed communication, and emotional highs and lows. Seven finally finds the courage to go it alone for awhile instead of feeling it's got to be one man or another to make her feel good about herself. The book skips over all that character building however, zipping right to a reunion with Zaire months later. Urban girls will eat this up with a spoon. Points off for a cover model who doesn't look at all the size 14 that Seven proudly says she is.… (mehr)

This was my first read by author Tu-Shonda L. Whitaker; at the time I started the book, I was unaware that it was part of a series. By the time I realized it, I was too far gone to stop, and had to read to the end. This book had me rolling in my chair at times with some of the shenanigans going on, as well as wanting to smack the taste out of some of these characters' mouths. What I liked about the book was the fact that it actually reminded me of a couple people that I know personally. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the drama and comedy of reality TV shows; this book is third in the series, so make sure you read the other two first.… (mehr)

My Opinion: I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This story is about four rich girls who call themselves the Pampered Princesses and go to a school called Hollywood High, which they rule from their table in the center of the lunch room. Their names are London, Rich, Spencer and Heather, and they are all about letting everybody else know that they are the creme de la creme of the Hollywood scene, and even though they try to put on a united front, the fact that they can't stand each other is pretty obvious to anybody within earshot. They turn on each other constantly and even though we find out that under all of their strutting and bragging they each have a crappy home life with pushy and even abusive parents, I found it very hard to care about them. They aren't very likable and they can be downright cruel when they don't get their way. They proudly admit that other than Heather, who plays a crazy character named Wu-Wu in a sitcom, they are filthy rich and famous for no "gawt-damn" reason at all. They are all about drama, drama, drama, and boys, boys, boys, and if they aren't the center of attention, they will act out and make sure that they are.

At first glance, all you see are four spoiled little rich girls who expect everything to be handed to them on a diamond studded platter, but as you read on, you find out that all is not as it seems behind the scenes. They all have secrets that they try to bury so no one will realize that they aren't happy at all with the way their lives are going and they have no one at home who really gives a damn what they do, as long as they don't end up in the headlines, which given the way that they act, is asking quite a lot of them! When they turn on one another, things get down and dirty real fast.

I have to confess that half of the time I had no idea what they were saying (due to some really crazy slang that I've never heard before) but I was always able to get the gist of what was going on.

I really tried to feel something for these girls when I read about their tragic pasts and their parents, some of whom should never have been allowed to have children in the first place, but the way they talk and act makes them look like stereotypical rich bitches, and even worse than that, they were portrayed as needing a man to make them feel good about themselves, which is not the message I would want my daughter to take away from a book. I thought their behavior might change and that they might experience some personal growth by the end of the book, but I was very disappointed when they only seemed to get worse and worse.

Don't get me wrong - there were some very funny parts of the book that made me smile while I was reading it, and there were flashes of insight that the characters experienced that I thought would make them clean up their acts a bit, but that didn't happen. They had no self control and when they got mad, especially at each other, the claws came out and it wasn't pretty.

Basically, I really tried to enjoy this book, and did in fact like some parts of it, but overall when I finished the book, I decided that I wasn't going to read the rest of the series since I expect it would be more of the same. It was a quick read and it might appeal to teenagers but I can't really recommend it just because I managed to finish it. As usual, I would tell everyone to decide on their own whether or not to read it as mine is only one opinion out of many. Because there were areas that were funny and there were a few insightful moments in the girls' lives, I am going to give this book 3 stars.… (mehr)