Review of Kalayla

[Essy moonlight11]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Kalayla" by Jeannie Nicholas.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Maureen, a young woman who was disowned by her family for marrying a black man, recently lost her husband, Jamal. She had a teenage daughter, Kalayla, who she needed to take care of—despite the disastrous and brutal events in her life. She had to work so hard, often taking more than one difficult menial job for the whole day, to make ends meet. Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas is a novel that centers around the story of how a mother was forced to lie to her child about her family's past. When kalayla found out that her grandparents (Maureen's parents) were still alive, it affected her relationship with her mother. Lena, an old woman, came to Maureen's aid, and she offered both the mum and daughter comfort during that time of distress. Read more from the book.

I loved how the writer employed first-person narration. She has also given us different sides of the story using the main characters of the book—Lena, Kalayla, and Maureen. This made the story interesting and fun to read. Through the first-person narration, I was able to get the character's perspectives better, and even know why they did certain things and how they felt. For example, I understood why Kalayla was always the cheeky girl she was. The use of flashbacks to narrate the events that had happened in the past, while still narrating the present events, was also remarkable.

I like how the author touched on different themes throughout the narration. I was mostly impressed by how she mirrored the distress many women who suffer in marriages go through today through the story of Lena. I sincerely wish most people would seek help and not be prisoners in their own marriages. They should reach out and escape the constant abuse from their partners. Another major interesting theme is racism and how it can affect not only those who are close to us but also the society at large.

I had an exciting and thrilling experience while reading the book and even felt sad when I finished reading it. It's impossible not to love the book. There's is nothing I disliked about the book, so I give it four out of four stars. I did not come across any grammatical errors. However, I had problems understanding some contractions and had to search them online to find out their meaning. However, that didn't impede my reading.

I would recommend this book to literature students who love theme-based novels, especially themes on sexual abuse, racism, and domestic violence. Young adults and teenagers will also love the book.

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Kalayla
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[Ace John]

I'll select this book as my next read it seems a very emotional book, judging from your comments about the book. Nice review!