A Deeper Love Inside: The Porsche Santiaga Story

The Coldest Winter Ever #1.5

by Sister Souljah

In the New York Times bestseller from the author of the Coldest Winter Ever , the Santiaga family saga continues, this time told by Porsche Santiaga, Winter’s fiery younger sister.

At last, mega-bestselling author Sister Souljah delivers the stunning follow-up to The Coldest Winter Ever that fans have been eagerly waiting for. Frighteningly fierce, raw, and completely unpredictable, this coming-of-age adventure is woven with emotional intensity.

A Deeper Love Inside is written in the words of Porsche Santiaga, Winter’s sharp-tongued, quick-witted younger sister. Porsche worships Winter. A natural born hustler, Porsche is also cut from the same cloth as her father, the infamous Ricky Santiaga.

Passionate and loyal to the extreme, Porsche refuses to accept her new life in group homes, foster care, and juvenile detention after her wealthy family is torn apart. Porsche—unique, young, and beautiful—cries as much as she fights and uses whatever she has to reclaim her status.

Unselfishly, she pushes to get back everything that ever belonged to her loving family. In A Deeper Love Inside , fans will encounter their favorite characters from The Coldest Winter Ever , including Winter and Midnight. Sister Souljah’s soulful writing will again move your heart and open your eyes to a shocking reality.

Genres: Fiction, Urban, African American, Drama, Romance, Ebooks, Coming Of Age

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 29, 2013

About the author

Sister Souljah (born Lisa Williamson) was born in 1964 in New York City. She attended Cornell University's advanced placement summer program and Spain's University of Salamanca study-abroad program. She later majored in American history and African studies at Rutgers University. Her travels and lectures have taken her all over America, Europe, and Africa. In the mid-1980s, she founded, in cooperation with the United Church of Christ, the African Youth Survival Camp, located in Enfield, North Carolina, for children of homeless families. In 1992, her rap album, 360 Degrees of Power, and video, "Slavery's Back in Effect," catapulted her to national attention. She lives in New York with her husband and son.

Reviews

[Taina Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start off my review by saying that I love Sistah Souljah. I will be a fan forever, and I really enjoyed this book. I'm not even going to address the negative reviews that were given purely because this is a novel loosely based on The coldest winter ever. People need to stop trying to make it something that it's not and enjoy it for what it is; A great piece of fiction. The only thing that did kind of annoy me was how extremely fictional it was. There is no way a 10 year old child who had been so sheltered, and controlled as Porche had been would and could think the way she did. It was very obvious through the majority of the book that it was all coming from the voice of an adult mind, and wouldn't really have happened to a child. But I read fiction because I love unique stories, that are told in a way that is far from the norm, and this story is definitely that! If you love Urban fiction you will love this!

[Kadea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ugh, how can I describe this juicy piece of trash? I hated to love it. It's a very entertaining, completely unrealistic story, riddled with holes, poor grammar and page-turning juice. It is frustratingly bad but dizzyingly entertaining. Sister Souljah is a terrible author, but I couldn't put this book down. A wonderful, terrible read.

[Ebony · Rating 1 out of 5]

I spend most of Sister Souljah’s recent books thinking that does NOT happen. I don’t like to suspend all belief in my fiction. These kiddie ventures seem so wrong. I feel like a pervert peeking into the sex lives of children and then all of a sudden, they’re behaving like grown folk. Why not write about grown folk? I’m not even sure if I would give the book about a girl who is 10 when we meet her to a 10 year old. I always wonder exactly for whom Souljah is writing.

The tone is so different from The Coldest Winter Ever that I’m starting to believe the rumor more and more that Sister Souljah didn’t write that first book. The last three books are all the same—the long as hell drawn out love/action/adventure stories about children with stories within stories and pages and pages of stuff I did not need to know. The Coldest Winter Ever was a page-turner from the very first page. We loved Winter because she was so real, her clothes, her shoes, her desires, her failings, she was a real down ass bitch, but these other characters are fantasy people. Everything that happened to Winter could have plausibly happened. Um, not true with Porsche. I had to read hundreds of pages about how hard life for her was then I turn a page and she’s rich all of a sudden. Really? Play fair Souljah. Write the plot readers want to read not every rambling that comes to mind.

Then there’s the discontinuity from where The Coldest Winter Ever Ends. For ¾ of the book, I didn’t even know what year it was. When we meet Winter she’s way harsh, there’s no interaction at the gravesite between Porsche, Daddy Santiaga, and Winter. Her writing style is off. Sometimes she writes Porsche’s dialect as a ten year old other times she writes in a normal voice. Porsche has this imaginary friend that’s really her but it’s hard as hell to figure out who is doing what and why. So much of this book conceptually and structurally disconcerting.

And then Sister Souljah ruins all of her books by being Sister Souljah. A previously independent woman gives up her whole life to be totally dependent on a man, have his babies and follow him around. She undoes all of the female heroine's achievements. There is a half page about the benefits of patriarchy. No lie. It’s so regressive. I mean, an author can write what she likes but damn. I am so over her “men are so much better than women” argument. But at least I should be happy that Porsche’s man doesn’t take multiple wives like Midnight. Souljah is the only woman I read who seems to have such an intense dislike for women. Perhaps, that’s my clue to stop reading her.

But’s she’s got more coming. This is her marketing machine. Expect books about the twins, Riot, Ricky Santiaga Jr., a movie. She’s going to ride this franchise to the bank, but I’m getting off here. Even though I grew to like Porsche, it wasn’t enough for me to recommend the book especially considering how she has to rely on a man to heal her. She never heals herself. It’s a missed opportunity. The stories are laborious. I don’t have the heart to stumble through any more pages of nothing happening until we get to these outrageous child adventures and preachy diatribes about how women should worship men. Souljah can miss me next time. I am missing opportunities to read higher quality stuff.

[African Americans on the Move Book Club · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike her sister, Winter, Porsche Santiaga didn’t have a chance to evade social services after the police took their parents away. Bouncing from foster home to foster home and following an unfortunate incident, Porsche lands in juvenile prison where she learns the rules of survival the hard way. After linking up with a fellow detainee named Riot and becoming a member of her gang, the Diamond Needles, Porsche winds up on an Indian reservation with Riot and they are taught important lessons that will last a lifetime.

