L. Divine is a young female author of the young adult fiction series Drama High. L. Divine is also a priestess who is originally from California, has lived in Jamaica and currently resides with her children in Atlanta. She also holds advanced degrees in African American studies from UCLA.
No Limit Esmeralda gives Jayd the task of going over to her house and feeding her animals (which are now all under Jayd’s control). She also tries to check on Misty and her mom, but Misty adamantly tells yher they’re fine. Jayd notices that Misty still has her snake eyes. She finds Rosseau and tells him she needs him to find “G”. He’s to keep him alive but make sure he doesn’t leave.
Jayd senses from Lexi that something is wrong with Mama and when she returns Mama is still unconscious. She tries to awaken her with a wet towel and then Jad is pulled into Mama’s dream. Jayd has a vision of her Grandmother, Netta, Esmeralda, and Theresa Espop in New Orleans shopping and admiring each other's bracelets (Mama’s made by Dr. Whitmore). As Theresa and Netta teas Lynn Mae about her crush on Dr. Whitmore (and his on her), Jayd can sense Esmeralda’s jealousy. Mama leaves Jayd a message. Remember she always gets what she wants.
Fprtimate;u. Kaud and Byron are able to awaken Mama with a potion in the spirit book called Sleeping Beauty” after finding one of the ingrediants. Mama blast Jayd out a little but it’s unclear if her powers have returned. Jayd thinks she’ll just have to accept that she’s the one wearing the crown now.
At Netta Never Nappy’s, Netta tells Jayd not to let the power get too addictive. She says tho that maybe (even though Lynn Mae) is mad) maybe her reign is over and it’s Jayd’s turn now. She says there really shouldn’t be any competition if it was done the right way. But Jayd tells her it wasn’t. Netta says that only God knows what the right way is and whose to say that it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Maybe her grandmother had to be forced off her throne for the next Queen to take her place. Jayd tells her that’s easy to say, but Netta tells her Mama’s anger is just temporary. Netta says there’s always some change with growth and she just has to brace herself for whatever comes. Jayd says she just wants to chill and Netta tells her (what a lot of black people tend to say) shut up, suck it up, and deal with it. (And I hate when people say this). Accept she’s not normal and do what she has to do. Later, Mauricio shows up at Jayd’s with a situation concerning David. David is pressing charges against Nigel for defending Nellie and Nellie can’t stop him. Maurico and his crew don’t take too kindly to men beating up on women (tho I’m not sure how they even got involved in this because they aren’t close to Nellie or Nigel). Jayd says she’ll talk to either Nigel or Rah (rolls my eyes). Maybe Rah will get shot in the process and get killed off for interfering (fingers crossed).
Mrs. Benette won’t write Jayd a recommendation letter so Jay uses her powers (her mer mother's and Esmeralda’s combined) to make her submit. Nigel doesn’t come to school that day, but Jayd sees his mother. Theresa accuses her of being the reason Nigel might be suspended from the football team and cries the same son. I think I failed as a mother. Jayd tells her not to step to her wrong when she blames her and says she’s not using her powers the right way. Jayd reminds her that she can’t interfere unless asked. Theresa says fine and asks what would it take to make this mess go away. But then she’s called into the office. She says let her know. Jayd says she’ll see what she can do. While visiting Gail, Jayd finds a crystal frame which is what she needs to assist in something that will help her mom adjust to marriage. It was a gift from Mama for her first child’s photo.
Jayd shares a dream she had with Netta where she’s rubbing Lexi’s stomach, Mama comes in and frowns at her, and Lexi begins to snarl and foam at the mouth like she has rabbi’s. Netta tells her that Mama wouldn’t hurt her but to write the dream down in her journal. Later when she’s doing just that Esmeralda invades her thoughts and tries to suggest she might want a pet.. a human pet. What could she be up too?
Jayd attends a double baptism for Raheema and Nickey. Nickey wants her to stand up at the front with them because she says Trish (who came with Rah) ain’t nobody’s mama. Sandy finds out and burst up in the church drunk (possibly high) and calls Trish out on being infertile. Rah calls everyone outside. Trish finally gets fed up with up with (and feeling like Rah always takes off for Sandy) and leaves the church (and him until he can finally put Sandy in check). Rah tells Sandy he’ll never regret having Rahemma, but he regrets choosing Sandy as her mama. Sandy tells him to hell with him and tries to take Raheema and leave. Only Rahemme clings to Rah. Kamil steps in front of her and tells her he’s upset what she’s putting his niece though. Sandy says she’s a baby and won’t remember, but Kamil says he remembers all the sorry-ass men in his own mother’s life. Lynn Mae finally steps in and tells Sandy she needs to leave and the ceremony continues.
