Review of Kalayla

[Amelia-K]

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

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3 out of 4 stars

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In the book Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas, we observe the lives of three women as they each go through different trials in life. All at different ages and stages in life we see Lena Manero Barzetti, Kalayla Leeroyce, and Maureen O’Rourke Leeroyce struggling in their ways. With the recent death of her husband, Maureen is struggling to raise her daughter on her own. Noticing how out of control Kalayla’s behavior has become Lena offers her help in hopes of having a second chance at raising children the way she wants to.

My favorite thing about this book is that it switched the point of view for each individual. I enjoy it when books do that so you can understand what each person is thinking and how they specifically reacted to an occurrence or situation. The fact the author also addressed the topic of racism and homophobia and the effects it has had on different people and how it altered their lives was interesting to see.

Besides a couple of minor writing mistakes, the book was very well edited. I don’t have anything very negative to say about this book. The only problem I had was how rude Kalayla’s character acted, but as the book goes on, we see growth in her behavior, and I feel it resolves itself. Additionally, she is a child and has had a tough upbringing, so I could understand why she acts the way she does. I think that the worst thing about this book was the fact that it ended. I would have appreciated a couple of more chapters to see how everything settled and resolved, so fingers crossed they will release a sequel.

I would rate Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas as a 3 out of 4 stars. I would have given this book 4 stars and I do feel that it is deserving, but with the handful of writing mistakes, I did not want to give it a perfect score. If you feel that grammar errors should not result in a lower score then you could look at this review as 4 stars, but my official rating is as stated above.

This novel is about reconnecting with family whether it be from the past or sparking new friendships to form a new family. This book approaches many mature topics like abuse, racism, and homophobia. For those reasons, I would recommend this book to adults and mature teens.

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Kalayla
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