Porsche's initial goals are simple—return to her Long Island mansion and reclaim the lavish lifestyle her family once lived. However, with all of her newfound insight she is still not fully prepared for the fight ahead of her when she is hit with the harsh reality of her mother's new existence; the fate of her sisters, Winter, Lexus and Mercedes; and the realization that life as she knew it will never be the same.

"A Deeper Love Inside" starts off slow, but once it takes off, it soars. I was all-engrossed in what would become of a little girl lost in the system without a real family unit. As is her signature, Sister Souljah showcases strong-willed and determined females against the backdrop of intelligent, nurturing and successful male figures.

Souljah has a way with words as she weaves this emotional story of struggle, growth and true love. From the ending of "The Coldest Winter Ever", I, as I’m sure most of you, had drawn my own conclusions about who I thought Porsche Santiaga really was. Make no mistake, people aren't always who they appear to be and by getting to know Porsche like I do now, you too will find a deeper love inside

Michelle Cuttino
AAMBC Reviewer

[Robin Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the book up until Chapter 47. I felt like Porsha was entirely too young for all that she went through and the way in which it was handled. I liked that she was smart and savvy, but her character seemed like an older teenager and not a 10 year old. I had to keep reminding myself that she was 10! I wish that they would have dealt with the Siri issue more. Let's face it, Porsha really suffered from a mental illness (schizophrenia) and it was never dealt with... talked about and hinted about, but not dealt with. In fact, her boyfriend/husband made it 'cute' in a way.... Siri was not Porsha's 'alter ego'.... she was a schizophrenic episode! Also, the book seemed too desperate to have a love story with a Cinderella ending. She was engaged at 14'ish, married at 16'ish, with a baby at 17 and one on the way. I feel that making Elisha a famous director, musician, etc at 17 was a bit much. Everything after Chapter 47 (which was at 80% on my ereader), could have been so much better if it was more age appropriate. I could not put the book down until then, and after chapter 47, I couldn't wait for it to be over! Winter's scene did not even have to be in the book at all! I'd rather Porsha went to see her father instead, being that in the book, she always wanted to reunite with him.

[Malachi Kidd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had really high hopes for this book, even though the two midnight sequels were among the most boring books i'd ever read I thought Sister soulja would pull it out the bag on this one. I was ultimately disappointed. The story is OK at best and quite difficult to believe at times the things Porsche manages to do at such a young age I found difficult to believe. But what ultimately disappointed me was that this wasn't really a sequel, although the big characters are mentioned from The coldest Winter, they never come to fruition. I counted 1 chapter that had Midnight in it, and 1 page (ONE FREAKING PAGE) that had Winter in it. I understand Souljah's frustrations, she makes clear in the after story and character descriptions of the Coldest Winter that she doesn't like Winter, claiming she got everything she deserved by making several bad decisions, however as the audience we loved and enjoyed that feisty young girl's spirit. It's almost as if she's spent every other book trying to undo The Coldest Winter. The end of this book turns into a fairy tale as well there's no huge climax, it never explodes into life. Don't waste your money.

[Ashley Mcguffries · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok, but I really enjoyed "The Coldest Winter Ever" more. Some parts had me crying and some had me mad. However, overall, I was very happy that Porsche overcame all the obstacles in her young life to become someone better. I was upset that her parents did focus more on Winter when they had three other children. Winter was herself as usual.

*One thing that constantly irritated me in this book was the presence of "Siri". Initially, I thought she was a someone that followed Porsche around. However, it comes to light that she is somewhat of an alter ego.

[OOSA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deep Book Light on Reality

I believed that Superman could fly and possessed superhuman abilities because the writer explained that he was from the planet Krypton. I believed the amazing Spiderman had powers because the writer explained he was bitten by a radioactive spider. The Incredible Hulk’s superhuman strength was the result of a U.S. military experiment gone wrong. Each of these characters has super, amazing or incredible powers. And we believe them because their writers supported these claims with a backstory. They gave us enough support and substance to believe in them despite knowing these things aren’t possible. Therein lies the problem with “A Deeper Love Inside: The Porsche Santiaga Story.” Sister Souljah created a super, amazing and incredible child, but gave nothing to support this claim. Porsches was a super ten-year-old, an amazing eleven-year-old, and an incredible twelve-year-old.

Though well-written, “A Deeper Love Inside” is written from a place of fantasy and not fiction. Chronicling Porsche’s life from the ages of 10 -17, none of her behavior, speech or thoughts corresponded with her age. Unfortunately, of course there are children beyond their ages mentally because of life and their experiences, but this was just too unrealistic. Page by page the book’s credibility was stripped away with thoughts and actions that were simply too mature for the characters. Not a terrible book because the writing is strong, it’s not one I can necessarily recommend to others.

There were gaps in the story as well. Certain parts were detailed in great length, sometimes painstakingly. Then other parts, years even, were simply glossed over, a mere memory Porsche reflect on. Yet these memories were vital to the story. I’m sure had she added everything this book would have been well over 1000 pages, but that’s where a good developmental editor comes in for balance. I often wondered where that person was. There wasn’t a good balance between what should and should not have been included.

“A Deeper Love Inside” is wordy. But often the words are lyrical, beautiful and touching. Many will dislike this book because it is not the sequel expected. Those looking for a sequel that picks up where TCWE left off will be disappointed. Those looking for a probable story, whether about an innocent child or a grown woman, will be disappointed. Those looking to play catch-up with Midnight, Winter and other characters from its predecessor will be disappointed. Those looking for something with the flavor of TCWE will be disappointed.

Others will applaud Sister Souljah for her prose, her growth, her strength, her integrity and her depth of character. Those looking for a thought-provoking book will not be disappointed. Those looking for something different than what has become the norm for “urban fiction/street lit” will not be disappointed. Those looking for an emotional journey will not be disappointed.

I fall somewhere in the middle.

