Official Review: City Girl Tales: Walk a Straight Line

[shannonkate8]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "City Girl Tales: Walk a Straight Line" by Anisa B.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Katrina Bittman had a seemingly ordinary life until her father passed and she learned about his drug habits. Now, she is stuck in Atlanta, Georgia, trying to help her mom make ends meet and support her twin siblings. She and her mother work to pay the bills, but things never seem to be paid on time. At times, Uncle Lenny, a police officer in a nearby department, is able to help them pay bills and be a father figure to the young boys. Yet things never seem to improve as Katrina learns one of her best friends, Bianca, is the reason why her relationship failed. That same friend also becomes mixed up in a rough crowd, does drugs, and is increasingly dependent on her friendship with Katrina. All Katrina wants is to help her family, have a good relationship, and get into college. Will she be able to find her way through the secrets and lies to a better life?

City Girl Tales: Walk a Straight Line by Anisa B had more twists and turns than a roller coaster. It was quite an interesting story from the perspective of teenage Katrina into a world not many of us see. As someone who didn't come from a family with drug issues or this kind of background, it was surely eye-opening. I think this book really has potential and can reach a variety of people, however, it needs significant work.

To start, I had a difficult time determining the setting of the story. The author does mention Atlanta, Georgia, a few times throughout the book, but that was not the issue. The author jumps between two different time frames and I had increasing difficulty determining where I was in the story. There was a separation between some of the paragraphs but I was unable to figure out if it was later in the story or a flashback. This lack of description and setting was hard to grasp.

Additionally, the book needs significant editorial work. There were grammatical issues on nearly every page, ranging from the mixing of tenses to improper capitalization, or lack thereof. It made reading the book rather difficult.

Overall, I have to rate the book 2 out of 4 stars. The story really saved the book as I was interested to see the outcome. The grammatical issues, lack of description, and lack of a proper time period affected my above rating, among a few other things. As such, I would not recommend this book to others at this time. Should the author work with an editor(s), I think this book could be great.

All said and done, I cannot leave this review without providing a few warnings. People who are interested in this book need to be aware of potential triggers and issues. There is a lot of explicit language in the story, starting with the very first page. In addition, there is drug use and sexual assault involved. Please beware before reading this book.

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City Girl Tales: Walk a Straight Line
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[Elvis Best]

I love the storyline of this book, but the problems you mentioned is quite discouraging. Nonetheless, thank you for your honest review.

[Topsey]

It’s a shame that there were so many problems with this book considering its promising storyline. Thank you for your helpful review.

[Olgamiell]

I think the storyline is very interesting, but it looks like it could seriously benefit from editing and proof-reading. It seems like with some work, this story has the potential to become a great book. Thank you for the honest and thorough review.

[Usma Khann]

Looks like the book lacks in the execution department. Plus includes drug abuse and violence. Definitely gonna stir clear of this book. Appreciate the honest review though.

[Valkyrie9]

Drug abuse is always a sensitive but important topic. It is good that those who are privileged enough to not experience such things in real life are made aware of it through literature. The author has an important calling with this story - such a pity that the editing was not done more carefully. Thanks for the honest review.

[djr6090]

I think I would still like to read it. Perhaps once the author does a reissue.

[Harty Muli]

I like how Katrina helps her mom in the upkeep of the family. It is also eyeopening to learn something about drug abuse as discussed in the novel. Thanks for the insightful review.

[Christabel Uzoamaka]

Katrina’s life seems very turbulent, and it will be quite the journey to see her resolution. However, the lack of proper editing is a put off.

Thank you for the honest review.

[shannonkate8]

I think the storyline is very interesting, but it looks like it could seriously benefit from editing and proof-reading. It seems like with some work, this story has the potential to become a great book. Thank you for the honest and thorough review.

I agree. I think it genuinely has potential but needs significant work before it could get to that point. Fingers crossed the author does an update.

[shannonkate8]

Drug abuse is always a sensitive but important topic. It is good that those who are privileged enough to not experience such things in real life are made aware of it through literature. The author has an important calling with this story - such a pity that the editing was not done more carefully. Thanks for the honest review.

I agree. There are many people who are sheltered and don't see the problems outside of their own little world. It could be a great book for young adults and would definitely start some wonderful discussions. With some editing, it could be a good book.

[Priyanka2304]

The concept of the book seems interesting. I wish the inconsistencies could be removed with another round of editing to make it a perfect read. Thanks for the review.

[purvasha__]

Storyline is pretty interesting and the drug abuse mentioned is also not a problem but grammatical errors are a turn off!