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True Story
What's a girl to do when love has her caught up? That's the plight of eighteen-year-old Seven McKnight. Her freshman year at Stiles University turned out to be a tug of war for her heart and her sophomore year promised more of the same. Just when she'd sworn off her ex-boyfriend, Josiah Whitaker, and thought she'd never love him again, he boldly stepped back into her life, with no regard that she'd moved on with Zaire St. James, her new boyfriend. Caught off guard and thrust into a whirlwind of emotion, Seven no longer knows if she should stay or go. . . All she knows is that old feelings won't die, her new love is being ruined by lies, and the fairy tale she once dreamed of may never become her true story. Praise for Ni-Ni Simone "Smart and cutting, full of clever comebacks." -- Kirkus on No Boyz Allowed "This is creative, innovative, and important storytelling for today's urban teen readership." -- Library Journal on Teenage Love Affair
- GenresDramaRomanceYoung Adult
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
56 people are currently reading
1001 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 22, 2013
I did not like this book. AT ALL. She was so hurt when Joshua cheated on her but she turned around and cheated on Zaire. WTF?? And she cheated on Zaire with Joshua...because Zaire had his priorities right. If she as his Girlfriend can't respect that he needs to focus on school and work then she needs to dump him NOT cheat on him. Then it ends all happy. NOOOOO he cheated on you and cussed you out in class. I love all her books and this one disappointed me so bad
February 2, 2022
I rate this a 2.5
Highly disappointed in Ni-Ni Simone with this book. Seven Mcknight pissed me tf off with her selfish cheating as. Words cannot explain this book. (Just throw the whole book away and burn the trashcan please and thank you).
Giving us black folks a bad image like wtfk Ni-ni Simone! Your other books were good, but this one? I think df not! I don't know what you got going on, but bbg we gon pray and ask God for, forgiveness for publishing this book!
Highly disappointed in Ni-Ni Simone with this book. Seven Mcknight pissed me tf off with her selfish cheating as. Words cannot explain this book. (Just throw the whole book away and burn the trashcan please and thank you).
Giving us black folks a bad image like wtfk Ni-ni Simone! Your other books were good, but this one? I think df not! I don't know what you got going on, but bbg we gon pray and ask God for, forgiveness for publishing this book!
June 13, 2014
Ni-Ni Simone’s purpose in writing True Story was to once again, entertain younger audiences with an intensive love story that kept the readers on their toes. The book was a perfect blend of drama, romance, heart break and more. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a spontaneous and humorous book to read. This is what makes me a big fan of Ni-Ni Simone. Her stories never disappoint when it comes to engaging readers, like me, who love reading books about drama. This book was one of many which didn’t fail to amuse me.
True Story was the true definition of a love story. There was a moment when Seven described an encounter with Josiah by saying, “a smile ran all over my face and butterflies invaded my stomach. All I could do was fall back onto my bed. Clutch the pillow he’d slept on to my chest” (Simone 165). Seven had the butterflies and this gave the readers a taste of it especially if they had never experienced something like it before. Though Seven’s love life was a bit rocky throughout the book, she ended up pulling through and finally became happy at the end. Seven also ended up learning life lessons about hurting people’s feelings and doing what was best for her. This could have a lasting value on the readers if they took Seven’s experiences and used them as cautionary tales.
This book was very amusing and was hard to put down. Simone made it far from boring and the drama was the icing on the cake. Even though I could not personally relate to any of the characters, I could sympathize with them when they were going through something. The book rarely had any serious moments because the characters were cracking jokes every step of the way. There were moments where I would find myself re-reading the text because I found it so hilarious. I would also often bookmark my favorite pages and go back to read them again.
This book was well written and contained a lot of slang and modern dialect which made it fun to read. For example, a scene that made me laugh was when Khya was at a game and said “That’s my man y’all! Bling, Bling, Bling! Owwww!” Seven then said, “She popped up in her seat and broke out into a snake” (Simone 159). You can tell that this is something a teenager would say. Khya’s personality, however, made the whole situation even funnier. Simone did a great job of connecting with the audience. I think this is what keeps me coming back to reading her books.
