Skip to main content

Kirkus Style Review

Nichols, Nikita Lynette. The Ugly Side of Me. 
Paperback 335 pages. Urban Books, LLC. 2015. 
ISBN 9781622868216.  $14.95.

 Rhapsody Blue knows she has a problem with falling for the wrong guys, but The Ugly Side of Me heroine does not let that stop her from falling for the much younger Malcolm Washington, making this the not-so-typical Urban Christian tale. Nichols' tale starts with a warning from Rhapsody to the reader not to be like her. As with any "Don't go there" warning, the reader is intrigued and pulled into the story if for nothing else, but to find out how Rhapsody ends up in her predicament. Honestly, that is about as good as this twisted tales gets. After the warning the reader is forced to watch Rhapsody go down in flames as her counterpart Malcolm carelessly handles the bad romance with Rhapsody. It is hard to read and to believe that a 34 year-old woman would behave so irresponsibly over a more that 10 years her junior. The breakneck pacing of the book comes from the increasingly outlandish behavior of Rhapsody. Nichols throws in a few Christian elements such as a best friend who tries to get Rhapsody to go to church and a mother who is "God Fearing," a well as a scene in the church which may have earned it the Urban Christian Fiction label. As for any saving grace, the book has none. More disappointing that the story is the lackluster ending which is very unlike Urban Christian's usual uplifting feel.

If you are looking for drama at every turn, this story is for you. Nichols' ability to tell a twisted tell is nothing short of amazing. Readers will not be able to stop themselves from turning the page to find out what crazy thing Rhapsody will do next. However, it you are looking for an uplifting tale about a woman who figures out her issues and fixes them  The Ugly Side of Me is not for you. The ugly side of this tale is the main character.









Comments

  1. Erin CataldiFebruary 17, 2017 at 6:42 AM

    Fantastic review! Your conclusion is especially great. You did a wonderful job outlining the flaws of the story and also summarizing the plot. Full points!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 14 Prompt: Separating Fiction

Prompt:  Consider yourself part of the collection management committee of your local library, or a library at which you would like to work. You must decide whether or not to separate GBLTQ fiction and African American Fiction from the general collection to its own special place. Some patrons have requested this, yet many staff are uncomfortable with the idea - saying it promotes segregation and disrupts serendipitous discovery of an author who might be different from the reader. Do you separate them? Do you separate one and not the other? Why or why not? You must provide at least 3 reasons for or against your decision. Feel free to use outside sources - this is a weighty question that is answered differently in a lot of different libraries. Response: I like to be on the side of forward thinking. Librarians have a duty to bring certain issues and in this mater types of fiction to the light. Placing GBLTQ and African American Fiction among the general fiction is almost like hiding ...
5 comments
Read more

Week 13 Prompt: YA & Graph Novels

PROMPT: Though this week's group of "genres" all seem very different, they all have in common the fact that many people don't feel that they are legitimate literary choices and libraries shouldn't be spending money on them or promoting them to adults. The common belief is that adults still don't or shouldn't read that stuff. How can we as librarians, work to ensure that we are able to serve adults who enjoy YA literature or graphic novels? Or should we? RESPONSE: I am of the personal belief that as librarians we should not interfere with what people want to read. In any case, we should be glad that patrons want to read no matter what it is that they want to read. There are several things we can do as librarians to support adult readers who enjoy YA literature and/or graphic novels. Location, location, location. One of the key aspects of supporting adult readers is the location of adult or, in this case, young adult and graphic novel titles. If graphic ...
3 comments
Read more

Urban Fiction Annotation

Tile: The Wife of a Hustler Author: Porscha Sterling 126 pages ISBN: 9781511476461 Synopsis: Vanessa is The Wife of a Hustler  and she is tired of the hustle. Or is she? Vanessa loves her husband Ty and would do anything to keep him, including kill. However, Vanessa is having a hard time trusting Ty with her heart since he has been making more and more frequent trips to see his son and his baby mama Trinity. Trinity would love nothing more than to be Ty's main focus. She would be his main focus if she could just get rid of Vanessa. Trouble finds Trinity just in time for Ty to help out and stay a while. All the trouble causes Vanessa to get into a bit of trouble on her own. Will Vanessa be able to help Ty keep his drug empire? Will she keep her man from being taking by the Trinity the Florida's princess of the drug game? Urban Fiction Appeal: Inner-city life/struggle: The character of Trinity and her brother Loon were abandoned as children and raised themselves in t...
4 comments
Read more