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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT book!, September 11, 2009
This review is from: The Bum Magnet (Paperback)
By the description of this book I had a good feeling that it would be a bit smarter and more entertaining than most chick-lit, but I still couldn't shake the chick-lit stigma I was putting on it. Upon actually reading the book I found I was right and very wrong. The book wasn't just smart and entertaining, but it also surpassed the genre of chick-lit.
The main character is nothing like me; our ages are distant, our economic status is distant (she's a professional and I'm...not), she is jaded when it comes to love and I am still young enough to be socially acceptably naive about it. That's the short list and still I could relate so much to Charisse. As a woman, in her wants and needs and dedication to her loved ones, and as a person in the same respects. The character was so well defined and three dimensional that even though I had NOTHING in common with her, I could constantly put myself in her place, making the book more interactive than just passive.
What I loved most about the evolution and character of Charisse's life, and the men in it, were that you were shown the good and the bad in the same stark and truthful light. Charisse wasn't perfect, the men she dated weren't perfect, and even those who you felt so disgusted by at times had their good sides. You still could understand how Charisse would and could form relationships with them.
Without spoiling anything, I'll simply say the man she finally ended up with was GREAT. Again, realistic but still a great leading man. One I don't walk away from the story thinking `it wouldn't actually last'. It was perfect. It was sweet. It was sigh worthy.
On a final (and IMPORTANT) note, the tone of the book was overall upbeat in what seemed like a dismal life from time to time. This made the humor easy and flawless. There were a lot of times that I laughed out loud and that last scene will remain one of my favorites for a long time.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, August 12, 2010
I enjoyed the free Kindle sample of this book, so I bought the whole book. I read it, and enjoyed it, but I was a bit disconcerted by the language and the main character's single-mindedness about sex and men. This book was written by a black author, and all characters are black - I am white - and the language and alternate culture shown in the book took me a bit by surprise. If you don't like raw language (no swearing, just 'street' language) you might want to pass on this.
On the positive side, this was an excellent portrayal of a successful 40-ish woman with emotional baggage that was keeping her from being all she could be. She fell into toxic relationship after toxic relationship, blaming the guys for being 'bums' without understanding how her own baggage made her pick men that were only going to reinforce her existing gender stereotypes. The book is the story of her coming to terms with her past and her baggage (and dumping a lot of it), and meeting 'Mr. Right' in the process. Just about any woman, of any background, would be able to relate to her, though I agree with another reviewer who said that she was frustrating at times.
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10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
THERE'S A GOOD REASON THIS BOOK IS ONLY 99 CENTS!!, June 26, 2010
This review is from: The Bum Magnet (Paperback)
Charisse Tyler is a successful real estate agent whose main problem in life is that she attracts no-good men.
A magazine article leads Charisse to do some self-analysis and she goes on to relive EVERY sordid detail of EVERY failed relationship she's ever had in her whole life, which got to be irritating after awhile.
Not once does it dawn on Charisse that "like attracts like." She attracts lowdown men because she herself is a lowdown woman who sleeps with complete strangers first & only thinks to google them months after she started having sex with them.
Well, DUH! That's your problem right there... It's not them it's YOU! Men know a loose woman when they see one.
The bums that run in and out of her life aren't Charisse's problem so much as she is her own worst enemy, by allowing these lowlifes back in her bed even after she has clocked their bum status. This made me wish I could somehow slap some common sense into her... HARD! Women in their 20s or maybe even 30s behave like this, but at 42 Charisse should have learned better years ago, and so she comes across as silly and incredibly naive for someone her age.
There are numerous grammatical errors that were distracting, and it was ironic that Charisse claimed to be allergic to nuts but was always shoving Reese's peanut butter cups in her mouth.
I bought this book on Kindle because it was only 99 cents. I got what I paid for, but would still like a refund.
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