What did folks think about Deceptive Calm, by Patricia Skipper?

[Andrea Schiliro 1]

Hello all! I'm desperately in search of other folks who also read this book. I won't share all of my thoughts until I hear others'... I'm trying to see something here!

[Emily_Stephens]

I'm reading it now....just finished another review, so I'll be focusing on this one next. Have you already finished it?

[Meghan Sica]

There were some things I enjoyed about this book. Like the character Vanessa and her friend Trisha. I felt the men portrayed in this book were only after sex and did not have any depth to their characters. I also felt it was kind of odd having so much historical information thrown in through sister Rosalie, since this was supposed to be romance novel. I would have enjoyed more details, but a lot of the story felt rushed.

[John Rehg]

I agree about the men and sex. In fact, I was put off by the first encounter between the protagonists - it seemed a little stereotypical - and I thought it actually made them incompatible with each other. The history aspect was an interesting motif until it got in the way of the story, its later use sounding forced and unrealistic. Otherwise, I enjoyed the story.

[Shri McGaley]

In my opinion, the social/racial history here was oddly and sporadically thrown into a sex-laced romance novel. Sister Rosalie, a mother figure to orphan Vanesssa, often goes on rambles about history facts she expects her students to repeat but have no clear tie to the story. Sister Rosalie is portrayed as a pious and fiercely protective mother character who falls out of character uncharacteristically at times. At the beginning of this book, I was expecting a historical fiction but am now confused as to which genre this books lies in. I personally do not like the book and had to stop at the end of the sample despite purchasing the book, but if you enjoy some racial/social justice history mixed with sex-laced adult romance then you may like this book.

[Esther-David]

What do you mean you are in desperate search of reviews? There are hundreds of reviews on this book, and they are very easy to find.

I did not like the book. I found it poorly-written, shallow, questionable, and badly plotted. The ending was far too inconceivable and cartoonish. The multiple errors interrupted the flow of reading. I did not like who Vanessa ended up with and the implication that he was guided there by God -- rape is not romantic at all, and it is concerning the author made Vanessa's great love a rapist. I don't really know what the purpose of the book was either. It seemed like the author was trying to talk about the history of sexism and racism in America, but utterly failed. It's really weird that she consistently described Vanessa as beautiful in conjunction with light-skinned.

[Nancy Ferris Postilli]

I agree with others who have said that the male characters lack depth and think there were multiple flaws in the book. I wanted to like the story because of the historical theme and the author's approach to including civil rights, but many aspects of the book just seemed to be racist in tone which was confusing. The message (whatever that was) got lost. I also commented in my review about the incorrect date of MLK Jr.'s assassination which could easily be verified. There were parts I enjoyed, but overall it wasn't the best book I have read.

[Joe Alex 2]

In my opinion, I think I didn’t like the fact that the ending part was rushed and ended abruptly as though all the characters were running on a treadmill, this got me confused and left me wondering if that’s all there’s to know about the book. Also I noticed some of the history’s were not recorded correctly especially the assassination date of Robert Kennedy. These are my few dislikes of the book and I hoped it would be worked on. Aside these, I enjoyed every other part of the book.