What choices do you have when you are abused, cheated on and left with a trail of broken promises? Don’t Get Mad…Get Even. Take an inside look at Jamaican culture and lifestyle through a collection of award-winning stories. You will laugh, cry and commiserate with a compelling cast of characters, who conquer their challenges in unique ways.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
This short story collection was an enjoyable read. As the title promises, each story focuses on a character who's getting even against someone who didn't do right by him or her. This is mostly contemporary, but there's a touch of paranormal in this collection. I also enjoyed the setting of Jamaica and the patois interspersed throughout the book. J.L. Campbell is an author to watch out for. No matter how long each piece was, I was fully involved with the characters' thoughts and actions.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Wendy Ewurum
Format:Kindle Edition
My Reading Experience
I loved this book so much for so many reasons, some of which I will try to articulate. It took me a while to even sit and write this review because I was so unsettled after reading the book.
I find myself at very odd times thinking about the characters in those stories and wondering what was going on in the author's mind when she wrote that. How do you explain how you enjoyed a book so emotionally dark and disturbing. Don't get me wrong, it is not heavy or violent in anyway but the stories did affect me emotionally and have definitely had a lasting impact on my mind.
After all, abusive relationships are not lighthearted topics, this book makes you think and wonder about those around you who for example, like Celia in Conditional Surrender, are trapped in loveless, abusive relationships as a result of their own ill-informed choices and even worse the choice she makes to exact get justice feels like anything but justice (which just broke my heart) or the two little girls in Sudden Emancipation, victims of the selfish and amoral acts of those meant to protect them.
I commend J.L for her uncanny ability of capturing life around her in such wonderful detail that in transposing it to " paper" she has you feeling as though it is you experiencing what the characters are going through.
I found Don't Get Mad...Get Even to be a thoroughly engaging read and an imperative addition to any library worth mentioning. Let me also say that as short as the stories in this collection are, they are in my opinion the personification of this well known adage: Dynamite comes in small packages.
I loved this book so much for so many reasons, some of which I will try to articulate. It took me a while to even sit and write this review because I was so unsettled after reading the book.
I find myself at very odd times thinking about the characters in those stories and wondering what was going on in the author's mind when she wrote that. How do you explain how you enjoyed a book so emotionally dark and disturbing. Don't get me wrong, it is not heavy or violent in anyway but the stories did affect me emotionally and have definitely had a lasting impact on my mind.
After all, abusive relationships are not lighthearted topics, this book makes you think and wonder about those around you who for example, like Celia in Conditional Surrender, are trapped in loveless, abusive relationships as a result of their own ill-informed choices and even worse the choice she makes to exact get justice feels like anything but justice (which just broke my heart) or the two little girls in Sudden Emancipation, victims of the selfish and amoral acts of those meant to protect them.
I commend J.L for her uncanny ability of capturing life around her in such wonderful detail that in transposing it to " paper" she has you feeling as though it is you experiencing what the characters are going through.
I found Don't Get Mad...Get Even to be a thoroughly engaging read and an imperative addition to any library worth mentioning. Let me also say that as short as the stories in this collection are, they are in my opinion the personification of this well known adage: Dynamite comes in small packages.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Epic Reviewz
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Don't Get Mad Get Even is a slow read. With a title as captivating as this one would think the book would be a page turner. It was the exact opposite as I struggled to turn every page. The characters lacked depth in most of the stories and extreme revenge was taken in situations where it wasn't called for.
In the first story, A Push in the Right Direction, Rita and Richard had a relationship that involved domestic violence where Richard was the abuser. It ultimately resulted in Rita using an opportune moment to kill him. Now I understand women that are beaten sometimes come to this conclusion, but in this book I didn't feel that Rita had a reason to do so. Why didn't she leave Richard? Why didn't she take her children and get out of that situation? Never once did the story say Rita tried to leave but was stalked or threaten by Richard to the point of filing for a restraining order. Never once did the story say that Richard put Rita in a situation where she was left with no choice but to take his life. It simply said he cheated on her, beat her from time to time, and a weird voice in her head (WHY?) told her to kill him so she did. This was violence met with revenge to an unnecessary and extreme degree.
