Review of Revised Edition Family Ties

[OTrain Disene]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Revised Edition Family Ties" by B. G. Howard.]

---

2 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Revised Edition Family Ties by B. G. Howard is a book that looks like a crime thriller, judging by the front cover, when it is actually more of a human drama and romance. It follows a young man who moved from his home state to another state to look for greener pastures. But when he gets there, he finds that the grass is not green. This book is different and confusing.

Willie LeBeaux is in New York City and working for the man known as Oz in the underground world of crime. Willie is running the street business. We are first introduced to him when he and his partner go to some man's business place to shake him down for money he is due. Willie seems like a ruthless killer who will do anything to bring desirable results to his boss. But that is his professional side. On his personal side, he is a different person. There is an old couple in New York that he has got close to that he now calls “Moms” and “Poppy.” They don’t know about his other professional side, and he intends to keep it that way. They just know him as an aspiring person in the entertainment industry who came to New York for opportunities.

But these two worlds are too big and complicated for one man to keep separated. Willie finds love in a very strange woman who is a cop. In his criminal organisation, there is a power struggle and people who see him as a threat. In his new family, there is someone who has taken a liking to him. Now he’s this close to be in a love triangle situation. How will Willie juggle all of these balls and make sure he is safe, and so are the people he loves? Is that even possible? What is the real reason he came to New York? What is he running from?

The answers to these questions are buried deep in the pages of this book that you will have to read to satisfy your curiosity. I didn’t enjoy reading this book as much as I thought I would. The cover and the book description promised a lot more than what was offered. The first big thing that I did not like in this book was the plot. The plot was built on small subplot pieces that somehow did not come together to make one big picture. Even the way these pieces were introduced was not done in a good way that impressed me. Characters were introduced one by one in a chain-like format. Regarding the ones that were already introduced, the book focused more on them, and their roles got exhausted that the author was forced to introduce another to move the story forwards. These characters lacked personality, and they came across as plain. The reason behind this was that there was no proper background story. They just appeared as I have said, and nothing more was done to add substance to them.

The dialogue between the character is another thing that I didn’t like. The characters were speaking in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), and this was overdone so much so that the realistic experience the author was aiming for got ruined in the process. The sentences were filled with interrupters that they didn’t flow. How these characters spoke and acted was not typical of their profession. Officer Lady was that one character. Then there was the repetition of phone calls. I could say most of the dialogue was happening on phone calls. As a result, there was no intimacy between the characters. Some characters, like Natasha, didn’t add value to the storyline.

The narration and dialogue were not balanced. The book leaned more on the latter than the former. This made the book lack action. As a reader, I couldn’t see the images vividly. A lot was left to my imagination. The conclusion was another big let-down. The power struggle in Oz’s crime organisation wasn’t thoroughly unpacked. Willie went down to Georgia, then that took the most part of the conclusion. The many sex scenes were disappointing because of the lack of adequate descriptions in the narration that already was less.

What I liked is that it seemed to be professionally edited. The book was filled with AAVE, so the English was different from the standard one most people might know. The author wrote the English words how they are pronounced in AAVE, so that doesn’t count as errors. With everything I have said above, I rate this book two out of five stars. If it wasn’t exceptionally edited, I would have given it one star. Because I did not enjoy reading it, I would not recommend it to anyone.

******
Revised Edition Family Ties
View: on Bookshelves

[Favour Ugwu Chidinma]

I want to find out Willis's intentions for coming over to new York. I might consider reading the book. Thanks for the review.

[OTrain Disene]

I want to find out Willis's intentions for coming over to new York. I might consider reading the book. Thanks for the review.

Dig in, but make sure you horn your AAVE skills otherwise you might not enjoy it.

[SunVixen]

I want to find out Willis's intentions for coming over to new York. I might consider reading the book. Thanks for the review.

Dig in, but make sure you horn your AAVE skills otherwise you might not enjoy it.

Writers really should be careful with language.
At times they try so hard to be authentic that their books remind me of Inuyasha fanfiction, stuffed with Japanese words and phrases. I called this "Inuyasha syndrome".

[Fawmi FJumana]

Though the plot sounds a bit interesting I don't think I would read this. Main reason is the language the book uses. You did a good job with an informative review.

[NetMassimo]

I'm glad I didn't pick this novel for review, as I would have struggled with AAVE and the other problems you pointed out! Some serious editing might turn it around. Thank you for your honest review!