A young woman’s obsession with her lover drives her into an emotionally destructive path. She learns the hard way that Cinderella is a fairytale. Jade, a self-assured young woman becomes mesmerized by the instant chemistry she has with her first lover and first orgasm. Months of intense sexual encounters with Dre lead her to believe that he is her Prince Charming but after a romantic trip to Catalina Island, he suddenly disappears, and Jade has a mental breakdown. Rushing to be by her side, Jade’s childhood best friend Monica arrives promising to help Jade recover. Monica becomes distracted in her own relationship with a wealthy but abusive trust fund baby. Unable to deal with the physical abuse of Shawn, Monica uncovers his dirty secret and all hell breaks loose. Jade and Monica endlessly spin their wheels trying to resolve their illusion of a perfect man by becoming the saving grace for each other. As the destructive lives of these women overlap their friendship, they find one thing in sex is different from love but true friendship can overcome anything.
I really enjoyed this read. Jade reminds me of Queenie. Queenie is extremely HONEST and RAW where as Jade and Monica are much less transparent. There are a lot of similarities in how Jade and Queenie implode after a breakup but also huge differences.
I will say that Jade and Monica aren't compelling characters like Queenie. I enjoyed the book but it didn't evoke any emotion from me whereas I cried several times for Queenie.
4.5 stars. The first time I read this book was in 2019 and it was my favorite fiction book of the year. I have always enjoyed seeing Kym Whitley on my screen since I was a kid and I was interested in seeing what she would create in a fiction book. When Kym calls herself a Renaissance woman, she is not lying or embellishing… this book can stand next to ANY of your favorite black fiction novels and give them a run for their money.
There are so many layers to this book and so much to unpack.
This is a coming of age book that follows Jade and her discovery of self worth, love, generational trauma, and hyper fixation.
It also is the story of friendship as we follow the story of her best friend Monica as she battles trauma, abuse, and responsibility.
My absolute favorite part of this book is the “Boomerang” references. Woof! A large part of Jade’s obsession with Dre and her subsequent spiral into promiscuity has to do with her views around virginity, sex, and her developing love complex. She turns into a millennial Jacklyn (aka Robin Givens) and is determined to give men all the pain she received from the first one who ever broke her heart.
Jade’s “hoe phase” had me HOLLERING ok.
Jade is “QUEENIE” BEFORE “Queenie”… and you know… if Queenie liked black men 🙃
This gave “You Made A Fool of Death with Your Beauty”… but EVEN MESSIER.
This gave Diary of a Mad Black Woman but GRIMIER.
This gave She’s Gotta Have It but POETIC instead of paintings.
Jade was self centered, selfish, and did Anthony DIRTY.
The ending was super rushed to me but I would recommend this book to anyone who loves this genre.
Okay, so I started reading this book awhile back. I saw it recommended on BookTube (I think) and it looked interesting so I decided to buy it.
I picked it back up today and sped through it. It's immensely readable and the characters are compelling though near the 80% mark I was getting exasperated with Jade lol. But I feel that while I'm not as destructive as her I relate to her struggles.
This book is pure drama. I don't think I've read a book that was as dramatic as this. Dramatic in a good, soap opera-ish way. I used to make fun of my mom for watching soap operas, but when they grab you they grab you!
I felt like this book was mostly Jade's story. Although Monica had chapters I don't feel as though she was as fully fleshed out as Jade. She just seemed to be the secondary character and kind of played off Jade.
This was a great book. I really enjoyed it and I had a good experience reading it.
I was pleasantly surprised by Ms. Kym Whitley's writing skills. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I could not put it down because I had to know what happened next. She made you care about the characters and cheer them on toward their healing. Great lessons about real love and how to get over how toxic people affect your life. Bravo Kym!!!
I could not out this book down at all. I felt the pain and agonized with both Jade and Monica as the tried to find love . I feel like I want to hear more of their stories and hope this is not the end and pray for a prequel to this saga.
This book started really good then turned a bit slow then picked up again. Overall it was definitely a good read and I was very happy to support Kym Whitley's new novel! I look forward to more from this author!
Whitley exposes how the very things in our parents we vow not to become may be our destiny. A great read for the many single mothers and broken-hearted. I read this book in 3 days with work , husbands Petsmart and children. Loved it
A book that young women could relate too. So many emotional ups and downs that relationships can take you through. And it's great to have loving dependable friend that can relate.
This book was very captivating. I enjoyed every twist and turn. Some I did'nt see coming. This book definitely teaches you...love starts with self-love.
I thought the story or concept of the story was good and made it a quick and easy read. However, I also felt the story was very rushed. Especially the ending.