In the next story, Conditional Surrender, Celia and Patrick made no sense to me at all. Soon into their relationship she found out he was a cheater and even though he fed her some lame story about his infidelity she believed him and married him. Then he treated her like his maid instead of his wife while he cheated with many women, some in their house, even in their bed all the while blaming her. Instead of leaving him, she stayed and then decided to send a letter to everyone exposing his cheating tendencies and then kill herself. WHY? That made no sense to me. If he'd made it so that she could never have left without resorting to violence or without making her life and the life of those she loved absolute hell then MAYBE I could understand her actions, but nothing of that sort took place. He cheated repeatedly, she stayed, then one day she took her own life as part of her act of revenge. I just don't get that.
Next came Entrapment. The beginning made no sense to me, the middle made no sense to me, and the end made even less sense to me. Kyle met Miriam, liked her roommate, started dating Miriam, cheated on Miriam. Then he married her, found out she had some kind of voodoo on him, chose to put voodoo on her which resulted in her death. Even though she was dead she still haunted him and had some kind of voodoo on him that had Kyle seeing her ghostly form and dying. Then Miriam swallowed him whole or swallowed his scream. (You don't understand? Neither do I)
When Kyle found out about the voodoo why didn't he leave? Or when he went to the voodoo woman that his mother took him to (yes, his mother helped him to get revenge) why didn't he get something that would reverse what Miriam had done to him, giving him the ability to leave, and then get the hell out of that marriage? This story lacked believability and depth of any kind.
Next came Sudden Emancipation, the only story in the book that held my attention past the second page. It was the best story in the book. However there was no getting even in that story so why was it even in the book? In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."
Finally there was The Last Laugh. An old man named Herman asked a younger woman, whom he didn't know, named Carlene to take care of him in exchange for the property and land he owned since he had no family that cared about his existence enough to be there for him. Carlene agreed and he signed a document, or a will of sorts, cementing their deal. Herman treated Carlene badly while she cared for him. Out of nowhere family came along. Carlene decided to suffocate Herman. (WHY?) At the funeral she finds out that Herman wrote a will that superseded any other will he had written and Carlene passes out. The end. This story was more about greed and viciousness from the two main characters than it was about getting even. So why was it in the book?
All of the characters lacked depth and the stories probably would have been much better had the author taken time to develop those characters and deepen the storyline. Completing this book was torch-ure at some points and it felt like drudgery getting through it.
Read It or Weep? Truthfully I'd rather weep than read Don't Get Mad Get Even. This book makes it onto my Weep list, NOT my read list. Authors beware, this book has just been torched!
In the first story, A Push in the Right Direction, Rita and Richard had a relationship that involved domestic violence where Richard was the abuser. It ultimately resulted in Rita using an opportune moment to kill him. Now I understand women that are beaten sometimes come to this conclusion, but in this book I didn't feel that Rita had a reason to do so. Why didn't she leave Richard? Why didn't she take her children and get out of that situation? Never once did the story say Rita tried to leave but was stalked or threaten by Richard to the point of filing for a restraining order. Never once did the story say that Richard put Rita in a situation where she was left with no choice but to take his life. It simply said he cheated on her, beat her from time to time, and a weird voice in her head (WHY?) told her to kill him so she did. This was violence met with revenge to an unnecessary and extreme degree.
In the next story, Conditional Surrender, Celia and Patrick made no sense to me at all. Soon into their relationship she found out he was a cheater and even though he fed her some lame story about his infidelity she believed him and married him. Then he treated her like his maid instead of his wife while he cheated with many women, some in their house, even in their bed all the while blaming her. Instead of leaving him, she stayed and then decided to send a letter to everyone exposing his cheating tendencies and then kill herself. WHY? That made no sense to me. If he'd made it so that she could never have left without resorting to violence or without making her life and the life of those she loved absolute hell then MAYBE I could understand her actions, but nothing of that sort took place. He cheated repeatedly, she stayed, then one day she took her own life as part of her act of revenge. I just don't get that.