The greatest strength of the book was being up-to-date. The way the characters spoke, dressed and acted was pretty accurate to how people are today. For example Seven once said, “I dressed in a pair of black Love Pink sweats, a matching Stiles U hoody, and Nike Air Max shoes”(Simone 177). People wear things like this on a daily basis. Another way that Simone made the book modern was by using up-to-date music. An example would be when Seven said “Trinidad James’s ‘All Gold Everything’ blasted from an iPod that sat in an old-skool-esque dock” (Simone 49).
Overall this book was very intriguing and I would recommend it to anyone who likes reading entertaining books. I plan on reading more books in Ni-Ni Simone’s sequel. Her books have yet to disappoint me with their humor and drama. True Story has to be one of my favorite books so far in the sequel. I’m looking forward to seeing how the other books turn out.
True Story was the true definition of a love story. There was a moment when Seven described an encounter with Josiah by saying, “a smile ran all over my face and butterflies invaded my stomach. All I could do was fall back onto my bed. Clutch the pillow he’d slept on to my chest” (Simone 165). Seven had the butterflies and this gave the readers a taste of it especially if they had never experienced something like it before. Though Seven’s love life was a bit rocky throughout the book, she ended up pulling through and finally became happy at the end. Seven also ended up learning life lessons about hurting people’s feelings and doing what was best for her. This could have a lasting value on the readers if they took Seven’s experiences and used them as cautionary tales.
This book was very amusing and was hard to put down. Simone made it far from boring and the drama was the icing on the cake. Even though I could not personally relate to any of the characters, I could sympathize with them when they were going through something. The book rarely had any serious moments because the characters were cracking jokes every step of the way. There were moments where I would find myself re-reading the text because I found it so hilarious. I would also often bookmark my favorite pages and go back to read them again.
This book was well written and contained a lot of slang and modern dialect which made it fun to read. For example, a scene that made me laugh was when Khya was at a game and said “That’s my man y’all! Bling, Bling, Bling! Owwww!” Seven then said, “She popped up in her seat and broke out into a snake” (Simone 159). You can tell that this is something a teenager would say. Khya’s personality, however, made the whole situation even funnier. Simone did a great job of connecting with the audience. I think this is what keeps me coming back to reading her books.
The greatest strength of the book was being up-to-date. The way the characters spoke, dressed and acted was pretty accurate to how people are today. For example Seven once said, “I dressed in a pair of black Love Pink sweats, a matching Stiles U hoody, and Nike Air Max shoes”(Simone 177). People wear things like this on a daily basis. Another way that Simone made the book modern was by using up-to-date music. An example would be when Seven said “Trinidad James’s ‘All Gold Everything’ blasted from an iPod that sat in an old-skool-esque dock” (Simone 49).
Overall this book was very intriguing and I would recommend it to anyone who likes reading entertaining books. I plan on reading more books in Ni-Ni Simone’s sequel. Her books have yet to disappoint me with their humor and drama. True Story has to be one of my favorite books so far in the sequel. I’m looking forward to seeing how the other books turn out.
September 23, 2016
Page # Im On: 145
#of Pages: 244
Lexile Level: 955L
This book is very interesting and even though it has a lot of cheesy slang in it, I overall like it.