Jayd tries to talk to Nellie about the laundery list of charges against M ickey but she just brushes it off. Basically, she’s over Mickey’s bs with G and Jayd herself. Chase and Jayd go to a party thrown by Mauricio. Jayd is introduced to some of the Elders who show her respect and give her a concocotion (with a warning attached about the challenges ahead none of which are hers) to keep her head clear. At school, Jayd overhears a conversation between Nellie and Nigel. David is holding something over Nellie. Nigel says they’ll deal with it. KJ comes up to Jayd and asks her if she sees Misty to tell her he’s there for her. He’s concerned because she hasn’t been to school in a couple of days. Jayd stops by Mama’s and they get into it again over her stealing the crown and Mama’s neglect of her responsibilities over choosing her man firt, Esmeralda pulls Mama and Jayd into a vision of her and Mama cooking for Fat Tuesday and discussing Daddy. Mama senses Esmeralda and asks Jayd if she’s had dreams of her but Jayd says no. Mama asks what she’s done but Jayd denies doing anything. Yet she know she can’t hide this forever.
Jayd visits a witch doctor who gives her a dark green tincture to control her powers. He also gives her a yellow, silk, scarf (similar to one her great-grandmother had). His wife gives her a piece of notebook paper and a bag of herbs (maybe to smoke?). They also give her a reading using shells and tell her she has to appeal to her personal Legba. They instruct her the magnant in the sand will show her the way. On the way to work Legba meets Jayd and instcuts her how to solve the problems she’s having.
In Mrs. Benette’s class Jayd again) reads her poem Ode To SNAP. Cameron gets mad and says it’s not a real poem but to her surprise, Mrs. Benette says Jayd did a good job. Cameron then accuses Jayd of doing something to her and tells her (her) day is coming. When Jayd touches Cameron she sees that not only was Cameron involved in hexing Jeremy so was his mom and Mrs. Benette. DAMN!
Legba shows up again and rescues Jayd from a dream she has of Jean-Paul sharing a meal with her and teaching her about the hatred between mothers and daughters. Afterward, Jayd learns that he also had the searing (mind) stare. Mamaan tells Jayd to reach out to her ancestors so she does a vison quest where she imagines things going back to how they were. But she’s interrupted by a visit from Nellie whose upset because Mickey has been let out temporarily. Nellie fears she’ll come for Mickey and says she doesn’t deserve to see Nickey. She gave up all rights to her when she followed G. Jayd recognizes that Nellie’s game is to be Nigels new baby mama. Jayd sees a group message that Mickey wants them to meet her at a storage place, but Nellie refuses. On the way out Jayd finds out that David has been using social media to harass Nellie. She finally gets Nellie to submit to asking for her help. When Jayd meets up with Mickey she’s collecting some things to run out of country with G. Ja yd reminds her that her parents have put their house up for collateral, but this doesn’t stop her. She gives Jayd a Target bag for Nicky and tells her to tell her she loves her.
Marcia hacks David's church account and finds out that he has an obsession with comparing women to Jezzebel (certain ones) with Nelie on top of the list. After hearing Jayd’s thoughts on relationships, Marchia has the idea to do a VLOG with Jayd giving her beliefs on what love is and isn’t and calling it “That Girl” productions (inspired by Jayd saying she’s not “that girl” to be caught up in relationships). Marcia blocks David from getting in and changes his administrator status.so he can’t respond back.
Jayd has a vision of her great-grandmother preparing a chicken for a client and they discuss the ethnis of what they do. Jayd says she doesn’t always feel right about helping out her friends because they don’t deserve it. Her great-grandmother tells her to “buck up”. Once they agree to the contract they don’t judge. She’s had to serve plenty of people who she didn’t feel good about. Chase shows up afterward with a pet for Jayd. He saw her researching them in the library and thought one of his dad’s exotic pets would be perfect (a black raven). Jayd names her Zora. Jayd is pulled into another dream and Chase sees lickers of their past relationship. She apologizes for having to keep it from him but he says he forgives her. In the dream, Jayd also mets Chase’s birth mom and a group of his female elders. His birth mom seems to know Jean-Paul and speaks highly of him. She encourages Jayd to call on him as well. He’s also looking out for her.
Chase out of guilt avoids Jayd in school. Esmeralda returns from MIA since she shared the vision with Jayd and Mama offers the Soul Switching spell to deal with David. Legba gives Jayd the advice to go to Mama and humble herself. But Mama’s still being spiteful and throws the olive branch Jayd tries to offer back in her face by saying she’s the Queen now. Figure out how to deal with getting rid of Esmeralda on her own. She didn’t have anyone to teach her when she became Queen. Jayd figures there no sense of going back there where she’s not welcome anymore. She sees Misty on the way out and tries to plead with her to let her help her comatose mom, but Misty yells at her she’ll always be the enemy. David is able to stay in the chat room and continue posting through other people’s accounts, so Marcia just shuts the whole site down. He finds out about it of course, and sends a text for Jayd to meet with him.
