Customer Reviews

Blessings: A Novel

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Any African American woman who has ever spent any time in a beauty shop must read this book. The beauty shop "Blessings" is the back drop for a wonderful, entertaining, funny and well written novel about 4 woman and their issues surrounding motherhood. The characters are incredibly well developed and you feel as if you know someone like each of the main characters. Zuma, the major character and the "diva of the hot curlers" is so real. She is so real that any black woman who has sat for hours in a beauty shop knows at least 1 Zuma.

Likewise, whether in a beauty shop or not, we all know at least one character like Faye. A woman who has issues surrounding her own self image and self esteem and drowns her sorrows in a bag of Oreo cookies or by ordering way too much food a Jack in the Box. Yes, we are comfort food addicts and when things go wrong, food and lots of it makes us feel better.

Sandy is by far the most complicated of the characters because she lives her life for one thing only and that's Cerwin. She has no compassion for her children and could be characterized as a terrible mother until she redeems herself in the end.

Finally, there is Pat, the owner of the shop whose main issue surrounds her inability to have children and how that significantly impacts her life.

These characters are real and each individual personality compliments the other in such a manner that they relate well to each other in the novel and they gain strength for each other. This book was absolutely fantastic and the author was very vivid in her description of specific events, such as Tracy being taken from her foster parents.

I look forward to reading more novels by this author. This book is definitely a "sistergirl" book.

Blessings is one of my all-time favorites and it's a book that I'm always telling my friends (and even strangers in the black bookstores) to read when someone wants to read a "good" book. I loved reading this book and sharing in the lives of Pat, Faye, Zuma, and Sandy. For me, this book had me feeling the full range of "happy" to "angry" depending on the circumstances, but, from the beginning to the end, this book really touched my heart. At least one character is practically guaranteed to make you "hate" her by the end of the book but it's a great book that makes you FEEL something, in my opinion. An excellent book that is very highly recommended!

I put this book to the side because I thought it was about just a beauty shop and I lost some interest. It came with perfect timing. I just got married and had a baby. Each woman had a story that I could relate to except Sandy. I think Sandy had a lot issues that resulted from her relationship with her mother and she should have been punished for what she did. She totally got away with murder (literally!). However, I can relate to Pat, Faye and Zuma, I have a wonderful marriage to a great man, I have a child that I love more than anything and I want to have a child before I turned 30. Sheneska did a really good job with helping you to see the emotion that each woman was feeling. I felt for all the women and they had real life issues. This book should be read by every woman, because we all can relate in some form or another and we all need to get our hair done! I highly recommend this book for anyone that it is looking for a meaningful read.

I didn't really know what to expect of this book just that it was about a beauty shop. When I read the first line i was shocked the author was talking about the area that I live in, right on the corner. So, I immediatly started to wonder which shop she was talking about. When I finaly got to sit down and really read it I couldn't put the book down. The book told THE TRUTH. How there is a lot of gossip and back stabbing that goes on in the shop and also how we can all pull together when someone is in trouble. This book dealt with real life situations that touched me to the bone. I'm a Child Development major and it made all sorts of emotions appear when all the situations concerning the children arose. Ms. Sheneska Jackson thank you for giving me something to enjoy and think about when I had nothing to do. P.S. i'm going to find out which salon you were talking about, and I love the name. Blessings, Naomi

Sometimes, an unrealistic ending can dim the entire enjoyment of a book.

That is how I felt about this book.

The storylines were engaging and held my interest. However, the ending about Sandy was so unrealistic that it turned me off. There is no way in heaven or hell that Sandy would not have been prosecuted -- at the very least, her story would have a very different ending than what we were given in the book.

(I'm trying hard not to give it away, but I really want to go on a rant!!!!).

I wish the ending had been more realistic. Had it been, I would have given this book 5 stars...

I really enjoyed this book. What a blessing the gift of motherhood is, or can be.
This book introduces you to four women: Pat, Zuma, Faye, and Sandy. All of these women work in Blessings a beauty salon owned by Pat. Pat has everything, wonderful loving husband, a great career, and a beautiful home. The one thing that she wants is a child. This obsession to have a child is the one thing that could tear her marriage apart. When Pat finds out she can?t have children, she not only goes into a deep depression, but she shuts her husband out. Her wonderful husband knowing how much they both want a family is willing to work things out, and has found a way for them to adopt a child. They have to deal with the anguish of adopting as well. Will Pat ever have the child she desires so much?

Faye works in the salon as the braider and weave mistress. She has two children, and she is a widower. She is also overweight. She is still dealing with the pain of losing her husband, and to deal with her loneliness and stress she eats, and eats, and eats some more. She is raising a problematic teenager who really needs some motherly attention (and a good spanking would not hurt), and a young son. Faye was a character who if I could I wanted to reach into the pages of the book, and shake her. Her emotional eating just made me so angry with her. She was eating instead of facing her problems, and coming to grips with what her emotions were doing to her children.

