Review of Kalayla

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Faith Eve 1
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Review of Kalayla

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[Following is a volunteer review of "Kalayla" by Jeannie Nicholas.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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Written by Jeannie Nicholas, Kalayla is the story of an eleven-year-old bi-racial girl by the same name living in Cambridge England with her mother, Maureen. The death of her father Jamal demands a drastic change for Kalayla Leeroyce, and her widowed mother. Due to financial, and complicated family problems they are forced to adopt a new lifestyle and move into an apartment building at Mass. Ave. owned by the interesting and nosy land-lady Lena Barzetti who strangely only wears black. For an eleven-year-old, Kalayla is not waiting for anyone to come to her aid, she is an independent and potty-mouthed girl who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, as crass as it may be. A pet lover and laundry guard, Kalayla is a misunderstood, feisty little girl trying to make the most of her summer in a new neighborhood when seventy-two-year-old Lena takes an interest in the green-eyed lonely girl, resulting in an interesting first impression. With a lot of patience on Lena’s end and a lot of back talk on Kalayla’s, an unlikely and unconventional relationship blooms one reluctant lemonade visit at a time.

This is a story filled with flawed and complex characters struggling to come to terms with their emotions and past mistakes. Huge secrets are revealed, boundaries are crossed, deep bonds are broken but out of that comes something new, something beautiful and unexpected. New bonds, new friendships, old love. Each character is left changed in ways they never expected, some for the better and some for the worse. I loved the point of view change with each chapter, Kalayla’s thoughts are hilariously rude and immature which is not surprising for someone her age. It was funny reading her thoughts and opinions, the author did a good job highlighting her youth even in her more mature moments.

Armed with attitude, a short temper and her baseball cap visor turned backward Kalayla will come to learn a lot of things on Mass. Ave. about others, herself and her family. Lena will be forced to open her heart and address things she has kept hidden away, things that will leave both of them changed forever but the question is, for better or for worse, and what exactly will be the cost of their emotional bravery?

The book had a pretty satisfying ending, most questions I had about the characters and their history were answered. Even though I thought the ending was satisfying, it was also a little cliche in the way everything falls into place. I wasn’t expecting a sad ending, just a less picture-perfect one.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars . Disclaimer, the book addresses a range of topics such as racism and domestic abuse. It isn’t a perfect book, it’s best to keep an open mind and heart when reading, but I enjoyed reading it. The book also represents a variety of emotions and personalities through its character and how they’re affected and often driven by these emotions like regret, hate, fear and unconditional love. I recommend it to a mature audience because it’s an emotionally heavy book, and to anyone interested in books about human emotions, relationship and trauma, but also to anyone who just loves a good old story of love, and growth!

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Kalayla
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