Customer Reviews

Girls from da' Hood

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Lil Wayne proclaimed he needed a hoodrat chick in one of his songs a few years ago, he was rapping about Unique, Nina, and Anyeh. These names represent the titles of the three stories in this anthology. I commend authors Nikki Turner, Chunichi and Roy Glenn for their candid depiction of life in the ghetto fabulous streets. These stories are a new soap opera ala urban style. Revenge is the major theme throughout all three tales.

The coarse and cool style of the authors is reminiscent of Donald Goines, the king of gangster tales from the hood. These new authors spin dramatic violent gritty glimpses of how drugs, sex, greed, and crime are as common as week day rush hour for the gainfully employed citizens.

Despite the brutal acquaintances and constant struggle to survive Virginia's hoods, the girls find time to love their men. You will need to read each story to discover whether their men are worthy of love; or even if the girls are capable of committing and loving beyond lust and gold digging.

I found each tale to be fast-paced, disturbing, and absorbing enough to digest the entire book within a day.
The authors blend together in a hip- hop- rhythm- writing style which flows together like a good concert. Each writer's voice has the same beat, giving the reader a comfort zone between stories, almost as if one writer had penned all three treats.

These talented three have marked their territory in the urban genre and I look forward to reading more from them. I must point out that Roy Glenn's Nina, ended by paving the way for a complete novel in which to finish her drama. The tales of Anyeh and Unique are complete, but of course the authors could always do readers a favor and pen more escapades involving these characters or their crew.

Reviewed by Jaize
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I give this book 3 1/2 stars. It's a step up from okay (3 stars) but not quite I like it material (4 stars). Don't know what I was expecting, but maybe something a little more based on their previous work.

Nikki Turner - Unique is the stereotypical drug dealer's girlfriend. All she does is shop and spend his money. When her boyfriend Took has to do a bid, Unique is up the creek without a paddle. Does she get a job and try to better herself? No, of course not! It's on to the next man or next hustle. On her way up, or down depending on how you look at it, she's made her share of enemies. And like every dog, she has her day. Nikki does a good job portraying a "certified hood rat."

Roy Glenn - Nina Thomas is a recent college graduate who puts her life on hold once she rekindles a relationship with her first boyfriend Lorenzo after five years.. Things are good, but as always that doesn't last. Nina finds herself in a position where she needs to make some serious decisions - decisions that she may have to suffer the consequences for. This was my favorite of the three. I liked the tie-in of his previous novel Is It A Crime.

Chunichi - Anyeh has a plan. A plan to bring down the great Diablo James using her feminine wiles. But she never planned to fall for him herself. And how will this affect her plan? This was my least favorite of the three. It was all over with the twists, turns and inconsistencies. There's a little bit of everything - from the mysterious "my baby," an anonymous person Anyeh gives updates of her progress with Diablo, to lesbian lovers, to a jealous sister, to an addicted mother, to an African potion.

Not a bad book, but by no means the greatest. Could have been better. I recommend it on the strength of the authors.

Readers get a bonus with a short story by Carl Weber entitled He Makes Love Like A Woman.

This is outside the stuff I normally read but these "ghetto lit" books, published by small African-American indie publishers and advertised as real stories of "hood life" by insiders, are tremendously popular right now and have become a subgenre unto themselves, so I've been wondering what it's all about.

I picked up Girls From Da Hood because I knew Nikki Turner as one of the originators of the form, and Chunichi is also a well known name. With three novellas in the book I had a chance to sample 3 different tales from the genre.

"Unique" is Nikki Turner's contribution and it was the strongest for me. Unique is fascinating, a completely conscience-less (and conscious-less) hustling female who works with her friend Strolla to work every scam she can to keep the bills paid once her drug-dealer boyfriend is jailed for a long stretch. The ins and outs of her socializing and perpetrating were fascinating, although Unique and Strolla are never likeable characters. It's more the fascination of watching a train wreck that carries the reader through rather than any sympathy for the characters.

"Nina" by Roy Glenn is the story of one woman's descent from almost-made-it-out (at the beginning of the story Nina has just graduated from college with a degree in business) to in-over-her-head and facing a murder charge. On her first day back in town after graduation, with vague plans to find a job and start a career, Nina runs into her old highschool flame, who still carries a torch for her and is now quite successful in the drug game. She falls hard for him all over again and enjoys the high life with him for a time but things go terribly wrong and Nina is left to decide whether to get her life back on the straight and narrow or continue in the ghetto world. I had a hard time sympathizing with Nina because she had other options and threw them away; in fact I found her even less sympathetic than Unique because Unique never had a chance to be in any other world than that of the hustlin' hood. Nina chooses to remain there over and over again.