Though it’s billed as a sequel and the two Midnight books as prequels, I’d advise reading both books before reading this one to understand the Midnight who makes an appearance. I was willing to accept some things in “Midnight: A Gangster Love Story” and “Midnight and the Meaning of Love” based on his culture, upbringing, training, and faith, which Sister Souljah provided support for, but “A Deeper Love Inside” doesn’t afford readers that same luxury.

No one can ever say that Sister Souljah does not deliver powerful and thought-provoking books. With this book she touched on the juvenile justice system, having a healthy mind and body, mental health, materialism, decisions, the need for love inside, and forgiveness. But in “A Deeper Love Inside,” she was doing too much. Jewels were dropped, points were made, messages delivered, but at the expense of her readers and the expense of a child, which is simply too incredible to believe. Had this story been told through the eyes of a grown woman looking back with the advantage of time, wisdom, maturity and experience, it could have worked. Had Sister Souljah gone down a path she introduced for a brief moment as an option, this would have been a fantastic read.

For this to be a product of Atria, I was surprised at the number of errors such as word confusion (you/your and passed/past) and missing quotation marks.

Reviewed by: Toni

[Danita Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!!, omg. U just have 2 read it cause I have no words. It was just that good.

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of Souljah's audience, the term "sequel" seems misleading. In the strictest definition of sequel, Deeper Love Inside qualifies. Should the publisher have considered this? Obviously there are marketing benefits to billing it as a sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever, but a careful examination of the title clearly reveals the novel's
content.

So, if you come to this book looking for the continued saga of Winter, you won't find it in these pages. What you will get is the coming of age story of Porsche Santiaga. The book follows her from 8 to 16, from juvenile to moneyed and beautiful wife. The first half of the book reads like a young adult novel, and Porsche's thoughts and actions in juvenile detention seem beyond the reach of 99% of 9/10 year olds.

Souljah seems to draw these youngsters as super-exceptional. This has become a staple of Souljah's writing, which of course stretches her credibleness. But, what if this is intentional, what if she wants Black youth to see the potential in themselves, and therefore writes such characters with incredible strength at young ages. It is difficult to wrap your head around some of Porsche's exploits, even as you accept her as awesome and incredible, you are frequently doubting the possibility of it all.

*************Spoiler Alerts*******************

And she introduces a character named Siri, who is not really a character but a voice inside Porsche's head. An alter-ego of sorts. Many will find this either clever or a distraction, place me in the latter category. In fact, I find this to be the major flaw of the novel, because a lot of Siri is written as she is actually there with Porsche through her many trials. Simply ridiculous, and I think younger and careless readers will be confused.

The second half of the book has Porsche back in her old Brooklyn neighborhood, after a crazy escape from juvenile jail essentially pulled off by children, trying to find and then save her mother. Porsche hustles her way through the days, all the while maintaining her improbable strength and beauty. She meets Elisha, another of Souljah's exceptional characters. This young man has it going on, and by 17, he has written and directed a movie that becomes a national smash. They get married and finally Winter, through Porsche's visit to prison, surfaces in the novel. Also Midnight makes an appearance, and he seems to be doing quite well, having adopted the twins, Porsche's younger sisters.

I really appreciate the way Souljah draws her Black male characters. Often black men don't fare well in the hands of Black female authors, and some of these authors are routinely celebrated. The fact that Souljah consciously commits to create strong black youth is extremely admirable. It is refreshing to see and much appreciated.

The prose was plain and that's to be expected because the narrative voice was very youthful. I only went 3 stars because of the young adult feel of the novel and the annoying voice of Siri, kept me from pushing it to 4.

[Antonica · Rating 5 out of 5]

She's Beautiful. And Porsche Santiaga's beauty saves her. When we first meet her in the juvenile detention center she doesn't sound beautiful. In fact the story of how she came to be there is horrific and almost makes you want to close your eyes, turn away, and give up on this obviously "lost cause". But if you make it to Chapter 2 you cant help but see the love rooted inside her, begging to be nurtured so that it can bloom.
Sister Souljah bravely tackles the issue of mental health in this story. Especially in the black community It is very taboo and not often talked about or treated, yet most of us know someone who's a little bit "off". When Porsche creates and introduces us to her second personality, we readers gradually come to understand her function and the truth of her nonexistence and it doesn't distract us from the story at all. Masterfully done.
As we follow Porche through her daring escape, time on an Indian reservation, and eventually back to her drug addicted mother, we hurt for her, with her, and ultimately root for her as she grows, matures, and eventually finds a love of her own. We breathe a collective sigh of relief each time a new protector shows up in her life and we applaud each and every tiny victory in her life that keeps her from succumbing to the horrors that surround her. Most importantly, we appreciate hearing the gritty truth and that Souljah doesn't turn this into a fake "happily ever after tale".
Porsche story is both a cautionary tale and a ray of hope for those who wonder if the Winters of the world can be saved. Its a guide to surviving the coldest winters of life. She is lovely but not conceited. Loyal but wise. Bent but never broken. It seems that every crossroads Porche arrives at, her steps are guided down the correct path where Winter barreled head first down the wrong one. Hers is a story of choices properly made and opportunities not missed. A story of love freely and honestly given and the healing power of its yield. It's a beautiful story.

[Shida · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished the book and all I can think of is one word- DISAPPOINTMENT. Why that is I'm not even sure of myself considering that the Midnight sequels were so bad. I was able to look past what is clearly the AUTHOR'S obsession with fame and fortune projected onto her characters in Winter's story because it was so raw and real that I had no choice but to take the good with the bad- but this? The unrealistic voice of a barely educated 10 year old girl who says she doesn't understand "big words" but tells her story as if she's already won a Pulitzer? The misogyny? The unrealistic and over glorified materialism? The complete and utter disregard for a readers need for SOME TYPE of continuity in the story that makes the character's relatable and believable?? UGH- I WANT MY WEEK'S WORTH OF READING BACK. I wanted to give this book 3 stars- I really did, because, you know, I'm down with the Santiaga's and and The Coldest Winter Ever was a show stopper...but I had to keep it real like my girl Winter would do- hey, to be fair, if it were an option I would've given 2.5 because I did get through it in a few days.

