Official Review: Cry Baby Cry or Not by DeWandus Johnson

[gen_g]

I guess I could say I dodged a bullet there, thanks for the honest review. It's just a shame that such a wonderful idea was wasted on poor writing. I honestly wish the author could have done better.

I agree; I hope that the author will take the time to flesh out his book with proper detail - I'm sure that it'll be much, much better. Thanks for stopping by!

[Rmcgee]

Yikes! I can tell that you truly hated this book. And from your review I can see why and based on that I tend to agree. I checked amazon and this book received nothing but glowing praise. Clearly this book appeals to a very, very specific audience. Which is great. I think I’ll give a read sometime. I’ll probably hate it, but I like to give black authors as much support as possible. I’ll definitely come back and update once I’ve read it.

[gen_g]

Yikes! I can tell that you truly hated this book. And from your review I can see why and based on that I tend to agree. I checked amazon and this book received nothing but glowing praise. Clearly this book appeals to a very, very specific audience. Which is great. I think I’ll give a read sometime. I’ll probably hate it, but I like to give black authors as much support as possible. I’ll definitely come back and update once I’ve read it.

I 200% agree about giving black authors support; still, the way the book is written inevitably makes me think that I wouldn't get along with the target audience. Like you mentioned, I hope that the author will rework the story and hopefully portray females in a healthy manner. Thank you for stopping by, and please let me know what you think once you've read it! (:

[Bambiears]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Cry Baby Cry or Not" by DeWandus Johnson.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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DeWandus Johnson’s Cry Baby Cry…or Not tells the story of a girl named Trina, who has led an eventful life by the tender age of fifteen. Physically abused by her mother and sexually groomed by her mother’s boyfriend since she was a child, Trina has developed a perverted understanding of love and the world around her. Moreover, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The reader then follows Trina as she tries to escape from her abusive circumstances by entering into a relationship with Mistro, the heir of one of Chicago’s underground crime syndicates.

Frankly, I was excited to learn more about Chicago from the book, but I have to be upfront and state that I found the book disappointing. Before explaining my reasons for thinking as such, I will first give DeWandus Johnson’s Cry Baby Cry…or Not a rating of 1 out of 4 stars. There are many problematic issues present in this story, which I found lamentable.

Firstly, readers please be warned: there are numerous explicit descriptions of and references to highly sensitive issues in this novel, such as child pornography, prostitution, rape, torture, drug use, assault, and gun violence. Whilst I usually do not shy away from such books, said issues seem to be included only for the shock factor, even if Johnson has stated that his desire is to “provide unfiltered mental visuals and testimonies about the untold truths of the ghettos of America”. Whilst I can understand this desire, Cry Baby Cry…or Not is unfortunately a story that does not provoke much thought. In other words, Johnson has sadly spent neither time nor effort to explore these sensitive topics in his book in order to raise worthy questions for discussion.

Next, I have a huge bone to pick with Johnson about the way women are portrayed in his book. All the women (save for a very minor character who is mentioned twice and only in passing), no matter their age or race, are objectified and sexualised. This is further exacerbated by the fact that Johnson then implicitly blames the women for their own sorry plight after being used by men. Since the women are mere objects in the story, I found it hard to relate to them. Hence, I also became unable to immerse myself deeply in the story.

In addition, with regard to structural technicalities and editing, Cry Baby Cry…or Not is not without its problems. Johnson tends to drift from the main narrative to engage in various subplots, which makes the story unfocused, resulting in the reader’s break in immersion. There are also numerous grammar and punctuation blunders, such as tense errors and misuse of punctuation, that are peppered liberally throughout the book. All of these unfortunately and significantly contribute to the novel’s lack of flow and clarity.

To conclude, Johnson is in serious need of an editor to help with fixing the technical errors and the unfocused plot. Still, the issue of paramount importance at this point in time is the highly suspect portrayal of women in the book – instead of recommending potential readers to this book, I urge Johnson to first take a short course in gender and sexuality studies.

Subsequently, I would then recommend an extensively edited and reworked version of Cry Baby Cry…or Not to those interested in learning more about the lives of people who are a part of Chicago's underground crime scene. It will also be best if these potential readers are not put off by tricky issues such as rape and child pornography.