"Anyeh" is Chunichi's entry and while the plot strung me along and kept me reading, ultimately the twists and turns stopped making sense and became unbelievable. Anyeh is beholden to a mysterious cell phone caller she knows only as "my baby" and is collaborating with "my baby" to take down the biggest hustler in Virginia, Diablo. Will Diablo be fooled? Will his scheming sister explose Anyeh? Or will Anyeh herself mess up and fall for the one she is supposed to be leading to destruction? There is some suspense but the payoff was somewhat lacking.

However, all three stories were page turners in the end, easy and fast to read and wall to wall with comtemporary slang. They read like a window into a world you suspect lays out there but don't necessarily want to live in yourself--are they only portraying the "real world" or are they creating another layer of glamorous, decadent and violent fantasy that has the same appeal as gangster rap for those who don't actually live "the life"? It's hard to say but I can see why these books are so popular--they go down fast and easy and certainly come off as realistic. I felt vaguely like I'd eaten a big helping of unhealthy food after I finished, but I enjoyed it along the way and would be tempted to go back for another helping.

I love street fiction because it is what I know. I was raised In the "ghetto". So I can really relate to these reads. But just like any type of book there are some good quality and bad quality. That goes for street fiction as well. I read all types of books but now we are talking about street fiction. Nikki Turner is by far one of the best at her game. She does not disaapoint in her story. She takes you on a ride with a girl named Unique. Unique is so trifling that at times you feel sorry for her because you as the reader realize that she has low self esteem. I won't give away the story but Unique did some shyyt that had my jaw drop.
Then Roy Glenn takes you on another adventure with Nina. Nina is being stalked by an ex-lover. Who really tries to take things way too far.
Last but definitley not least we have Chunichi who does the dayyuum thing in the last story with Anyeh. This story shows true love and loyalty to family with a twist of christian fiction which I loved. Chunichi sent a messae that know matter what you been through or are going through GOD is the man in charge. Well done to the three of you. And a special BIGGUPS to the man himself Carl Weber for finding you.

Nikki Turner and Chunichi has blew my mind. This book is good from the beginning to the end and will keep your face in the book. I bought this book and was done within two days, and thats only because I had to work, otherwise I would have finished this book in matter of hours. If you dont know, Nikki Turner is the s?*%, I have not read not one bad book from her, she's hot.

I had been seeing this book for a while and finally decided to purchase it. It is broken down into three short stories with an "extra" shorter story by publisher and author Carl Weber. Nikki Turners 'Unique'is the first and best out of the three. Unique was definitely a charactar that could have had her own book. Roy Glenn was next on the scene with 'Nina'. This story was okay, but did not hold much weight coming after Nikki's story. Finally we have Chunichi's 'Anyeh'. I like the premise of the story, however it was not executed strongly enough. I have heard great things about her full length novel 'A Gangta's Girl', and intend to read that sometime in the near future. Carl Weber treated readers to a very short erotic story at the end of the book. I am not used to reading that kind of story from Carl and it sort of shocked me in a way - it was very 'Zane-like'. I am looking forward to reading his newly released 'The Preachers Son'.

Well i started reading the book yesterday im only half way trough... and so far i love this book!! when i went to the book store with my sister i seen it and the name of the book and the picture caught my attention. at first i thought the book was going to be about grls my age and there struggles and their problems. but turns out. it was even better then what i thought... i can't belive all the stuff unique does to get her money. i mean shes the biggest of the biggest hoe's out there... her and her friend strolla make a horrible team... when i read this book i just stay shocked at most of the parts and i start laughing by my self... this book is really good if you are intrested in books that have to do with hustlers and about ghetto people and how u can compare these characters to real life... well im dieng to finish reading this book to go buy part 2 !!! but yea jus try out the book i garentee you are goin to like this book but liek i said only if you are into books like this...

The book is not what I expected. It was written by 3 different aurthors. The first part could have been good if there was more detail.

You'll enjoy the book...It didnt keep my interest heavily but i finished it in a week! Usually a good book u can finish in 2 days! But it ended up ok! I'd tell someone to buy it

Girls From Da Hood welcomed me into the lives of Unique, Nina, and Anyeh. Each author created vivid images with the stroke of their pens that helped me see, as well as hear their stories. All three are talented writers, however, I want to give a standing ovation to Roy Glenn for a job well done on his walk on the female wild side. Roy... you've got a fan for life!