[Shanae · Rating 4 out of 5]

At this point, I'm starting to second guess my position as a reader and critic. I'm baffled by Sister Souljah's writing. I see her transition as an individual in her books and I appreciate her growth, really. However her transformation should have not been so obvious in the life of Porsche L. Santiaga, who appeared to be following in her older sister Winter's footsteps in The Coldest Winter Ever (CWE).

I was most certain that Porsche's life was going to be much more similar to Winter's. Of course, CWE was a cautionary tale, so ideally Porsche would not follow Winter's path, but at the end of the novel, I got the impression that she wanted to be the girlfriend or wife of a baller and be well taken care of - like her mother and sister. But things change completely in A Deeper Love Inside (ADLI). The change is not for the worst, but there is no connection between Winter and Porsche and this "sequel" does not pick up where CWE left off. That said, I found the novel relatively intriguing and I am very glad that I read it. This was a gentler introduction into alternative lifestyles among Blacks in America (compared to Midnight), Americans I've never met, but apparently exist, according to Sister Souljah. I agree with other reviewers who found the character Siri a complete waste of time. I appreciated her value in Porsche's life when she was a young girl, alone. I wanted to save Porsche and I appreciate Sister Souljah for evoking such emotion from me - I never feel that way. However, when Bilal Ode/Midnight enters the picture, I thought I was going to find myself in the middle of Shutter Island - with an insane protagonist who tricked me! For a single solitary moment of absolute literary bliss, I imagined that Sister Souljah had taken her writing to a whole new level and was going to tell us that Porsche was a psychopath or really schizo! Oh, it would have been great. But, it fell flat, it was Sister Souljah's opportunity to further trash government (not that I disagree with her thoughts haha!).

Imagine my frustration when I realized that Sister Souljah did it to me again - she conned me. She made me think she was actually writing a sequel, just like she did with the story of Midnight, which I still think was a poorly written, unnecessary literary attack on non-Muslim (is that a word?) Black Americans. Someone really really really has to teach Sister Souljah the meaning of the word sequel. A sequel is not a new story that expands on the life of one of the characters from another literary work, but a continuation of the life of the main character of a single collection of literary works. Or maybe she's just using the term sequel to mean the continuation of a theme from literary work to literary work. But what can I say? I'd be surprised if CWE was not her greatest money maker, so she's decided to milk this cash cow.

Sister Souljah takes readers on an emotional roller coaster with ADLI. And I'm so proud of her for writing this heartbreaking tale. Porsche's story is so common. So many young girls are lost because their parents could not, did not, or would not protect them. There is a whole world of "Riots" out there being taught to think for themselves in a world that requires them to be sheep. There are millions of "Elishas" being told they better know how to spit a quick 16 or be nice with their hands on the court if they ever expected to get out of the 'hood but dream in color and in rhyme - expecting more for themselves in a world that expects so little and demands even less from them. How can young people cope with that? Who are they supposed to become?

I've given ADLI 4 stars, not because I particularly like the story, but because I believe Sister Souljah gave 100% to writing one of her best novels to date. The story is not completely coherent and some things are missing. Who knew that Porsche wanted to be a wife? A mother? Yeah, she enjoyed dancing, but professionally? Her trips to Germany? She became an international dancing superstar a la Josephine Baker? Readers don't get to share those moments with Porsche. I'd love for Sister Souljah to tell us why. Additionally, at times the book can be quite confusing, especially toward the end where Sister Souljah takes on this flashback thing, but she writes the story of Porsche L. Santiaga so compassionately and handles the this young woman's fears so gently that I don't want the novel to end (until it's time for it to end, if you know what I mean). I commend her for handling such sensitive subject matter with such great care - calling for change among outcasts and people ignored by Eurocentric powers/the wealthy/the government. Oftentimes, the subjects of child abuse, drug abuse, rape, poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse are used by well known urban literary writers like JaQuavis & Ashley and Wahida Clark for shock value or to explicate bad behaviors, rather than evoke sympathy from readers.

I recommend A Deeper Love Inside and hope that you finish the work seeking to continue reading other novels about the status of Blacks in America and other minority groups. I have to re-read this book for Sister Souljah's compelling socio-political critique - I know it is here, she would not write a novel without it and I appreciate her for standing strong in her religious and moral values and not being afraid to put those thoughts on paper for America to explore.

[Mowaver Wilburg · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book didn't even deserve the one start rating that it got from me but that was the lowest the site would allow me to give. Since I was impressed by story telling in The Coldest Winter I was excited when I saw this book on the shelves but as I read the book this exciting was diminished and all that was left was the struggle to get through the pages. I felt that there were so many turns that the book could have gone in an effort to redeem itself and be a somewhat realistic story but this was not done and it continued to go off the deep-end. I had no problem reading from the perspective of a ten year old but I think the author got carried away in giving us a too detailed account of her life until about three quarter way in the book when it hit her that the girl had to be at least sixteen by the time the book ended. At this point in the book the reader (Me) was rushed into all the great far-fetched stuff, filled with holes that was happening in the main character's life. This got way too materialistic since it had to be given in detail the brand of clothes, the extent of the fame, the money and businesses owned, and the places traveled.
Another problem I had was with Siri. At some point someone should have told Porshe/Ivory/Siri/Onatah/ whoever else that she needed help. Professional help.
In addition, I understand that Sister Souljah is for the empowerment of black people but what I don't get is that by the end of the book after that character has traveled the world, got married, had child, became a millionaire that she had no incentive to get a dictionary or learn more to know the meaning of words instead of asking her man all the time. Are you kidding me?
A very disappointing read - Deme

[Anjanet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came in the mail, I looked at it, and put it on my shelf. I kept avoiding it as I realized it was not in my normal comfort zone of reading material. It scared me.

Picked it up last night. Read the first paragraph...didn't like it...got through the first page, the first 150 pages, and couldn't put it down. Read till 1 A.M. before forcing myself to take a break.

Everything in this book was foreign to me. Settings, culture..heck even some of the musicians and fashions were foreign. But I loved it. The writing (after that first paragraph) was brilliant. It was descriptive without crazy amounts of adjectives. You have a feeling of being in the setting, instead of being told about the setting.

