Official Review: The Colors of Friendship by K. R. Raye

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TheBookMaven
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Latest Review: "The Colors of Friendship" by K. R. Raye
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Official Review: The Colors of Friendship by K. R. Raye

Post by TheBookMaven »

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Colors of Friendship" by K. R. Raye.]
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The Colors of Friendship is a work of fiction that follows three college students through their freshman and sophomore years at a New York college in the year 2000. Melody, Imani, and Lance are best friends who look out for each other through thick and thin along with several other students that are part of their group of friends. It focuses on how relationships form and change through the course of events they experience.

One of the main features of this book is how people from different races and different backgrounds can come together and become close friends. I really like how the author made that apparent without making skin color seem like a big deal in the story. It is mentioned, but only in descriptive or situational context. The author made the characters’ different personalities work together very well. The other main part of the story is the situation in which Melody finds herself. It is obvious the author did some research and did not just write in Melody’s actions based on what is commonly thought. That made it much more believable.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The story flows well, and the dialogue between characters seemed natural most of the time. The first few chapters kept me reading to see what happens next. The middle of the book was a little slower and did not hold my attention as much. A few of the middle chapters seemed like they did not really add to the story. There were not many chapters like that; but I felt like there were a few that it would not have changed the story if they were missing.

My favorite character is Imani. I love her attitude and that she tells things as they are. She also shows great devotion to Melody by trying to get along with Melody’s boyfriend even though she does not like him. Melody is very naïve and gets herself into a bad situation. At times, her character seemed to be almost too naïve to be believable, but not so that you cannot feel for her. Sometimes Melody’s dialogue seems forced, as if it is more narrative than part of a conversation, but the dialogue between everyone else never seemed that way. Lance is a very consistent character throughout the whole thing and his relationship with the two girls is a good balance.

The ending is very abrupt, and that made it somewhat disappointing. Reading past the ending, you discover that the series continues and the second book picks up exactly where the first left off. The abrupt ending served its purpose in making the reader want to continue the series to see what happens, I think that the ending would have been improved by being a little more drawn out. There are several other spots in the book as well that seem to be left hanging that, again, I’m guessing will be resolved in the second or third book.

My rating for this book would be 3 out of 4 stars. Mostly that is because the middle of the story slows down enough that I lost some interest for a while. I would recommend this book to others and would like to read the next one in the series to find out how the characters handle the situation the first book leaves them in.

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Latest Review: "The Colors of Friendship" by K. R. Raye
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Post by CapeBretonBookLover »

looks like a very intriguing and inspiring book.
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sahmoun2778
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Post by sahmoun2778 »

Thanks for the well written review. Sounds like a good start for a series. Since the story is about college students do you think it would be appropriate for teenagers?
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Post by ipekbunsal »

sounds like an interesting book. i don't like it when the book suddenly slows down too.
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

Thank you for your honest and thorough review. This sounds like an interesting book. I grew up in an ethnically diverse environment, and I like stories that depict the fact that people from different backgrounds can become good friends.
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