Review of Mama's Deadly Secret

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Chiwelite O
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Review of Mama's Deadly Secret

Post by Chiwelite O »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mama's Deadly Secret" by Karon Curtis.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Mama's Deadly Secret is a fantastic book by Karon Curtis. This book comprises fourteen chapters. Karon skillfully takes the reader on a journey to her imagination. She tells the story of Payton, a seventeen-year-old boy. Payton is the dream guy; he is a sportsman, and he is good with the ladies. Things start to take a turn when Payton notices the weird but familiar presence of Officer Brown around him. He was alarmed when this officer applied for and got a job at his workplace. One day, after a weird conversation, he asked Payton to send his regards to his mother.

Meanwhile, Payton's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Watson, have been receiving crank calls of late. Although Mrs. Watson has an idea of who the caller might be, she feels it is best not to tell her husband anything. Her fears are confirmed when their daughter, Paris, invites Randy, who she met at 8 ball, to their house. Payton finds it troubling that this particular man has been the man following him around. He decides it is time to confront him. However, Randy has a golden envelope with him, which contains the biggest shock of Payton's life. Does Payton discover Randy's identity? Does he find out what connection his mother has with this strange Officer Brown? You would have to read this exciting book to get the answers to these questions and more.

This book has numerous positive aspects to it. Karon started this book in a simple manner; she told this story in such a skillful way. I must commend the author for the plot development as well. Initially, it felt like this would be the usual high-school story of butterflies and love. However, events that unfolded afterward took me by surprise.

Furthermore, the author realistically portrayed the characters; for instance, Payton's refusal to do anything sexual with Chloe because he was distracted by the thoughts of the girl he liked, Tiffany, seemed quite natural. It would have felt otherwise if he could quickly move on and make out with another girl after finding out that Tiffany had a boyfriend. Also, I enjoyed the lesson on friendship which the author portrayed with the way Payton and his friends were always looking out for each other. This book promoted other values such as loyalty; for instance, Tiffany's refusal to kiss Payton because she was already in a relationship. I found minimal errors in this book; it was professionally edited and made reading it a lot easier.

Nevertheless, this book had its negative aspects too. The author's description of particular events felt empty, shabby, and without emotion; for instance, the championship's final game was described in a few lines. I anticipated a thrilling final; although the author attempted to portray it like this, I was not impressed by the narration. Also, some characters went MIA after playing prominent roles at the beginning. For instance, Trey was quite noticeable initially; however, it felt like he disappeared and was only mentioned once after that. I kept wondering what he was up to; I mean, he is in the team that won the championship, and he was always hanging out with his friends at 8 ball, but he was not mentioned again in these places until they won the championship. The last negative aspect of this book is that it felt like the author sympathized with paternity fraud. With the recent surge in paternity fraud cases, I was surprised when Eric claimed Payton was his child even when he had the evidence of a DNA test in his hands. Instead, he shredded the result and declared that Payton was his son without confirming his claims. This could lead to unrealistic expectations because most people get shattered emotionally by things like this. If people were to expect a reaction similar to Eric's, then it might cause some issues.

All in all, this book was excellent. I enjoyed every bit of it. The author made me laugh, worry, feel sad, feel worked up, and so on. This is an example of mastery at its best despite this being the author's first book. I rate this book four out of four stars. I could not get myself to give it anything less because this is a well-written story. I recommend this book to people who enjoy romance fiction. Also, people who love books about teenagers would enjoy this one too.

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Mama's Deadly Secret
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Paluk Pathania
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Post by Paluk Pathania »

I stay away from fantasy novels since they never seem to end nicely, but your review has piqued my interest, and I'm excited to read this one. Amazing review! Thanks.
Ekezie1998
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Post by Ekezie1998 »

Quite an intriguing plot we have here. Would definitely love to have this book on my shelf. Great review.
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AlphaMom
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Post by AlphaMom »

I love a book that puts you on a rollercoaster of emotions and by the looks of it, this book will give me exactly that.
Jayburberry
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Post by Jayburberry »

Oh my God this book is nice. My interest skyrocketed immediately. Did Payton discover, did he not? I just want to flip flip fip through pages. Nice book
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Kibabcock
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Post by Kibabcock »

The title caught my interest but I was unsure on whether I wanted to read it or not. After reading the review I have decided that I definitely want to read this book. Great review!
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claireabiandrews
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Post by claireabiandrews »

This book is going straight on my bookshelf! You convinced me. Even though there were certain elements that did not meet expectations, your positive aspects and your rating convinced me that it was still worth the read.
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Egwuonwu
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Post by Egwuonwu »

This will be added to my favourite books i have read very intriguing and interesting, it started great and ended up cool. Thank you for the review
Yulisa Sanchez
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Post by Yulisa Sanchez »

I enjoy romantic fiction books such as this one. I like that there are many elements to this story that makes it hard to guess the end. But it is unfortunate that there are a few negative aspects such as poor character development and plot descriptions. Thanks for the honest review!
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Victoria Ukamaka
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Post by Victoria Ukamaka »

I'm not so much a fan of fantasy, so I will skip this one. I enjoyed reading your review though.
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