The character. LOVED each and every one of them; not who they were, but how I "knew" them. You were shown how a person was, not told what to think about them.

The story line was fabulous, till about the last 100 page. For me the book could have ended around chapter 47 or 48.Some of the scenes and wording choices were a little raw, but for all I know, they could be very "real"; just outside my world.

The best part of this book is that it is about some horrible things happening, but never once while reading this book did I feel depressed. Uplifted, hopeful, angry, and astounded...but never beaten down or desolate.

Will I read another of her books? ...Maybe. But I need something more comfortable before facing another one.

[Jessi Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of A Deeper Love Inside: The Porsche Santiaga Story by Sister Souljah in a giveaway for free on Goodreads/First-Reads. Fantastic Story- Highly Recommended :) Could not put it down....

[TeeBee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Nitty Gritty: This is being herald as the sequel to the Coldest Winter Ever. Which is is, but the way they are marketing it its almost as if its going to be starring Winter with her little sister Porsche along for the ride. However this is all about Porsche's and the story of her trials and tribulations after her father Ricky Santiaga is locked up. Porsche is shuttled off into the system despite her best efforts to allude the authorities.

In theory this is the story of what really happens after Winter's tale, but I look at it as a parallel story. While Porsche is locked up Winter is out galavanting as if she didn't have a care in the world.


What's The 411: If I had wanted to sit through a sermon I would have gone to church and I am sure I would have enjoyed the experience better. Sister Souljah has fallen into the trap many celebrities and the like fall victim too. She has begun to believe her own hype.

She is under the delusion that she is the savior of black people and this book seems to be her attempt at living up to that ideal. However I am here to let Sister Souljah know that organic foods and vaccines aren't going to help the African American community and neither is this book.

When I read Coldest Winter Ever for the first time I fell under her spell. I was transported into the gritty life of Winter and I loved it. Then I happened to listen to a lecture by bell hooks. She explained that as black people and especially as black women, we must look at everything the media produces and look at it critically. We can't just sit back and allow a world that we aren't apart of to spoon feed us our own identity without saying something.

So I went back and read the Coldest Winter Ever and I was startled with what I found, about that book and more importantly about Sister Souljah. Now I won't get into the CWE because this is about A Deeper Love Inside. Which I felt wasn't as bad as CWE but it was certainly trying.

The book starts off with Porsche's love affair with her family. In her eyes the Santiagas are gods that can do no wrong. S.S tried extremely hard to work Winter into this book to draw in her readers without actually having Winter in the beginning of the book. Its a personally pet peeve of mine when authors do that. Its not really a bait and switch its more like "I need Winter in this book to get you to read it," and I don't like that. I'm not a idiot that needs to be drawn in by the lure of more vulgarity from Winter Santiaga to read the book. I was more intrigued by hearing Porsche's story than I was about learning more about Winter. I had enough of her in her own book.

But I digress, Porsche wasn't as lucky as her sister to escape the clutches of child services. She was shuffled off into the system. S.S critical view of the prison system and its workers come across clear as a sledge hammer to the head. While I do agree that the DOC is slanted against minorities, male and female, I don't think its fair to categorize everyone who works in the system as vile, nameless thugs who take the job specifically to torture little girls. Her characterization of the warden and the guards pissed me off. Now I don't believe that everyone is an angel, but I also do not believe that prison guards are horrible human beings. They have a job to do and until the system is fixed they have to work like the rest of us.

Now we are getting to a part of the book where we have to suspend disbelief a little bit. Porsche at the beginning of this book is a ten year old girl that pees on herself at the drop of a hat, despite that we are supposed to believe that she is a young up and coming hustler just looking for her come up. Within a few months of being locked up she manages to pull together a crew, a crew that draws the eye of the reigning queen of lockup, work an angle to get commissary privileges, and get the respect of her fellow prisoners. Well there is that one that tries to kill Porsche because she is just so beautiful and everyone is oh so jealous of her.

Souljah's scathing review of the behavior and attitude of black women comes through loud and clear. On one hand she calls black women out on our colorism, then with the other hand her main characters are all light skinned women and girls with long flowing hair. So are we in the wrong or Souljah? I smell BS. brewing.

Porsche is also adult enough to stab a case worker in the neck with a pencil for as she claims "running her mouth about her family." As if the Santiaga family is above reproach. Now to be fair I've read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (yes I know its not called that but few know the name of the series) and the main character Lisbeth Salander as a child of 12 tried to murder her father with a firebomb, but Larsson offers an explanation for Lisbeth functioning as an adult when she was a child. There was a method to his madness, Souljah offers no such explanations. Not like she did with Winter.

Are we supposed to superimpose Winter's upbringing onto Porsche and go from there? Are we supposed to go back and reread CWE to understand Porsche better? Because we don't get the character development with Porsche like we did with Winter. We just get a series of unfortunate events.

We are also introduced to Suri. Suri is Porsche's best friend and her only anchor to reality. Only later do we find out that this character is just a figment of Porsche's imagination. And imaginary friend. We all had them, some of us longer than others. But certainly nothing out of the realm of reality from a child. We expect children who have been through a trauma to react that way. What we don't expect is for the people around the child to see what is going on and do nothing about it. No one comments on it, no one points it out. They just go about their lives as if its ok for a child to slip in and out of different personalities like that is ok and normal.

Sister Souljah gives Porsche a parade of mental illnesses and never addresses any of them. None of the other characters mention them either. Its almost like she uses mental illness as a plot device, but then never mentions them. In this she does a disservice to Porsche, herself, her readers and the community of mental illness suffers at large.

Souljah makes a point to cram the organic lifestyle down our throats at every turn of the page, but we never hear her thoughts on the mental health system. She is aware of how powerful words can be. She started out life as a hip hop artist before she moved into the realm of fiction. So she should be taken to task for simply overlooking something just to move her story along. Its sloppy writing. Especially for someone who is claiming she is trying to uplift her people.


The Good: There is very little that I can find good about this book to be frank. I only read the entire thing because it was a book of the month for a book club I was in and there were some heated debates going on and I never miss a chance for a good debate.

