Review of Kalayla
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Suliyat Ademola
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- Latest Review: Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas
Review of Kalayla
[Following is a volunteer review of "Kalayla" by Jeannie Nicholas.]
An aged woman so steeped in grief, her life became a monotonous one; a mother who had lost a part of herself, and is about to lose her daughter to a long-kept secret. Their paths are intertwined, and their lives are not going to remain the same. Kalayla is a stimulating book written by Jeannie Nicholas. It addresses several social issues pervading society: racism, arranged marriage, domestic violence, and assault. Full of heart-wrenching moments, the author compensates with humor and delightful characters that soothes one's heart right back.
Lena is a woman that had made many mistakes in her past, including finding herself in an entrapped marriage and losing control of her children. But she was set on getting it right with Kalayla. Enlisting the help of her best friend, they try to occupy the girl's time with menial jobs, to ensure she doesn't start moving with the wrong crowd or end up in trouble. In the course of showing compassion to this mother and child, she doesn't realize when warmth and colour began seeping back into her own life. The gems she lost in her youth also found their way back to her. There's good karma after all.
Earlier in the book, one might dislike Kalayla's character, as she was portrayed as this foul-mouthed, eccentric child running a circle around the adults in her life. But we get to see her sweet side later on, like when she planned her mother's birthday just to make her happy. She even learned to subdue her fiery temper through the subtle guidance of Lena, who more or less now plays the role of her grandmother. I like how her character developed from that of a petulant child to an understanding and responsible pre-teen.
Going in, I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I especially liked the humorous conversations between Lena and Kalayla. Another aspect of this book that was so endearing is how Maureen managed to pull herself together for her daughter, while reeling from the heartbreak she suffered from the death of her beloved husband, and being alienated by her birth family.
There was no part of this book that I did not like. It was a pretty great read and excellently edited as I did not find any error while reading. I rate Kalayla 4 out of 4 stars.
Despite the fact that this book was partly based on a young girl, there are scenes of hate crime, violence, and assault in it, making it unsuitable for minors. If you love family drama with a touch of romance, you definitely should not pass this up.
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Kalayla
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
An aged woman so steeped in grief, her life became a monotonous one; a mother who had lost a part of herself, and is about to lose her daughter to a long-kept secret. Their paths are intertwined, and their lives are not going to remain the same. Kalayla is a stimulating book written by Jeannie Nicholas. It addresses several social issues pervading society: racism, arranged marriage, domestic violence, and assault. Full of heart-wrenching moments, the author compensates with humor and delightful characters that soothes one's heart right back.
Lena is a woman that had made many mistakes in her past, including finding herself in an entrapped marriage and losing control of her children. But she was set on getting it right with Kalayla. Enlisting the help of her best friend, they try to occupy the girl's time with menial jobs, to ensure she doesn't start moving with the wrong crowd or end up in trouble. In the course of showing compassion to this mother and child, she doesn't realize when warmth and colour began seeping back into her own life. The gems she lost in her youth also found their way back to her. There's good karma after all.
Earlier in the book, one might dislike Kalayla's character, as she was portrayed as this foul-mouthed, eccentric child running a circle around the adults in her life. But we get to see her sweet side later on, like when she planned her mother's birthday just to make her happy. She even learned to subdue her fiery temper through the subtle guidance of Lena, who more or less now plays the role of her grandmother. I like how her character developed from that of a petulant child to an understanding and responsible pre-teen.
Going in, I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I especially liked the humorous conversations between Lena and Kalayla. Another aspect of this book that was so endearing is how Maureen managed to pull herself together for her daughter, while reeling from the heartbreak she suffered from the death of her beloved husband, and being alienated by her birth family.
There was no part of this book that I did not like. It was a pretty great read and excellently edited as I did not find any error while reading. I rate Kalayla 4 out of 4 stars.
Despite the fact that this book was partly based on a young girl, there are scenes of hate crime, violence, and assault in it, making it unsuitable for minors. If you love family drama with a touch of romance, you definitely should not pass this up.
******
Kalayla
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas
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Bim_5
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 24 Jun 2022, 04:42
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Kalayla sounds like an interesting child. And I'd love to know why Maureen was alienated by her family. Though Family dramas are not really my thing. 
