God Don't Like Ugly

God Don't Like Ugly #1

by Mary Monroe

New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe sweeps readers back to the streets, porches, and parlors of civil rights-era Ohio to bring to life the first steps of an enduring friendship between two girls from opposite sides of the track. . .

Annette Goode is a shy, awkward, overweight child with a terrible secret. Frightened and ashamed, Annette withdraws into a world of books and food. But the summer Annette turns thirteen, something incredible Rhoda Nelson chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, generous Rhoda, who is everything Annette is not--gorgeous, slim, and worldly--welcomes Annette into the heart of her eccentric family, which includes her handsome and dignified father;her lovely, fragile "Muh'Dear;" her brooding, dangerous brother Jock;and her colorful white relatives--half-crazy Uncle Johnny, sultry Aunt Lola, and scary, surly Granny Goose.

With Rhoda's help, Annette survives adolescence and blossoms as a woman. But when her beautiful best friend makes a stunning confession about a horrific childhood crime, Annette's world will never be the same.

"A coming-of-age journey depicted with wit, poignancy and bite." -- Publishers Weekly

Genres: Fiction, African American, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Drama, Urban

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

I am the third child of Alabama sharecroppers and the first and only member of my family to finish high school. I never attended college or any writing classes. I taught myself how to write and started writing short stories around age four. I spent the first part of my life in Alabama and Ohio and moved to Richmond, California in 1973. I have lived in Oakland since 1984.

My first novel THE UPPER ROOM was published by St. Martin's Press in 1985 and was widely reviewed throughout the U.S. and in Great Britain. An excerpt is included in Terry McMillan's anthology BREAKING ICE. I endured fifteen years and hundreds of more rejection letters before I landed a contract for my second novel, GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY. It was published in October 2000 by Kensington Books. GOD DON'T PLAY is my seventh novel to be published, and it landed me a spot on the prestigious New York Times Bestsellers list for the first time! My eighth novel, "BORROW TROUBLE," was released December 2006. My ninth novel, DELIVER ME FROM EVIL, was released September 2007 and my tenth novel, SHE HAD IT COMING, was released in September 2008, and my eleventh novel THE COMPANY WE KEEP, will be released March 2009.

I won the Oakland Pen Award for Best Fiction of the Year in 2001 for GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY. I won the Best Southern Author Award for GONNA LAY DOWN MY BURDENS, in 2004.

I am divorced, I love to travel, I love to mingle with other authors, and I love to read anything by Ernest Gaines, Stephen King, Alice Walker, and James Patterson. I still write seven days a week and I get most of my ideas from current events, the people around me, but most of my material is autobiographical.

Reviews

[Dalena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated the fact that this book chose to focus on the moral superiority of the main character. Instead of exploring the ways sex abuse, mental illness, racism, and violence affects family and community, this book chose to absolve perpetrators of all responsibility. I think this book is a perfect example of the way toxic people are protected in Black communities and families. It misses a great opportunity to discuss healthy ways to move past pain. I chose not to read the sequel.

[Adrian Major Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I passed by this book a countless amount of times based on the title alone I was un interested. Well to make a long story short I found Mary's other book "Upper Room" at Target and fell in love with her writing style so I went to Amazon and bought a bunch of her other books this one included, I just love Annette, PeeWee, Muh'dear and even Rhoda and Scary Mary.

Mary engages you into each character but she does not force you to pick a side. She shows bad and good sides of each character even evil old Mr.Buttwright.

This is a great read that will have you laughing and sometimes close to crying. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a great story.

[Shelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow was this book intense! What the main character goes thru is mind boggling at times. She's learned to lie to bill collectors and run from the klan before she's 5 and at 7 she starts getting raped by a family friend. Her best friend Rhoda never seems to totally fit the story but she still plays an intricate part in helping her figure out how to get the family friend to stop. A few twists and turns. Towards the end I got really mad because for a brief moment I felt bad for the family friend but once his relationship with the mother is truly revealed, I went right back to thinking he was a booty face...it's heavy for sure but worth the read....

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright so after hearing about this book from others and seeing it all over the train in the hands of young women who really looked enthralled (I find out the best books just by looking at what others read) I decided I had to read this book and well it only took three days but I didnt really enjoy it. I dont know if it was the subject matter (sexual abuse, racism, friendships, low self esteem and murder/revenge) or the fact that I just didnt like any of the characters--I stopped feeling sorry for Annette after the first abuse and that she continued for seven more years was too much, I thought Rhoda would be interesting but she was cliched and boring after all and even Scary Mary who was named with such promise like she would be interesting was not even worth mentioning. At the end of the book there is refererence to a sequel to possibly flesh out more of the characters and continue their lives but am I really interested? Okay so there were loose ends and I have the second book so I will read it but cant recommend it..too simplisitic, depressing and all around flat. Easy reading but nothing to suck you in..