Though I will say that Porsche seemed to thrive in all the areas that her sister failed in. Where Winter auctioned off her vagina to the highest paid bidder Porsche protected her with a daily ritual of smelling herself to see if someone had touched her. A gross past time for any child I am sure. When Winter walks away from her mother Porsche fights everything and everyone to pull her mother out of her addiction. While Winter fails to find a lasting source of money Porsche falls in love with a boy destined to be a moneymaker from jump street. While Winter wheels and deals people like disposable tampons Proche manages to make lasting friendships and even learns a thing or two about a thing or two from people.

The Bad: This book fails to deliver on all fronts. We don't get a coming of age story. We got a grown woman in a little girl's body. We don't get a proper catch up with the characters from Coldest Winter (if that was what you were looking for). The get honorable mentions to whet out appetites We don't get a realistic slice of life story either because Porsche just isn't a realistic character and nothing that happened in her life is at all realistic. Don't get me wrong I love fantasy books and Harry Potter is one of my favorite stories, but J.K never claimed that she was trying to portray real life.

The book is extremely wordy and long winded. Almost as if Souljah had a word count she had to hit before they would publish it. I figure 200 pages of writing could have been cut out of this book and it still would have been an ok story.

Souljah seemed to have an internal battle with Porsche in this book. On one hand she tried to keep the hard, street edge that we loved Winter for, but on the flip side she wanted to make Porsche her own, unique character. What we are left with is a little girl with spilt personalities that would have left Sybil confused.

My Final Say: Don't think I will be buying this book at all. I am so over the Santiaga family and I doubt I would even go see the Coldest Winter Ever even if they managed to get the movie made. One trek through the ghetto was enough for me.

[T.S. Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me cry, laugh and recall the life I led as a youth in NY. I love how Sister Souljah incorporates their father's legacy as an upstanding man (despite his choice of livelihood) in the form of her protectors. I also love how she showed the contrast between this sister and Winter in the choices she made and how she lived to serve her mother initially, then herself. As well as how she tied up the loose ends of how we met Porsche at the funeral after not knowing what happened to her for so long. MIDNIGHT!!!! His story deserves another revisit after this because I would love to see how Sister Souljah shows us the lives of his three wives and his adopted twin daughters up until this time. This way she could also bring Winter back because she is obviously delusional about their relationship and Porsche promises to have him pick her up from prison upon her release.

The incorporation of the split personality disorder was brilliant! It served to show how that kind of trauma can lead to a psychic break as well as how to handle these kinds of things with love and acceptance. The way she showed the horrors of juvenile detention up to and including the cover-up towards the end was mind blowing and believable. The government would never admit that those girls got away and because they were almost all without guardians or families that cared, it was so easy to do....scarily so.

Overall, I would say that this book is a keeper and I will probably re-read it as I did The Coldest Winter Ever a few times and again right before I read A Deeper Love Inside. I would suggest that you read it before as well.

Tanefa Wallace
www.thewritewayfaye.wordpress.com
www.thatnynaturalista.com

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Coldest Winter years ago. Before the overflow of "urban" books and authors. It made a big impression on me. Maybe because it was so true to life? A Deeper Love Inside, while good didn't make quite the impression. I like the fact that she focused on the other Santiaga daughter, Porsche. I don't like the fact that she incorporated Winter in so late in the book. I know it wasn't about Winter. BUT, the loyalty and love that Porsche had for her was so great that you would think that she would be introduced to the story a little earlier. She didn't incorporate their father as a character at all. Except for a follow up saying how she saw him. You would think that would also be a bigger part. She talked about her father in almost every chapter. Besides those factors and the fact that she got married so young (I know people get married at all ages. But for some reason her and Elisha's love story was a little far fetched to me. Sweet, but far fetched. Not the teenage love part of it... Just the things he was willing to put up with at a young age.)this book, I think, deserves a threequel.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Read!

I was not a fan of the Midnight series because I did not like the constant and sudden change in settings for both novels. (Brooklyn, Japan, Korea etc). However, with this story because the background is already laid out in TCWE we understand Porshe's background story. I loved the redemption of Porshe's character even through her tough upbringing and mental disarray. I've seen some reviews complaining about the Siri character but she's a necessary component of the story because it is with her that Porshe keeps her sanity.

Side Note: Does Souljah know any other adjectives except "pretty"? I feel like that is such a juvenile word for her to use to often in her work.

[Darkowaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

!!! https://africanbookaddict.wordpress.c...

This was a fun read! It was a bit slow in the beginning or first 150 pages, but it got better. I read 'The Coldest Winter Ever' 10 years ago, so I don't remember all the details of that storyline- i just remember that it was ahhh-mazing! With that said, 'A Deeper Love Inside: The Porsche Santiaga Story' is not a sequel lol - this book has very little to do with Winter, Porsche's older sister. The book mainly focuses on how Porsche coped with being sent to juvy (juvenile detention center) after her family was separated by the arrest of her father who was a drug lord. After spending about 2 years in juvy and forming some key friendships (The Diamond Needles) that influenced her life for the better, she successfully escapes juvy with some members of the Diamond Needles and soon learns many many many lessons about love and life through her adventures.

Love is the reason behind all of Porsche's actions- whether good or bad. She was striving to bring her separated family back together, only to realize that things had really changed and maybe the loved disappeared...

Sister souljah is the only Urban literature author I've read and I respect her writing sooo much. I hope books in the urban lit genre are given the same respect as other genres. These are stories that need to be read, to help end the sad cycles of drug abuse, killing, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies, HIV/AIDS etc in the black community. There is so much to say about this book and I don't want to give away any spoilers...but I'm glad it ends on a positive, uplifting note. I love how Porsche heals and found real love in Elisha, who loved and appreciated her deeply- a love she had been craving and working hard for, to no avail from her sister and mother.

I give this 4 stars because the beginning was quite slow and almost made me want to give up. But sister souljah never disappoints! Also, 'The Coldest Winter Ever' and even Souljah's memoir 'No Disrespect' were a bit more enjoyable throughout compared to this book. But I highly recommend this! Very enjoyable :)
A more comprehensive review will be on the blog http://africanbookaddict.wordpress.com

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok so I was uber excited when I first picked this up. The story about Porsche is something I never expected. Although it's not really a sequel since it kinda goes on around the same time that winter is out doing her "thing."