At the church, David holds Nellie at knifepoint. He gives her a sedative that knocks her out. Jayd reaches out for the assistance of Legba who encourages her to visualize the outcome and speak her intent. She wishes David out of all of their lives. David submits but says he’ll go out on his own terms. He records a confessional justifying his actions (to the church’s site) and then stabs himself in the stomach. Legba consoles Jayd while she cries. Mickey gets caught again and goes to jail and G is still on the run. Jayd visits Mickey and ends up telling Mickey off for expecting her help and disrespecting her in a bunch of ways. She tells she’s there for Nickey but she’s not her bitch and walks off while Mickey screams cusses at her.
The last part is tricky. Mama asks Jayd to meet her in the spirit room, but when she gets there Mama has Netta tied up. But it turns out it’s Esmeralda who switched Mama’s soul with Misty’s mother. Then Roussea comes in with Chase. Jayd is able to get Rossuea to submit to her and commands him to again find “G”. She’s able to free Mama from Esmeralda and banish her soul one and for all and get Mama's soul and Misty’s mom’s back in the right bodies.
My Thoughts Ultimately do you believe that love is a strength or a weakness? Wellll.. it depends on what *kind* of love because YES the love you get from friends and family CAN make you strong. The right kind of romantic love CAN make you strong BUT since I’ve never experienced that my answer would have to be it makes you weak. I have seen SO many examples of love making people weak. It made me weak. Let’s take this series. Jayd is overall a strong character BUT Rah has made her extremely weak time after time after time. Love made Nellie weak. I’m not even sure how she ended up with David other than to get back at Chase for ghosting her after they had sex. It made Mickey weak. Andthis series skips. It went from them looking for G and Mickey to all of a sudden Mickey is in jail. Mickey’s love for G definitely made her weak. It might have looked “ride or die” but really it was just plain STUPID to get yourself locked up and have someone else raising your kids. I guess I just can not see myself loving someone *that* much. I’m definitely no Cookie Lyons. But I’m so glad to see that Trish didn’t let it make her weak a second longer. Rah is a weak character anyway and he also lets his “love” for his baby momma turn him spineless but at least he does say something to her in this one. Not that I believe it’ll stick but.
How would you handle a teacher like Mrs. Benett? Honestly, I’d probably have done the same thing Jayd did, but a lot quicker. I have to give Jayd credit. She took a lot from this woman and up to now she just let her bs roll off her. I don’t think I would have been as patient.
In the last book, there was a good question. Is it ever ok to put your happiness over someone else’? Sometimes you have to think of your *have* to think of yourself first. It’s admirable to think of other people but what you have to ask yourself is this. Just like in this series all these people that I’m going out of my way to be there for if the situation was reversed would they do the same? In some cases YES there will be those people that will be loyal to you no matter what but in others.. So if you don’t put your own happiness first do you think these people that you're putting first will?
Have you ever felt out of sorts? ALL THE TIME! I could write a blog about that. A lot of mine comes from not being able to focus due to a bunch of circumstances that I don’t have control over.
Rating: 6
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I’ve read the whole series, but one thing I’ve always liked about a Drama High book is the the balance between real teenage issues and the mystical side that stems from Jayd’s spiritual life. In this book though, the spiritual elements were addressed more than the other. I would have liked a more in-depth look into other aspects that were mentioned, like Jayd’s relationship with Chase, the one with Jeremy, and her mom. But the story did mention some relevant problems that can affect teens today, like relationship drama, but ultimately, it was an interesting read due to the surprises and plot twists brought about by Jayd’s spirit work.
Seems like we’ve been waiting forever for No Limit, and I must say that it was worth the wait. The relationship between Jayd and Mama really tore me up; good thing Jayd at least had Netta. Can’t wait to see what’s in store with for Jayd and Chase.
Also, L. Divine, that’s for continuing to write this series. I’ve been loyal to this series since middle school, and here I am at 25 still waiting to see what’s next. Favorite author hands down!
I love that throughout the entire book it kept me on my toes! Looking forward to the next book of the series . I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who not only has read L Divines books but has also grown to love her amazing skills to keep a reader intrigued ! Def worth it i chose 5 stars but even that isnt enough credit for how good it was! I choose 5 stars because i love the family history Jayd and her family has with their lineage , past and present . What i think i liked about it most was you saw another side of her in this one , shes starting to understand her purpose and her powers more clearly .
My favorite author, my favorite series, I don't know what else to say. It was perfect. Been trying since a LITTLE KID and I'm GROWN now still keeping up with these series. I love her first adult novel honey spot. Can't wait until she makes more adult reads also. THAT GROWN AND SEXY ISH. Haha!
This series was the “Harry Potter” of my childhood and until now I hadn't gotten to finish it. And it's left me sad because i love it so much and hope for more to come. At 24 Jayd still speaks to me and i hope to see more from her.
Reading the Drama High Series has been a guilty pleasure of mind since middle school. Safe to say I’ve been reading for over a decade. I love that the book is low key filled with spiritual knowledge
Very good read. I have been reading this series for a while. My only critic is that it's a lot of grammar errors and misspelled words in this novel. However, I love the story line.
This book right here was an eye opener. I learned so much from Jayd. Jayd feels like a real person to me. Thank you for continuing Jayd journey with us.