Review by _hime -- Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas

_hime · Post by **_hime** » 27 May 2021, 10:39

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

4 out of 4 stars

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Kalayla presents a story of three generations. Kalayla is a fictional book written by Jeannie Nicholas. The story took place 20 years ago in between 1999 to 2000. The three central characters are Lena, Maureen, and Kalayla.

Lena, a 70-year-old woman, owns a business, and she is also the owner of her apartment building. She is an independent woman who loves black. Maureen and her daughter Kalayla moved in across the hall that Lena lived. Maureen married a black man who was the love of her life. But her family disapproved of their marriage. So, she was banished from her family. Unfortunately, her husband died at a very young age, and so she was left with her only daughter, Kalayla. Lena thought it would be better to stay away from their family. But she adored them very much. Lena finds herself constantly worrying about Kalayla. She had the urge to save this little girl from going down. So, she became friends with Kalayla. Before they could realize, they created a powerful bond between them. They shared their happiness as well as their struggles. They fought for each other, and within just a year and a half, they became a family.

This book represents three struggling people. Lena lost her two children in a war. Her other two sons also didn’t care about her. Though she is very independent, she is still haunted by her past. Her marriage was not very happy either. She was all alone in this world. On the other hand, Maureen was another struggling woman. She left her family for the love of her life. But Maureen couldn’t be happy with him and lost him at a very young age. She didn’t know what to do. But her daughter was the only companion with her struggle, and then she found Lena. Kalayla is a young and smart girl. While her mother was working hard, she wandered around, exploring new things. She was just as you would expect from an early teenage street child.

This is the most fantastic book that I have ever read. The stories are written in the first-person point of view of each of the three characters. This helped me to understand their thoughts and feelings. I felt like they’re in front of me, talking to me. The author is an amazing writer. Her writing style was too good. She represented all the characters in a way that readers will instantly fall in love with them. They all have their own story, their voice. The story is very realistic. We are surrounded by racism, unhappy marriages, broken families. These issues came from a long time ago, yet there are still in our society. Reading this book was like reading the day-to-day struggle of our everyday life. The author presented the three different generation’s thoughts beautifully. Their bonding is amazing despite their generation gap.

There is nothing wrong with this book. I am rating this book 4 out of 4 stars for its fantastic story and writing quality. I didn’t find any errors as the editing was perfect. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading realistic fictional stories, women empowerment, and family stories.

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Kalayla
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MsH2k · Post by **MsH2k** » 05 Nov 2021, 19:48

I thought the author presented the three different generation’s thoughts beautifully as well. Thank you for an excellent review. I enjoyed reading your take on this story.