T.P. Carter
*** (2.9/5)
I picked up this book for my sister, but I ended up stealing it from here and reading it first. Then I got mad, and threw it back into her room- yeah, I didn’t like this one, or it wasn't that I didn't like it cause I did finish it- it was that it was unbelivable and annoying.
It’s basically about an affair between and married man and a woman, but the premise is all about being in love with two people, is that possible. This wasn’t your average run of the mill affair and there was no sex between the two until the last third of the book and even then it wasn’t passionate affair sex, but lovemaking.
This book felt like it was two books. It was written in the way most African American fiction books are written. Books geared toward us have more of a drama flair, more dialogue, but then it felt like the author was trying to make it heavier than your typical African American novel, which I can appreciate her efforts but it really annoyed me. To me, most books geared toward African Americans (women) are written in a very detailed flamboyant way- it’s almost like watching a TV show. For instance read an Eric Jerome Dickey and then go read any mainstream (white) author that writes fiction. Or even compare the writing to a Pearl Cleadge who is acclaimed in both circles. I know the genres are different, but I guess when you read as much (quantity and variety) as I do, you start to notice these things. I love both types of books equally, so I’m not complaining; however in my opinion trying to do both was a disaster.
In addition to the style of the book, I also found the book a little unrealistic. I could not believe that Derrick loved his wife SO DAMN MUCH, but then fell in love with Taiyler so passionate and deeply hard at the drop of a hat. If at some point it was acknowledged as lust or something brief or if we learned that say he loved his wife, but wasn’t in love with her, I could have believed it, but it was just too much. And it pissed me off- he had a good woman, why would he jeopardize that? It wasn’t sex and I guess I couldn’t believe that he loved both of them and was in love with them. It was weird and annoying. I guess that goes to the age question about the difference between women affairs (emotional) and man affairs (sexual). Anyway, aside from that it took the book a little long to get to the point. I knew they were going to have an affair; it just took too long to get there. I found myself skimming over entire chapters trying to get to the point only to be so disappointed when I did – and don’t even get me started on the ending. ?????? Again, I felt like the ending took the drama filled style and tried merge it with something else.
I noticed that a few amazon.com reviews also felt that Ms. Carter was biting off of someone else’s style (mainly Eric Jerome Dickey), which I definitely noticed. That’s what I was getting at when I talked about the differing styles. Also I’ll like to make a note that I don’t read street lit, can’t stand the stuff, don’t read Triple Crown Publications,but I still didn’t like this book. In fact I’m very well read but everyone has their own opinions.
My opinion on this book: Try it out. One one hand its nice to see a book with a little more substance actually being published and not just some "soap opera" type book, but still for me it was a bit too much. I say library and while you are at it - check out some classic EJD.
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