In comparison to the coldest winter ever, this book is NOTHING LIKE IT. It honestly could have been two totally different authors and I would believe it. I think this is going to turn off her audience that she gained with CWE. You can tell that she is sending a message with this book.

characters

There were many new characters in A deeper Love inside. I do believe that a few of them were "overly" developed if that is even a word. She spent way too much time dicussing characters that didn't have that big of a role.

Now with this siri character When I first realized that siri wasn't an actually character and then she was made up in Porsche's mind I was excited. Mental illness is a serious issue in our community and it is rarely discussed. So I was hopeful that SS was going to address this. She did not. And since she didn't it made siri's entire "character" pointless to me.

Winter was Winter lol I LOVED her interaction with Midnight. I am upset she didn't communicate with her dad

The time she spent with her mom was the most exciting part to me. We really got to see how the drugs changed who she was


Overall Story

I gave this 3 stars because it WASNT a sequel.

Majority of it was boring (there I said it)

The "love story" part of the book was extremly rushed. Towards the end of the book she aged 3 years every chapter.

Most of all it was TOTALLY unrealistic. She's a child for most of the story with thoughts that even a 30 year old wouldn't have.

[Glori Lashae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Porsche Santiaga was completely opposite of Winter. Her selfless love for her mother, father and sisters was very moving. It is what kept her going. The Siri character I knew was not a real person very early in the story. Sometimes when people deal with very difficult trauma they create alters to cope. This girl was ripped from her family and all that she'd ever known and was told that everyone she'd ever known was bad. This is why she created that alter...so she could comfort herself. The part that did confuse me was some parts of the story seemed rushed... I felt like we could have dug deeper into NanaAnna's character since she had such a large influence on her life. I felt that the relationship she had with Elisha was very fluent and consistent but I didn't like the way the question of whether or not he stayed faithful to Porsche was unanswered. I do not like how Mr Sharp did not encourage Porsche to get an education. I did enjoy how she was not afraid of working for everything she had. How she was not at all materialistic like her sister. Porsche enjoyed the finer things but understand "responsibility" at such a young age. It was amazing. Overall I did enjoy the book. Although the reality and grit of the book became washed out by fantasy. I do not liek how they did not go into what excatly happened with Porches' suicide attempt. I felt alot of things could have been touched on a little deeper. It seemed also as if Porsche lost some of her strength and pride when she gave herself over to Elisha. She was so strong with everyone else but with him completely weak. Now that I type this it may have been precisely what Sister Souljah was aiming to do. Overall it was a good read.

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich mochte "Coldest Winter Ever", und die Leseprobe war hier auch wieder souverän. Danach ging es auch noch ungefähr das erste Viertel des Buchs sehr gut weiter. Dann kommt ein bisschen Blödsinn über das heilende und naturverbundene Leben und die Wichtigkeit von organic food, dann ein immer noch interessanter Mittelteil, aber das letzte Drittel ist wie diese paar Sekunden am Ende von Filmen, in denen der Abspann versichert, dass es allen auch weiterhin gut geht. Schon diese paar Sekunden nerven, aber hier sind sie ausgewalzt auf hundert unerträglichen Seiten, die von Fame und Diamanten und unermesslichem Reichtum und Markennamen und ewiger Liebe handeln. Man soll ja nicht nach dem Cover gehen, aber hier hätte es mir eine Warnung sein sollen, es ist nicht nur so ein "ach irgendwas für Frauen halt, ich will Feierabend machen"-Cover, sondern gibt eine absolut korrekte Vorschau auf den Inhalt.

[Tanya Urban Fantasy Freak]

The Porsche Santiaga Story!?! Squeeeee OMG looking forward to ghetto shenanigans!

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

One word BORING.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read this on the heels of "The Coldest Winter Ever" and having been swept up with Sister Souljah's enveloping story telling style and live characters in Winter's story I immediately put this on hold at the library and read through it in 3 days straight when I got it. 5 stars for the continued enjoyment at how Souljah tells her stories and how she draws her immediate characters into such 3 dimensional souls. Porsche's story was like the anti-Winter story in the way that Porsche had the depth and feelings for others that Winter (even to the end of this book) has never developed, not to mention a level of maturity and self-love that Winter's shallow selfishness pales in comparison to. I also think Souljah created this to juxtapose (to borrow one of the vocab words Porsche picked up in the book) a path of earning wealth, status and fame through legitimate means and positive talents as opposed to the drug dealer's path. It's hard to miss the point Souljah is making that ties to her activism: that the drug and crime life leads to early death and destruction and the things won through that life slip away with ease.. contrasted with the things earned through talent and hard work are lasting and secure, not to mention (and probably more importantly) the lasting nature of the people that surrounded Porsche versus Winter whose relationships were cheap and utility based.

I will note similar criticsm that other readers have with is the fantastical parts of Porsche's story of how a sheltered 10 year old was able to survive in Brooklyn using her "street smarts" that she really never had an opportunity to develop until she was in the juvy home, and her capacity to earn and save $20K in a year making sandwiches, cleaning a shop and filling parking meters seems a little too good to be true, not to mention the very wealthy celebrity life she gets into with her dancing and Elisha's rise to celebrity so quickly. Could Souljah have made her point with a more realistic outcome? Probably.. but then it might not have been as much fun reading about a more grounded alternative.. and a more realistic outcome would have precluded a lot of the designer lifestyle as well.

Which is another point -- Souljah seemed to reject the designer obsession displayed in Winter's world as even her own character in the Winter book was not a label wearer, but in the Porsche book we find most of the "good" characters are just as designer infused but their obtainment of designer wear is less of an obsession than it is an acknowledgement of style and here is another juxtaposition: In the Winter story she immediately spends any amount of cash she gets on designer clothes, in Porsche's story, she saves her money and most of her designer clothes were bought for her (by Mr. Sharpe) or bought later by her own legitimately earned cash. Not sure if Souljah is making the point that nice things can be earned through legitimate means (and kept), because she doesn't seem to reject all out the notion that one should prefer designer/expensive wear as Porsche herself makes abundently clear by her derision of the cheap "skips" and Wal-Mart clothes she had to wear on the reservation. She seems more to draw the contrast that for Winter, and the hustler lifestyle she desired, the obtainment of "things" was the goal, whereas for Porsche and Elisha, the obtainment of "things" were nice accoutrements but their real goals were pursuing the passion and talents.

