Review of Kalayla

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[Following is a volunteer review of "Kalayla" by Jeannie Nicholas.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Kalayla is a fictional story about family, love, and parenting. It tells a story of a young girl and two women who try to be there for her.

Maureen, Kalayla's mother works two jobs. After the death of her husband, Jamal, she is traumatized. Her family had disowned her for marrying a man of color. But her husband's family helped her get on her feet. This wouldn't have been possible if not for Lucinda, Jamal's mum, who had threatened to take her daughter away if she won't get her life back on track. This makes her to moves into a new apartment in the Cambridge neighborhood with Kalayla. There they meet Lena. Lena is the old widow who lives on the fourth floor of the building. She also doubles as the landlady. She couldn't help but notice Kalayla. She feels empathy for her and tries to help her. This is as a result of her failed attempt at parenting and to reconcile her past and correct some mistakes which have eaten her up for 15 years. Kalayla, on the other hand, is a young child of eleven. She is smart, resourceful, and blunt. Raising a kid like her will take much more than only trying to provide for the essential needs of every normal child.

Jeanie Nicholas wrote this book using the first-person narrative. Each chapter opens the reader up into the world of a character. It helped in understanding the characters, their views, and the plot structure in general. As the story progresses, Jeanie introduces the reader to events that led to the previous ones which are fascinating. This approach was able to keep the reader in suspense and make them forge on to know why what happened.

The character development was amazing. The transition of each character was properly organized giving the reader enough insight into every event that brought them to where they are. How the lives of the characters connect intermittently is noteworthy.

Nicholas Jeanie used this work to touch on many social issues including racism, domestic violence, LGBT, rape, etc.

There are so many life lessons to be learned through this book on parenting, family, love, child upbringing, secrets, lies among others. I did find it fascinating how Lena was able to find peace and happiness again. Maureen too, her life started making sense again after the breakout between herself and Kalayla.

There was nothing I didn't like about this book except for a slight confusion I had in the character of Kalayla. Her level of vulgarity was alarming for a little child. I'm sure there was something the author wanted to use that to portray to her readers.

In all, Kaklayla was a good read. It was exceptionally edited and has earned a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I'll recommend this book to all lovers of fiction especially on family bonds.

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Kalayla
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[Ra Ka]

Thanks for the review. In this novel, I loved how kalayla transformed from a stubborn girl walking the streets to a strong girl who takes responsibility and seeks to achieve.

[Bradley Shelvie]

I agree with most of the points in the review because I read the book too and loved it. Nice review!