The book "True Story" by Ni-Ni Simone is not quite what I am used to. It pertains a lot of high school drama even though they were located on a college campus called Stiles University. In addition to this, I thought this book would have very distinctive vocabulary usage but I was wrong. With this being said, I would highly recommend the people interested in this book to read the first 10 pages to see if this is the right book for them. Please don't make the mistake I did, in which, I checked out a book because of the cover. You must certainly never judge a book by its cover. Overall, I would get my little siblings in middle school to read this because I feel this isn't a high-school-leveled or college-leveled book. It doesn't have a wide variety of vocabulary that's appropriate for high school students. My favorite passage was when the author stated "The afternoon sun was sweltering as I sat in the crowded courtyard, beneath the sweeping branches of a weeping willow tree. There were people everywhere and this was the only place I could sit solo, get my sexy-fly-cute on, and watch my man step on to the scene." I chose this passage because it reminds me of how desperate females are in high school. It makes me laugh because there are females who claim dudes who don't even claim them, which is hilarious. My favorite part of the book was when Josiah was trying to talk to Seven and she already had a boyfriend. She was caught up in temptation because Josiah was "putting the full court pressure" on her. My least favorite part was when she was trying to make conversation with Josiah and her nosey best friend, Khya, kept interrupting their vibe. I feel like those type of girls are the ones who are somewhat envious and never want their so-called "best friend" to be happy. With this being apart of the story, I feel like the drama could've been more detailed to get the reader's undivided attention. I wouldn't recommend this book for the simple fact that the author didn't include any interesting events in the book. My personal connection to this book is the hardship of letting go of unnecessary baggage that doesn't benefit you in any type of way. For example, Seven's ex boyfriend tried to get back with her and she wanted to get back with him. However, people take the door out of our lives for reasons. It's mainly for growth and to also move to the next milestone in your life. "Everything happens for a reason." My big cousin always says this. I live by this statement.
#of Pages: 244
Lexile Level: 955L
This book is very interesting and even though it has a lot of cheesy slang in it, I overall like it.
The book "True Story" by Ni-Ni Simone is not quite what I am used to. It pertains a lot of high school drama even though they were located on a college campus called Stiles University. In addition to this, I thought this book would have very distinctive vocabulary usage but I was wrong. With this being said, I would highly recommend the people interested in this book to read the first 10 pages to see if this is the right book for them. Please don't make the mistake I did, in which, I checked out a book because of the cover. You must certainly never judge a book by its cover. Overall, I would get my little siblings in middle school to read this because I feel this isn't a high-school-leveled or college-leveled book. It doesn't have a wide variety of vocabulary that's appropriate for high school students. My favorite passage was when the author stated "The afternoon sun was sweltering as I sat in the crowded courtyard, beneath the sweeping branches of a weeping willow tree. There were people everywhere and this was the only place I could sit solo, get my sexy-fly-cute on, and watch my man step on to the scene." I chose this passage because it reminds me of how desperate females are in high school. It makes me laugh because there are females who claim dudes who don't even claim them, which is hilarious. My favorite part of the book was when Josiah was trying to talk to Seven and she already had a boyfriend. She was caught up in temptation because Josiah was "putting the full court pressure" on her. My least favorite part was when she was trying to make conversation with Josiah and her nosey best friend, Khya, kept interrupting their vibe. I feel like those type of girls are the ones who are somewhat envious and never want their so-called "best friend" to be happy. With this being apart of the story, I feel like the drama could've been more detailed to get the reader's undivided attention. I wouldn't recommend this book for the simple fact that the author didn't include any interesting events in the book. My personal connection to this book is the hardship of letting go of unnecessary baggage that doesn't benefit you in any type of way. For example, Seven's ex boyfriend tried to get back with her and she wanted to get back with him. However, people take the door out of our lives for reasons. It's mainly for growth and to also move to the next milestone in your life. "Everything happens for a reason." My big cousin always says this. I live by this statement.
September 23, 2016
Page # I'm on: 130
# of pages : 240
Lexie level: 955L
"Flavor flav!" Courtney screamed. "You don't threaten my face!" Was one of my favorite passages located on page 8 because it literally made me laugh if anybody knows who he is you would have visualized him saying that line from his famous show Flavor or Love. Also, in chapter 7 on page 57 where the mom responded back to her saying "Did you just raise your voice at me?" was a favorite part of mine. The readers of this book only would see the humor because we know she wasn't trying to come off as smart.I liked parts of the book where there was talk about things teenagers actually do or talk to there friends about or how the boys in the book would try so hard to get the interest of certain girls. So basically , I liked the relation in some parts I could have. I didn't really like so much of the corny word usage or little kid type content the book had... So if your on a more mature level of reading this is not the book for you. This just shows I should've chose wiser but I'm not going to lie it is a interesting book at the same time.