[Danita Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story. This was a very interesting read.

[Raquel King · Rating 5 out of 5]

"God Don't Like Ugly" by Mary Monroe was one of the best books I've ever read. I like how the author almost gives the reader what they want. I know when I was reading it I stayed interested. Annette is the main characters name, she gets molested by brother boatright for years-someone who everyone , including her family trusted. This is the beggining to all her problems. Annette couldn't stand him, and confided to her new friend named Rhoda. Rhoda was the complete antithesis of Anette. Annette was poor, not very attractive, or smart.
After it seemed like nothing could get worse with brother boatright Annettes mother marries him. Rhoda finds out about the molestation and kills brother Boatright and before it happened she let Annette know. Annette deeply regretted it and for a short time stopped speaking to Rhoda. Before you know it a little girl in the town is missing and then killed. Annette expected that Rhoda killed the little girl too. Which she did. I find this unbelieveale and very interesting, especially because in the beginning of the story she is seen as almost perfect. I would reccomened the book to anyone, to all. I beieve that maybe this book is underated.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WAS SO FRUSTRATING. But in a good way. Let me explain.

I felt really connected to Annette as a main character and I felt her frustration and pain. Some of her experiences are horrifying and it was so hard reading through these parts. I wanted to hop into the story, have a talk with Annette, and then HELP her. She was hurting so much and she became so lost. That's what made this a frustrating read for me because the entire time I just wanted Annette to reach out to someone and let them in.

So many great characters in this book though. Rhoda is such an interesting character and even after finishing the book, I don't really know how I feel about her. Muh Dear reminds me so much of my own mother. Such a variety of characters in this story and the author really makes it work. Not once did I feel a character was too outrageous and I never questioned their place in the story.


Excellent read though. I'd recommend it to anyone who's looking to really connect with a story. This book will definitely make you FEEL. Can't wait to get a hold on the next books in the series.

[Chevonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was...good. I did however even as a teenager when I first read it become annoyed by how elementary some of the writing was. I kept wondering of the author, "Did she not have a thesarus on hand??" All the characters were all the time "gasping", or "sighing" or "hollering" or rolling their eyes or growling, moaning, groaning or whining in situations where those actions seemed uncalled for or out of place. I just wanted to scream "Use a different word!!" The dialogue wasn't all the time believable. If you can overlook those glaring flaws, the story is actually a good one

[KaylasBookishVibes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a re read. I remember reading this around 14 years old but I don’t remember it being so traumatic! How is this YA?!

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was SLOOOOOW and unnecessarily long. The author repeated herself, made goofs in the storyline, created characters with no depth or real emotion, and she is in dire need of a thesaurus. I don't think I will ever be able to hear the work "incredulous" again without thinking of this book. In addition, as someone who listened to the audio book I was tremendously disappointed with the performer (I guess that's what they are called) who stumbled on words and made no attempt to hide her swallowing and smoking sounds as she spoke. It was often gross to hear.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the many books that made me wish that I could give half stars. It was definitely better than a 3 to me, but not quite a 4. I found myself laughing out loud several times, and then sympathetic and sad at others. This book touches on every emotion and brings you in for a close look into the African American culture that you might not get unless you were part of it. I have already ordered the 2nd book in the series, and I was surprised to see that there are many more as well. I'll read the second book and decide whether to buy the rest.

[Dorel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 1st book I read Mary Monroe. This book's story line was really good. Some parts of this story made me mad. My heart broke for Annette & Florence. At times in the story I was mad at Annette. At times in the story I didn't understand Annette's action. I was mad at Annette's Muh Dear. I was happy for Rhoda, Florence, & Pee Wee. I really enjoyed the setting of this story because it gave me insight of how in was in the 1960s. This story is different from the stories I usually read but I really enjoyed this book.

[Jamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Loved this from Beginning to end. everything from The 60's setting,To The Bizarre characters..I almost Felt like i lived in This community of richland ohio amoung All These people.....EXCELLENT story telling here

[Jenene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! Kept my interest and the flow was great. Anxious to see where life takes Annette!

[Rayna Swan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is triggers piled on top of triggers. Ableism, sexual assault, child abuse, murder, racism and fat phobia from beginning to the end.

[Carol Denise Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Monroe is my muse. We're both from Oakland, California, or at least I believe Mary lived there close to as long as I have. Mary is a bestselling author for God Don't Like Ugly. I read it before and I am reading it again, because Mary is one of the few authors that write characters I know and can relate to. Here's what you will find in God Don't Like Ugly, good people, bad people and a book one can truly enjoy. Mary has her pulse on culture, world events and the magnetic influences of Black life. I believe after reading Mary's books I learned how to tell stories. I learned how not to sugar-coat the sometimes challenging experiences of being Black in America. I read God Don't like Ugly once, I am reading it again. And, I will probably read it again at the right time, when I need to pull my self back down into life!