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Cry Baby Cry or Not
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Your review is so very acurate,
I just finished this book and found it very poorly edited and also as you mention over ran with child porn, rape, and misrepersentation of women.

[Bambiears]

It's sad that such a good idea was lost when it came to actually putting it on paper. Considering that the book is meant to be about a girl, you'd think at least that character would be created with respect, but apparently not. Think I'll pass.
Thanks for the review!

Definatly a wise choice it is a waste of time.

[Bambiears]

Wow! This seems to have some huge issues. This author strikes me as one who blame women for being raped, which is just not something I'm going to further by reading his book. Sorry you had to deal with this one. I'm definitely going to pass.

Definatly a pass. Those of us who accidently got stuck with reading it found it a over whelming task.

[Adaezeboltbethel]

As a non-American reader, I discovered this book intriguing. It is unlike anything I have read in the past. I can't help contradicting your argument on how the writer portrayed women. All things considered, this is the reality of things going on in that society.


This book has lots of problematic characters; most of the women in this material made not so smart decisions that got them in unfavorable situations. One of which included being treated as objects, that's the sad reality. I don't think killers, thieves, pedophiles, or drug dealers will treat prostitutes, their girlfriends, or targets as gentlemen.


I see where you are coming from with this argument, but I will find it somewhat strange if this was the opposite.
To be clear, I am not a fan of this material; as a matter of fact, it got me sick to my stomach.

[Awesomeliker]

At first I was really excited when reading the book... a few chapters later this excitement was reaally ruined for me...
My biggest problem is the way women are presented.. it's like the author doesn'tr espect them at all...

[gen_g]

Your review is so very acurate,
I just finished this book and found it very poorly edited and also as you mention over ran with child porn, rape, and misrepersentation of women.

Indeed! I hope that the author took time out to run it through some editing. Thank you for stopping by! (:

[gen_g]

As a non-American reader, I discovered this book intriguing. It is unlike anything I have read in the past. I can't help contradicting your argument on how the writer portrayed women. All things considered, this is the reality of things going on in that society.


This book has lots of problematic characters; most of the women in this material made not so smart decisions that got them in unfavorable situations. One of which included being treated as objects, that's the sad reality. I don't think killers, thieves, pedophiles, or drug dealers will treat prostitutes, their girlfriends, or targets as gentlemen.


I see where you are coming from with this argument, but I will find it somewhat strange if this was the opposite.
To be clear, I am not a fan of this material; as a matter of fact, it got me sick to my stomach.

Indeed, I agree that unfortunately, some women do really get treated like objects! (This is really sad, honestly.) As a non-American reader myself, I can understand that it certainly is one of those situations. However, what I felt was that the author did not take the time to fully develop all the female characters, i.e., whilst the females were objectified in this piece (which can happen due to the context), the author did not include scenes to show otherwise, i.e., to show the reader that although so-and-so male character objectified this female character, this is actually not the case because this female character had her reasons for doing so – this latter scene was not found, hence my thoughts.

I do see your perspective, but I think that it's always good to push for more holistic female representation in fiction, especially when one considers the already skewed gender power dynamic. Still, I think we both agree that holistic female representation is long overdue! Thank you for stopping by to share your thoughts.

[gen_g]

At first I was really excited when reading the book... a few chapters later this excitement was reaally ruined for me...
My biggest problem is the way women are presented.. it's like the author doesn'tr espect them at all...

I agree! Hopefully, the author will run it through another edit; I'm sure it will be better this way. Thank you for stopping by to leave a comment!

[Tonika632]

I couldn't finish this book. There were many subplots and the main point of the book was really lost. I felt like I was reading pure amateur writing. There were also many errors and forced conversations too. With good editing and reorganizing, I think it would be actually a very eye-opening theme to discuss.

[Stephanie Runyon]

I read the book and I have to agree that there is a major editing problem throughout it. I also found that some of the characters were not believeable. The ending that leads to a sequel does have me curious but it also seemed rushed.

[Gabriela Veiga]

I studied Criminology for a time in college, so I thought this book was a way of seeing gangs, criminal life and their routine from a different perspective, and maybe it's good to study the different opinion of the author. Unfortunately, I don't have the health or time to read a book that sexualize every woman.
I will definitely not peak this one, so thank you for your review!