3 out of 4 stars
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Let The Chips Fall by Patricia McDonald is a story about Katherine Murphy. She was born in 1984 in Brooklyn, New York to Christian parents who migrated from Jamaica 13 years earlier. She was the third out of five children, three boys and two girls, but she knew she was different.
Unlike her sister, she didn't like girly things and preferred to hang out with her brothers. She later discovered she was attracted to her gender, but couldn't act on it because of her parents’ beliefs and her environment at large. Forced to follow life's structured path in order to please her parents, she went on dates with guys and eventually met Jahari. She wound up pregnant for him and accepted his marriage proposal just to make everyone happy.
Her political career unlike her personal life bloomed. She had a dream of becoming City Councilwoman and she surpassed it. Her diligent efforts paid off and she became the first African American woman to be Mayor of New York city at the age of 30.
Despite Jahari being a loving husband, she craved to be with a female and eventually started an affair with Shani who was a lesbian that helped her work on her campaign. Shani became jealous of Jahari and threatened to end their affair. Desperate to save her relationship, she told Jahari about her gender preferences and her affair with Shani. How will Jahari react? Will her family accept her for who she truly was? Will her constituents stand by her? Will her political career come to a halt?
Patricia McDonald has done well in this entertaining piece. I liked her writing style as it made the book easy to read. I was so immersed in the book that it took me two days to read it despite my tight schedule. When I wasn’t reading, my mind kept wandering back to the book anticipating what would happen next. She gave the characters flesh and made them relatable. The character I liked most was Jahari. Despite all that Katherine put him through, he loved her still. He believed in her and always had her best interest at heart. He was simply amazing. If we all had a Jahari in our life’s, the pressures of life would be a bit easier. I kept rooting for him till the end of the book.
What I liked most about the book was the writer’s ability to keep you hooked and guessing till the end. There was really nothing I didn’t like about the book except that I think the author should put in chapters as it will give the book more structure.
The book had several errors ranging from wrong spelling of names and words to lack of commas. With that in mind, I rate it a 3 out of 4 stars. Though I didn’t find the errors too distracting because of the author’s engaging writing style, I believe the book would benefit from a thorough round of editing.
I recommend this book for romance lovers. If you are not into detailed sexual scenes, this is not the book for you as it is filled with them. It is strictly for 18 and above.
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Let The Chips Fall
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