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Backtalk

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Sylvia always hated her average looks and her strict mother. She just wanted to enjoy her teenage years and hang with her friends, and did what she had to do to get boys’ attention. The only thing she liked about high school was getting to see her crush, Dub, the twin brother of not-so-nice Deuce. When her sneaking out and defying her mother’s rules results in her winding up pregnant at fifteen, she learns who her real friends are. And with her mother never missing a chance to remind her how she’s messed up her life, Sylvia vows that she would be the total opposite of her mother, and her child will grow up to the best friend she apparently didn’t have. But years later, when her daughter Candy is fifteen and has no interest in being her friend, Sylvia just tries harder to force the kind of mother-daughter relationship she always wished she'd had herself. She ignores the constant advice that she needs to be her children’s mother, not their friend. Candy is turning out to be just like Sylvia was, and when Sylvia’s son Valencio starts behaving less like her golden child and more like another problem child, Sylvia slowly starts to realize that she had gone about everything all wrong. All the while, Sylvia still has her crush on Dub, is still being mistreated by Deuce, ignores her son’s father Bryce, and battles the growing realization that she just hasn’t done much with her life, and her daughter is following right in her footsteps. But when she tries to start laying down the law, things only get worse, and Sylvia realizes she really does need to make some major changes with herself. But is it too late?** This book contains scenes of attempted kidnapping, drugs, and teenage sex.

375 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 9, 2017

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Jessica Terry

39 books40 followers

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for Marlon Mccaulsky.
Author 25 books123 followers
August 22, 2019
A REVIEW OF BACKTALK BY Jessica L. Terry

☆☆☆☆☆
REAL TALK

Backtalk is an unapologetic look at a young teenage girl named Sylvia doing way too much to soon. Sylvia story is all-too-familiar, growing up in a single-parent household with a mother Sandra, working long hours struggling to pay the bills. This allows Sylvia to have too much unsupervised time alone to get into things she shouldn't be doing. Her father Kelsey left them when she was six and started a new family. Sandra is trying her best but knows she's falling short in raising a very rebellious teenage girl.

I was very surprised with the promiscuous ways of not just Sylvia but her friends also, who treat sex like a handshake, and do not respect their bodies. Sylvia has a very unhealthy Crush / obsession with a boy named Dub that's she's dying to sleep with. But she has yet to gain his attention because she feels like her body is not voluptuous enough to get his attention like some other girls. Although she has no problem getting some boys to like her and has no problem casually sexing them. I was taking back a little with the casual attitude these young people, in particular the girls have when it comes to sex not the fact that they're having sex but how easily frequently they will give it up to whoever. She has major insecurities that she had no idea how to deal with.

As I was reading found myself growing annoyed with Sylvia's Behavior but realizing I wasn't thinking with the mind of a child. As you can imagine her promiscuous Behavior leads to her becoming a young mother to a daughter named Candy. Years later when candy is 15 and Sylvia is now the mother she tries to have the kind of relationship she never had with her mother. But finds out candy has no interest in being besties with her mom. Candy has become the carbon copy of her mother Sylvia and she finally realizes what her mother had to deal with.

Jessica Terry style of writing is blunt and to the point. She intimately details the inner thoughts and feelings of a young girl becoming a woman and dealing with children. While this wasn't a very pleasurable read it was very informative and an eye opener for me being a man. I applaud Jessica's boldness with her pen and encourage that not just young girls but also parents read this book as well. It will probably allow you to have more frank discussions with your teenager then before. I highly recommend this book.
Profile Image for Shannan Harper.
2,468 reviews28 followers
July 19, 2019
What can I say about Ms. Sylvia. She truly worked my nerves and was very hardheaded, but I was glad when she finally decided to act like a grown woman. The author did good with character development with this story.
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