Zuma was a trip. Zuma is a no nonsense type of woman, who does not take any lip from anyone. After being in a relationship that did not work out, she had a Master Plan to have a child on her own without a man, especially her sorry ex. Nothing or no one was going to interfere with her Master Plan. What Zuma did not do was have a back up Master Plan, and she pretty much expected everything to go as she planned. The rest of her Master Plan included owning her own shop, and she had the money saved to have one.

Sandy is a mother of two, and she hates being a mother. While the other women embraced the blessing of being a mother or had a strong desire to be a parent, if Sandy had her way she would not have had children. She only had them because the man she is in love with wanted children. Sandy is was an exotic dancer (White Chocolate), but when she started dating Cerwin, the owner of the bar she worked at, he did not want her to be a dancer anymore. If her children so much as whimpered, she would lash out at them, but let someone try to step in and say something about how she is raising her children, and she will pretty much go off on you. When tragedy strikes she makes the ultimate sacrifice. One that will be a blessing to someone who truly deserved it. This book is very descriptive, but flows well. This book will take you on an emotional roller coaster. You will laugh, you will cry, you will get angry, then you will cry again. You will feel sorry for some of the characters, but get disgusted, and angry at another.

There is a description about a guys rusty crusty feet that will leave you laughing long after you read it. The ending of the book will have you reaching for some tissue. I would love to see a follow up to this book. When you read the book you will understand why I would like to see a sequel to this book. This is a wonderful book.

Sheneska Jackson, I'm a big fan of yours. I've read all of your books and I can't wait to read Southern Comfort. I know it will be a big seller like the others.

Blessings was full of drama, love and hurt. Zuma was my girl. She knew just what she wanted and what it was going to take to get it. I found myself cheering for Patricia. I could relate to her in may ways. Sandra had alot of issues she was attempting to deal with. Faye had her hands full with her too fast daughter.

It's a real blessing to have friends that you can count on. I highly recommend this novel. This is an excellent christmas gift. Be Blessed!

THIS BOOK MADE ME CRY IT IS VERY TOUCHING. THE LADIES IN BLESSINGS WILL REALLY CATCH YOUR ATTENTION AND YOU WILL BECOME CONCERNED FOR THEM. ALL I WANT TO SAY IS THE BOOK IS GREAT! AS A SINGLE MOTHER I NOTICED THAT THIS BOOKS GIVES A GREAT LOOK INTO MOTHERHOOD AND THE DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIPS OF MOTHER AND CHILD. I DONT LIKE TO GIVE MANY DETAILS IN MY REVIEWS BECAUSE IT WILL SPOIL THE BOOK SO JUST READ IT

this was truly and amazing story. my favorite was zuma, she was a woman who truly knew what she wanted out of life. and to think how inspirational it is to save $50,000. in 5 years. that was awesome. most twenty five year old don't have that on their minds. i wish i was that focused back then. and then as far as she went to getting pregnant was truly amazing. my heart went out to her when she found out she wasn't pregnant. i'm glad she decided not to do it again. fate has it. she just need to stay focused but wait and allow God to send her a husband. and faye she was making me sick to the stomach eating as much as she did. i have a friend who does that. it is soo not healthy. it's really sad to think people allow food to pacify their emotional state. and pat she made me so mad when she kept turning her husband away. but thank God he was committed to his marriage. i would be indebted to my husband (futuristically) if he was like that. and sandy needed her butt truly kicked. she was very selfish, self centered and coniving. i would not like to be around a person like that. overall the book was an excellent book. it made me think a lot and i learned a lot too. i wanted to be more focused on something when i say i want it. to me even though stuff like this happens every day it still have a different affect everytime you experience it. i could also really relate to pat and zuma. i don't have any children and though i would love to have some, i don't think that i will. i'm 35 and not married and i don't want to be a single parent. i know that's not the way God intended. sometimes i get a notion of incompleteness but then again i remember it's not too late.

'Blessings' by Sheneska Jackson is most certainly a blessing to read! This enchanting story is based around four women who work at a hair salon in Los Angeles. Pat, the store's owner discovers she is infertile and with the help of her husband, Mark, starts a long and hard journey to adopting a child. Faye, a biracial, widowed, mother of two tries to come to terms with her daughter's wild, reckless ways and a son who will never know his father. Zuma is a hip young woman who's past has come back to haunt her and makes her decide to become pregnant. Finally, there's Sandy, an ex-stripper also called White Chocolate, who's number one passion in life is mistreating her kids. The characters in this story are sympathetic and believable. The plot is also fast-paced and well-planned. There are no boring places in the book so it will certainly keep your attention. If you're reading this review, you've got to get yourself a copy. It is not to be missed!

Theresa Harbinger