Next came Entrapment. The beginning made no sense to me, the middle made no sense to me, and the end made even less sense to me. Kyle met Miriam, liked her roommate, started dating Miriam, cheated on Miriam. Then he married her, found out she had some kind of voodoo on him, chose to put voodoo on her which resulted in her death. Even though she was dead she still haunted him and had some kind of voodoo on him that had Kyle seeing her ghostly form and dying. Then Miriam swallowed him whole or swallowed his scream. (You don't understand? Neither do I)
When Kyle found out about the voodoo why didn't he leave? Or when he went to the voodoo woman that his mother took him to (yes, his mother helped him to get revenge) why didn't he get something that would reverse what Miriam had done to him, giving him the ability to leave, and then get the hell out of that marriage? This story lacked believability and depth of any kind.
Next came Sudden Emancipation, the only story in the book that held my attention past the second page. It was the best story in the book. However there was no getting even in that story so why was it even in the book? In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."
Finally there was The Last Laugh. An old man named Herman asked a younger woman, whom he didn't know, named Carlene to take care of him in exchange for the property and land he owned since he had no family that cared about his existence enough to be there for him. Carlene agreed and he signed a document, or a will of sorts, cementing their deal. Herman treated Carlene badly while she cared for him. Out of nowhere family came along. Carlene decided to suffocate Herman. (WHY?) At the funeral she finds out that Herman wrote a will that superseded any other will he had written and Carlene passes out. The end. This story was more about greed and viciousness from the two main characters than it was about getting even. So why was it in the book?
All of the characters lacked depth and the stories probably would have been much better had the author taken time to develop those characters and deepen the storyline. Completing this book was torch-ure at some points and it felt like drudgery getting through it.
Read It or Weep? Truthfully I'd rather weep than read Don't Get Mad Get Even. This book makes it onto my Weep list, NOT my read list. Authors beware, this book has just been torched!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ok
It was ok
It could have ended a little better the ending were empty but it was ok just ok
It could have ended a little better the ending were empty but it was ok just ok
Published 18 hours ago by claudia
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good!
I liked these short stories a lot. It was crazy how some of the characters' version of revenge were completely different from what one would typically expect, but it gave the... Read more
Published 1 day ago by Kendra
3.0 out of 5 stars
Quick read
Nice simple stories with just enough sparks to keep you reading. I keep going to find out the twist at the end.
Published 3 days ago by Andrea Reeves
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Reading
Great Book I love it and the price was less than the store and I got more for my money! Thanks!!!
Published 4 days ago by Lateefah Rahman
3.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Get Mad...Get Even by J.L. Campbell
A book about handling situations, it amazes as to how far one would go to get rid of someone , or to how far one go to commit infidelity.
Published 4 days ago by Bonita Ray
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read
This was a great book could not put it down. Love it! It keeps you on your toes and get you to thinking.
Published 5 days ago by Floyie Branch
3.0 out of 5 stars
Things you think about
This book was interesting because some times you think about doing crazy things and its about women who didn't just think about it but actually followed through. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Cvrgrl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book
Love this book. Would not stop reading until I got to the end. I'm now looking for part two. Can't wait.
Published 9 days ago by sunshine67
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wrong title
A composition of short stories, mostly unfinished at the wrong time. She should have just stuck to one story and finished it.
Published 26 days ago by Kerry Newell
1.0 out of 5 stars
don't get mad get even
Didn't like it was all over the place. When I got into it , it just jumped to something else
Published 29 days ago by Barbara Ezell
More About the Author
J.L. Campbell is a proud Jamaican and an award-winning writer, who is always on the lookout for story-making material.
She writes romantic suspense, women's fiction and young adult novels. She is the author of Contraband, Christine's Odyssey, Dissolution, Distraction, Don't Get Mad...Get Even, Giving up the Dream, Retribution and Hardware (written under the pen name Jayda McTyson).
Visit her on the web at http://www.joylcampbell.com
She writes romantic suspense, women's fiction and young adult novels. She is the author of Contraband, Christine's Odyssey, Dissolution, Distraction, Don't Get Mad...Get Even, Giving up the Dream, Retribution and Hardware (written under the pen name Jayda McTyson).
Visit her on the web at http://www.joylcampbell.com
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