[Jerri · Rating 2 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT!!! I could've really enjoyed the book but the fact that the abuse went on for so long unchecked really annoyed me. I almost put it down several tines for that very reason. Now I understand that this is probably more realistic than not, and the author was not writing a fairy tale but seriously? How did this clown of a man hoodwink EVERYONE? And the serial killer friend? Yeah, OK. I don't care enough to read the 2nd book in the series.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written book, kept my interest and I liked the way the author would get your mind to kind of conclude as to what may have happened during the story. Annette finally began to find herself in the end I was truly glad when she kicked Rhoda to the curb, what a nut job! All in all an excellent read.

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd reading. This is one of those stories that kinda sticks with you, no matter how long ago you read it. I enjoyed it and learned so much than I did the first time around.

[Arvetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book overall. Would read again.

[Kimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting beginnings for this fictional/biographical God series by Mary Monroe. This southern historical story line is sad but often true for those that have suffered the fate of childhood trauma, rape, abandonment; one ultimately roots in favor of the underdog- as humans with a conscious, we don't enjoy the sufferings of others unless they had it coming.
I enjoy casually inserting character names into conversations I have with people. My two favorite names were Scary Mary and Mr. Boatwright. Scary Mary sounded just like her name but Mr. Boatwrights name was deceiving as I passed him off for good for he performed the ultimate betrayal to this family. But I liked the name rolled off my tongue when I made statements like 'they done killed Brother Boatwright!' or 'Girl, Mr. Boatwright dead!'
I enjoyed the inquisitive questions to follow- who is Mr. Boatwright; who was that; was that ___'s grand-daddy? Right there was my opening to introduce them to a new author, book, character, series, whatever- way too much fun. At the end of the day, I enjoyed reading this, the first in the series as I've read the last one first, by accident. So now that I know the ending, the beginning is great and I can ready casually not hastily.
Kim

[Kina]

This book tells the story of Annette, a young girl who is often called fat and ugly. Annette moves from Florida to Ohio with her mother after her father runs off with another woman. Her mother takes in an old boarder with one leg to help cover the bills. Annette's life forever changes after Mr. Boatwright moves in.
Mr. Boatwright begins to molest Annette, after awhile he begins to rape her, and even gets her pregnant. The disturbing part starts to use the rape to get things out of Mr. Boatwright.
Annette has a beautiful friend named Rhoda that encourages Annette to kill Mr. Boatwright.

This was a well written book. The only thing I didn't like was Annette using the rape to get money and other things from Mr. Boatwright. Also her mother was not very observant and believed everything Mr. Boatwright had to say.

[Nike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always astounded by the licence and shame that comes with abuse! I am on page 203 of this book, and I find that even though its fiction it just resonates too much with stuff I read about in the papers! Annette needs to have someone who really sees her and likes her to make her feel good about herself and to know that she does not have to ut up with this?! The characters are developed enough for me to know that I don't actually like any of them, but I can actually see why tey are the way they are! Can't with to see what happens!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently I'm not a fan of this author. She needs to sit in on a high school "show, not tell" lesson in writing. I can't even count how many times a character would just be described as "depressed" and I got more descriptions on clothing than anything else. I kept finding myself think that unimportant parts like sitting around drinking and gossiping went on for pages and important things like the pregnancy were just glazed over. I also didn't think the characters were very well developed. Annette turns to prostitution? She holds a knife up to Jock and they never talk again?

[Simply Stephanie. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was AWESOME!!
It shows the true meaning of friendship
&& how only your true friends are being
honest when they say they will always be there to help you,protect you,&& love you unconditionaly.

[Audra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book Riot 2016 Read Harder Challenge – Read the first book in a series by a person of color
The beginning of this book was rough for me but I am so glad that I persevered. I really liked this book and will definitely read the next one in the series!

[Joyce]

Like the story...but all I can say is Mr. Boatwright.....

[Jocelyn Boffman green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book many years ago, and I absolutely loved it. Great story line, and character development. I Also enjoyed all the books included in the series.

[ShelfLoveWithDee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read. caution against reading if you have SA triggers. Can be a dark at times. tear jerker page turner. well written.

[kiriahsbookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I went into this book blind and just solely off the title so at first I was taken aback but baby I was tuned in!!!

This was such a; for lack of better word frustrating read!! I felt so badly for Annette. I just wished she would’ve let someone in. Annette really had nobody in this book, not even her mama!

I’m glad that Annette began to find her way at the end!

This was an amazing story!