# of pages : 240
Lexie level: 955L
"Flavor flav!" Courtney screamed. "You don't threaten my face!" Was one of my favorite passages located on page 8 because it literally made me laugh if anybody knows who he is you would have visualized him saying that line from his famous show Flavor or Love. Also, in chapter 7 on page 57 where the mom responded back to her saying "Did you just raise your voice at me?" was a favorite part of mine. The readers of this book only would see the humor because we know she wasn't trying to come off as smart.I liked parts of the book where there was talk about things teenagers actually do or talk to there friends about or how the boys in the book would try so hard to get the interest of certain girls. So basically , I liked the relation in some parts I could have. I didn't really like so much of the corny word usage or little kid type content the book had... So if your on a more mature level of reading this is not the book for you. This just shows I should've chose wiser but I'm not going to lie it is a interesting book at the same time.
Want to read
August 24, 2013Back Cover Information
What's a girl to do when love has her caught up?
That's the plight of eighteen-year-old Seven McKnight. Her freshman year at Stiles University turned out to be a tug of war for her heart and her sophomore year promised more of the same. Just when she'd sworn off her ex-boyfriend, Josiah Whitaker, and thought she'd never love him again, he boldly stepped back into her life, with no regard that she'd moved on with Zaire St. James, her new boyfriend.
Caught off guard and thrust into a whirlwind of emotion, Seven no longer knows if she should stay or go. . . All she knows is that old feelings won't die, her new love is being ruined by lies, and the fairy tale she once dreamed of may never become her true story.
What's a girl to do when love has her caught up?
That's the plight of eighteen-year-old Seven McKnight. Her freshman year at Stiles University turned out to be a tug of war for her heart and her sophomore year promised more of the same. Just when she'd sworn off her ex-boyfriend, Josiah Whitaker, and thought she'd never love him again, he boldly stepped back into her life, with no regard that she'd moved on with Zaire St. James, her new boyfriend.
Caught off guard and thrust into a whirlwind of emotion, Seven no longer knows if she should stay or go. . . All she knows is that old feelings won't die, her new love is being ruined by lies, and the fairy tale she once dreamed of may never become her true story.
May 25, 2018
In the book, True Story by Ni Ni Simone is about a girl who started her freshman year at Stiles University, runs into a couple conflicts. She basically runs into her ex at a party while her current boyfriend is there with her. She suddenly starts to get this feelings for her ex all over again and jealousy starts to form. This scandal between Seven and her current boyfriend and her ex. This book really grabbed my attention because I was able to have a personal connection with this story because this happened to me and one of my close friends. The author does a really good job in grabbing teenagers attention. She uses our tone of voice and also she is able to explain how most young women feel when they have to make a hasty decision such as this one. Especially, going into college were there is going to be temptations thrown at you from left to right.
October 31, 2025
Not gonna lie Seven was annoying and selfish in this book! Had me wanting to beat her ass. Claiming she “grown” but when it came to have grown woman conversations she brush it off. She gave Josiah hell when he cheated on her. Just for her to turn around and do the same thing to Zaire. Her best friend and mommy was given her good advice and she just ignored them and tell them to mind their business. But I guess that the difference between reading it at 16 vs 29 🤣🤣🤣. As always Kyra had me laugh with her Gris Gris 🤣
June 7, 2018
Two and a half stars. Not the genre for me, but it wasn't written for me, so. The dialogue was so slangy that it was almost hard to read, but also so cheesy that it made me laugh. I have to think this reads as dated even now. I rolled my eyes at the clothing descriptions too. But it moved very quickly and the characters were amusing. Sometimes laughable, and sometimes frustrating, but I guess I could see the appeal for teens.