Siri was probably one of the more interesting angles of the book and not one I'm sure is resolved in my mind. Not sure how to interpret: Was Siri a true schizophrenic manifestation? If so, the mental health issue of schizophrenia was woefully understated and unadressed in this book. If Porsche was truly schizophrenic it would have been much more difficult for her to self-raise herself and function in society as well as she did. My feeling is that Siri was less a split personality than a coping mechanism Porsche created to survive the juvenile system and the loneliness of her life given the reality of her family post-Santiaga downfall. Yes she did speak out loud with Siri and treat her as separate sometimes, but I never got the sense that she was not really unaware that she and Siri are one and the same, underneath it all. But another aspect of the novel that makes me unsure if this is also an "unreliable narrator" trope is when Midnight reveals that Porsche was actually hospitalized for the years she lived under the store.. for schizophrenia. Is it possible she actually was hospitalized during that time and that Elisha, the over-40's in the Brooklyn neighborhood that hired her and cared for her, Riot, NannaAnna, her mother and the whole fairy-tale like rise never happened? That she's narrated a fairy tale princess story of her own design, one in which she makes the millions shaking her hips, just like her Momma said to her when she was young, and that the characters of Riot, Elisha and others are also manifestations of herself just like Siri? After finishing the book and reading the chapter with the visit to Winter, I have doubts this is the case and the story happened as is told, but I did think at one point we were headed for a major plot twist when Midnight revealed the hospitalization. It very well could have been a cover up by the juvenile system unwilling to admit they had been bested by a group of young prisoners. On the other hand.. there are some very unrealistic aspects to the story and the fleeting nature of some of the supporting characters that are present only when she needs them (Riot and NannaAnna who played big roles early on then just disappeared later) could be hints to a twist that maybe Souljah is leaving up the reader to decide? Interested to hear thoughts on that..

Anyways, this left me open to read the Midnight books which I have on my real shelf, although I have to say I really enjoyed reading these stories told from the female angle and I really hope Souljah has more Santiaga family stories on the way -- maybe a prequel for Ricky and Lana or more follow up sequels for Winter and Porsche and maybe even the twins?

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sister Souljah's A Coldest Winter Ever was one of the first books I ever read. I absolutely loved it because it was different than other novels. You were transported into a very real world, and of course, Souljah caused this urban genre epidemic that cannot even compare to her novels. This situation is similar to JKR reawakening the sci-fi/ fantasy genre.

Anyway, A Deeper Love Inside did not thrill me or live up to expectations. Although I love how she presents a psychological illness in our main character, this book felt entirely unrealistic in comparison to Winter's story. While all things are possible, more detail should have been provided to explain the success that happened for the characters in novel. Yes, it's fiction, but what I loved about Souljah's first novel is that I forgot that it was fiction. Winter's story truly represented the untold lives of many young women who are facing similar circumstances in an environment that was barely mentioned (PRIOR TO HER NOVEL).

Another thing that I found interesting could be seen in another novel I like Life of Pi. If you really want to suspend your belief, why couldn't everything be a figment of her imagination (the dancing, Riot, and everyone)? After all, she does have a psychological disorder, which might be why there are such far-fetched endings for the characters in the novel. We can be in her head and the life she wants. This could simply be another way of showing the traumatic effects of being abandoned by one's family as a child.

Finally, if I am to accept this novel as not being from Porsche's mind, Winter in the end is a huge disappointment. In Souljah's first novel, it closes, leaving the reader to think that Winter matured, but this story completely erases any gaps that the reader tries to create for Winter as far as progression goes. Like Souljah writes in the novel, Winter is frozen in the prison and is as uneducated as Midnight portrays her in the first novel.

[Toni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm usually at a disadvantage when reading novels by Sister Souljah because I read The Coldest Winter Ever when it was first released so most of these characters are no longer in the forefront of my mind. Even though these books stand very well on their own, I still plan to go back and read it in order to clarify some things.

A Deeper Love Inside tells the story of Porsche Santiago the younger sister of Winter and the middle daughter of Ricky and what happens to her in the aftermath of the crumbling of her father's empire by law enforcement. Although the book can be found in the Fiction (or African-American Fiction in some stores) section, what really happens on these pages is pure magical fantasy. I should have learned my lesson from Midnight and its sequel Midnight and The Meaning of Love and not picked this one up. Porsche is supposed to be between the ages of 10 to 14 in this book, and just like Midnight, was overwhelmingly resourceful for someone with limited education. The journey that she takes from juvenile hall to look for her fractured family finds her in situations that no 11 year old in modern times would find themselves in. I almost want to tell people to read it just so see how ludicrous it is that a preteen can go from juvie, to a Native American reservation, to living off the grid in New York taking care of her junkie mother, to traveling the world as a dancer, and becoming wealthy...all before the age of 14.

Other holdovers from the Midnight books are that, once again, Muslim women are to be revered and cared for, while Black women are still "gold-digging, violent, whores" (quoting myself). One thing is clear, though, other than re-reading The Coldest Winter Ever, I won't be picking up any more fiction by Sister Souljah.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason I am rating this a two is because I am a fan of Sister Souljah. Her previous books has not only been good but it was raw in language and content, highly developed characters with a unique story. However this book was really trite and uninteresting, while they were some scenes that were good, it just was not that captivating. The main character was slightly annoying, she kept talking about living in the shadow of her sister, how she is unlike the rest, how others girls envied her,etc. Blah blah blah, she was as ratched as the other females, only she had an edge to her.

Sadly this book was a huge disappointment in contrast to Souljah previous novels. I did not even bother finishing it, the story went nowhere and I lost patience with trying to find any redeeming qualities in the characters.