Review of Hot Tea and Mercy

[Donald Kelvin]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Hot Tea and Mercy" by Rae Lashea.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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"Hot tea and mercy," Shandy moaned as the pain of colon cancer ravaged her entire being. This book, Hot Tea and Mercy, by Rae Lashea, reflects on the lives of its different characters and prepares the audience for an unforeseen series of events at its end. Dr. Nella Merced was a psychiatrist for others but didn't lead a happy life. After discovering her husband's cheating a few years ago, she turned to alcohol to suppress her emotions. Shandell, on the other hand, was someone who preferred being slim over completing her cancer treatment. She was one of Nella's patients, and Nella did an excellent job with her.

There was a lot of exposition on the lives of some average women in this book. In the life of Priscilla, for instance, she got picked up from the streets by Burger at a young age, but one thing I admired about her was her desire for a better life for her daughter. Was her desire fulfilled? Shandell also had a son that she couldn't care for in her teenage years. Then there was also Joan, who married a possessive husband who was scared of his wife cheating but lacked self-control. These women had baggage from the past, and their lives seemed to revolve around Dr. Merced. "How exactly" I leave you to discover within the pages of Rae Lashea's Hot Tea and Mercy.

This book opened my eyes to a lot of ills in society and their effects on the lives of average teenagers, primarily females, including the problem of drugs and desperate teens who get caught up with pimps, which can lead to teenage pregnancies and ruined lives. My favorite character was Joan; she had less baggage than the rest and seemed more rational in her decisions toward her husband and sister. Parents should endeavor to show love and attention to their children because some bad decisions stem from a lack of love. Another reason parents should pay attention to their kids is in the aspect of abuse so that they can detect when these things are going on.

The story was easy to follow, and I do not think anyone would have difficulty adapting to the dialogue. The characters were few as well, contributing to their straightforward nature. There were many lessons to be learned from the mistakes the characters made and the U-turns taken by some of them. I must commend the author and editors, as I did not encounter a single error as I progressed in this story. This leads me to conclude that this book was exceptionally well-edited.

However, I picked up some dislikes as it progressed. The first would be the concise nature of its chapters. Although no one likes very long chapters, terse ones are also not satisfactory as they disrupt the reader's attention span for the book. Another thing I disliked was the back-and-forth pace the story appeared to follow. Sometimes the book could discuss a crucial aspect of a character's life, but the next chapter would be about someone's life. Then later, the continuation of the initial person's story would continue; all of these tended to reduce the quality of the story.

Due to the issues of short chapters and unaligned plots, I'd deduct a point from this book. Hot Tea and Mercy receives a rating of 4 out of 5 from me. I recommend it to audiences interested in life, mystery, and fiction.

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Hot Tea and Mercy
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Sounds interesting and I’ll love to read. Thanks for the detailed review.

[Ogechi Okonkwo]

This is an interesting and a fascinating review. I loved how you captured every aspect of the book. I did enjoy reading your review. This is an interesting one.

[Mhiz Vyi Vyan]

Interesting storyline, can’t wait to know if her desires were fulfilled. Great review.

[Oluchi Samuel]

The different females in hot tea and mercy went through a lot in life. I feel like there'll be a lot going on in this book so I don't think I'll read it. Great review.

[Jerry Anozie]

From the title of the books I can say that this is a read with a lot of twist and supense. I can't wait to read this book as the plot is very interesting.

[Famzi Ken]

In stories like this, I appreciate the resilience of some women in enduring the bad behaviors of their so-called husbands. I'd like to read how Nella dealt with these women. Great review.

[Ekaete Bruno]

We all remember what killed chadwick bosman was colon cancer and that is not something that is to be joked about. This story is nice.