July 21, 2024
Near the end of the book, in Seven, I was really let down. Instead of dismissing Josiah intense attention on her, Seven continued to let it. However, she started cheating since Zaire was dull. It seems like she didn't realize that he was constantly exhausted from working two jobs full-time and attending school full-time, all while supporting himself and his grandmother. She had just stayed single after Josiah cheated on her.
February 6, 2020
Loved
I loved Ni-Ni Simone books. I related to the book a lot, I was in a relationship where my boyfriend was just like Zaire all we did was stay in the house, never went out and he had a routine. It was starting to bother me so I had to put on my grown woman panties and tell him how I was feeling. He took note but then we just decided to end thing later on down the line.
I loved Ni-Ni Simone books. I related to the book a lot, I was in a relationship where my boyfriend was just like Zaire all we did was stay in the house, never went out and he had a routine. It was starting to bother me so I had to put on my grown woman panties and tell him how I was feeling. He took note but then we just decided to end thing later on down the line.
January 2, 2014
I am a fan of Ni-Ni Simone books. This is another follow-up on main character Seven's life. Seven in this novel makes irrational choices dealing with her ex Josiah and current boyfriend Zaire. Seven as we know if you have read all the novels involving her loved Josiah since they were very young kids. I think we can all agree she moved on way too fast. If she loved him as much as she did those feelings didn't go away. She is not happy with her current boyfriends schedule. Her feeling for her ex won't go away. Seven is confused. She does wrong doing. I'm team Josiah! Great novel! If you liked Seven in the last 2 you will enjoy this book.
February 4, 2014
I picked up this book as a bit of fluff reading and was pleasantly surprised that it drew me in. Ni-Ni Simone is a good writer and I look forward to reading more about Seven (and hopefully she grows a bit emotionally in future books!)
I'm glad the author addressed that the way Seven was treating Zaire was NOT OKAY - very selfish and immature. I hope it also puts her in a state of mind where she understands Josiah more and realizes that anyone can make a mistake.
I think Khya is like the "devil" on Seven's shoulder and Shae is the "angel." She should definitely listen to Shae more. I do like Khya though, she was the source of most of my laugh-out-loud moments. No comment about Courtney!
I'm glad the author addressed that the way Seven was treating Zaire was NOT OKAY - very selfish and immature. I hope it also puts her in a state of mind where she understands Josiah more and realizes that anyone can make a mistake.
I think Khya is like the "devil" on Seven's shoulder and Shae is the "angel." She should definitely listen to Shae more. I do like Khya though, she was the source of most of my laugh-out-loud moments. No comment about Courtney!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2014
Ugh! Are you serious? I didn't like how this book ended. Why would Seven do to Zaire what Josiah did to her? That's so messed up & why would she even move on with Zaire when her feelings for Josiah weren't gone. It was bound that someone would end up hurt. Love this author & her work, but this book made me mad.
March 16, 2015
I only gave it 3 Stars because I do NOT LIKE NOR CONDONE what Seven did. She could have handled it a lot differently. So, although, the book was well written and was a great story I just couldn't give it the 5 Stars it would have gotten from me if Seven had handled things differently.
Happy readings!
Happy readings!
December 18, 2014
Okay i finished this book in one day. Honestly
the story plot to the end i didn't like how it turned out how she was messing with her ex and boyfriend at the same time. why didn't she just end it with her current boyfriend instead of cheating like her ex did. -_-
the story plot to the end i didn't like how it turned out how she was messing with her ex and boyfriend at the same time. why didn't she just end it with her current boyfriend instead of cheating like her ex did. -_-
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2014
Did not like this one at all !
July 29, 2016
It was good. Nothing too spectacular -- just the continuation of a characters story. She's had better stories, in my opinion but it was a good read. 3.5 Stars from me.
May 31, 2015
This was a heartbreaking excited story about seven McKnight who has a hard time getting used to college
July 16, 2015
Once upon a time I loved Ni-Ni Simone's books TO DEATH! But I couldn't get past the first four pages of this book. It couldn't grab my attention.
Read
September 4, 2014its good
March 29, 2017
It's amazing
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews