Choke: A Novel

by Darnella Ford

For Vanessa, a low-income housing complex in the middle of the desert in El Mirage, Arizona, represents all that is wrong with her life. Her neighbors get it on all night long, she sees an abusive husband kill his wife, and then himself, and her own ex-husband keeps showing up and getting into her pants.
The one bright spot in Vanessa's life is her daughter, Kennedy, and Kennedy's love for the piano. She is practicing to audition for an esteemed music academy that Vanessa can in no way afford---especially after losing her housekeeping job. But Vanessa isn't one to give up, and she'll do anything to help her daughter succeed, even if it means selling her body and soul.

236 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 13, 2006

About the author

Darnella Ford is a bestselling author known for her ability to craft raw and compelling narratives. She gained recognition as the Best New Voice of 2003 and has written five bestselling novels, including Finding Me, which was nominated for the 2010 Stonewall Literary Award.
In 2006, her life took a transformative turn when she began an intensive three-year study in Quantum Physics, Neuroscience, and Neurobiology under leading physicists. Inspired by these studies and her personal journey, she launched Journey to Worthy in 2008—an initiative aimed at expanding self-awareness and promoting self-worth. Rooted in the principles of quantum science, the program reaches diverse audiences, from inner-city communities and prisons to corporate settings, advocating the message: You are worthy!
A key component of the initiative is Beautiful, a program designed to help teenage girls explore self-esteem and authentic beauty. Ford’s vision is to make the understanding of self-worth as culturally ingrained as modern technology and social media. Dedicated to empowering individuals, she continues her work in pursuit of truth and the realization of human potential.

Reviews

[Keyona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book from the beginning to the end.I learned that things will happen in due time.The main character was something special.She did everything for her daughter's dream..even things she's not proud of but in the end it always works out. Her two neighbors become her friends out of convenience. They all have the same thing in common;poverty. When poverty is no longer a common factor for the trio, everyone begins going their separate ways.I guess the best way to describe this main character is human.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw and gritty. I really liked the writing style of this author.

[Candice Square · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. While it was eventful, the story dragged a bit. It was filled with the trials of real life but it just wasn’t it for me.

[Lulu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read would never be something I would’ve picked up if it hadn’t been recommended to me.

Vanessa is a single mother, struggling financially and a rough housing arrange (with a roof over her head). This was very raw and real with themes of religion, race, and debate of morals in tough situations: all playing into the realism. This about real people.

🚩 Helicopter parent. This was actually annoying. Like chapter 11 IRKED ME!! For something Vanessa did like what.

Despite what the title, Choke may allude to, this was not a smut read BUT the title did pay off. The final 20% of the book was my favorite!

Some honorable quotes….
🍋 “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives me lemons, I pour a glass of vodka on the rocks and call it a day.” [Prologue, pg 9]
👠 ”Once again I reached for my housecoat, slippers, and attitude.” [Ch. 3]
👀 ”And it took a moment for the transaction to be complete.” This made me laugh cause the context is penetration but obviously she’s not enjoying herself. [Ch. 10]
🚩 Back to the helicopter comment, this interaction with her daughter bothered me but I’m glad her daughter said something, “‘You’re just jealous!’ she screamed. ‘Jealous that somebody loves me and that you sucked Daddy’s dick for years and he never loved you!’ I smacked Kennedy so hard we were both sore.” [Ch. 11]
🐓 “Would it taste like chicken?” About swallowing. [Ch. 24]

This was very fun. The narration was comical (on purpose I hope) and was a quick read.

⭐️⭐️.75 / 5

[Mich M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have waited 10 years to find this book again because I remember it being so good. The first time I read it. However, it was a good read, but very un climatic good though.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first book by Darnella Ford came as a surprise. A few pages in, when it was still going slow for me, I started thinking maybe I shouldn't have read her third book first but it picked up soon after that. I loved the light religious factor. I'm not overly religious so books that shove religon down my throat annoy the hell out of me. This was very subtle and made you think which I enjoyed. All of the characters are OUT THERE, the three main characters being the MOST OUT THERE. :) That being said, they all had some likable traits. The main character is Vanessa who is a single mom still having sex with her soon to be ex husband who cheated on her and moved in with another woman. Vanessa moves with her piano playing pre teenage daughter to some slum apartments and is very unhappy with the way her life is going. She becomes friends with her two female neighbors on either side of her and despite their differences and all they go through they stick it out to the end.
The only problem I have with the book is the ending and that's not a huge one there. I'm all for happy endings but when everything just falls into place it bothers me. This is kind of what happened here. Everyone got their happy ending- the ones that the reader roots for anyway. I'm not sure why so many authors do this because I know myself and my friends who I've talked to about it would prefer an
alternate ending a lot of the time.
That being said, I am looking forward to reading Rising and Crave because I believe Ford has a special talent unlike anyone I've read so far. Her writing is just slightly different and even though the difference is slight, it's enough that it grabbed me in and really made me think more than the average true crime book.

[Nailah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book Choke by Darnella Ford has a plot that draws your attention. Vanessa, a low income mom that is faced with everyday dealing with poverty, is a woman that is determined to do anything to raise her child right. Along with dealing with poverty and raising a teenage girl, she is constantly faced with her recent divorced, that has a took a toll on her social life. Disregarding her detrimental problems, Vanessa still remains a Christian woman that believes that god will some day take her away from all of the issues. But when an opportunity to be a stripper to make more money comes around, Vanessa is quick to take the job to make money. She did everything for her daughter's dream to go to a better school that she knew she could not afford. Her two neighbors become her friends out of convenience because they all have the same thing in common; poverty. When poverty is no longer a common factor for the trio, everyone begins going their separate ways.
The problems in the book attract a female audience. Many of the females reading this book can relate because as a woman dealing with three troubling factors in her life, you will do almost anything to make yourself feel better as a person and feel as though you can provide for your family.
Vanessa represents the woman that any woman was bold enough to be; a woman of strength and determination. I would recommend this book to any woman that wants to escape from her troubles and visit a new life where a woman decides to get away from hers.

[Nandi Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Granted, there are parts of this book that can get downright funky, but I like it. You have this woman and her daughter who end up at the tail end of a marriage gone bad, in an apartment complex past bad. She meets up with two of her neighbors. Her daughter is a smart musical prodigy and she has to come up with the cash to get her into this particular school for musical students and is at a standstill. Her neighbors suggest escort service and soon she is on her way to some pretty quirky adventures of her own. In the end due to some crazy luck(one of her johns happen to be the founder's hubby),she was able to move on with some grace. Darnella Ford has a way of making the bleakest stories come out with some ray of hope. You may not get the happily ever after you see in fairy tale books, but in this sense, you get in the realistic ghetto one.

[Kwizana]

i love it

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. Rising was much better.

[Dead girl still blogging]

wanna read it