Amazon.com: Hood Rat: A Novel: K'wan: Books

From Publishers Weekly
K'wan's latest (after Eve) is a meandering trip across Harlem with plenty of pit stops for vice and violence. Yoshi is a stripper who prostitutes herself for extra cash; Rhonda is a promiscuous and abusive mother of three; Reese is a scabrous, demanding kept woman; and Billy is an attractive, sporty woman with a healthy distrust of the men who live in their Harlem 'hood. All of the women get sucked into drama involving neighborhood rappers, drug dealings, abortion, fistfights, catfights, shootings, rape, AIDS or good, old-fashioned drunkenness. There's a bevy of minor characters, each involved in intersecting subplots, though these don't so much coalesce as run their course. The most interesting story involves Paul, a man who's trying to go straight and become an artist, and who's also dating a respectable lawyer named Marlene, but things are destined to end badly. None of the characters rises above stereotype and the plotting is mechanical, but the big draw here is the electric prose, which is imbued with profane, comic lyricism. (May)
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Product Description

Hood Rat (n.): A woman of questionable repute, one who has been known to "get around" in the 'hood.

Yoshi is young, fine, and larcenous. She lives her life playing on men's hearts as well as their pockets. She learns the hard way that all that glitters isn't gold. Billy, a former high school basketball star, is at the end of her rope with the opposite sex. To her, all men are dogs, so she secretly seeks comfort in the arms of women, until she meets a man who makes her reevaluate her feelings. Reese is an around-the-way chick, trying to keep up with the Joneses. There's a revolving door on her bedroom as she tries to find the love she always felt was missing. Her promiscuity leaves her pregnant from a one-night stand and Reese is faced with the task of breaking an age-old cycle, passed down from mother to daughter in her family, and standing on her own. Rhonda is twenty-something with three kids, by three men, and riding the system all the way to the bank. To her, work is a dirty word; between the multiple checks she gets from the government, and the games she plays with men, she's living the life of a ghetto superstar. The game soon turns ugly when one of her "sponsors" snaps and decides to get some payback.

Harlem has never seen four friends as scandalous as these. The neighborhood will never be the same again.

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Product Details

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (October 31, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312360088
ISBN-13: 978-0312360085
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
freak bitch, little nigga, hood rat

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Crazy Eight, New York, Black Ice, Big Dawg, Puerto Rican, Silver Cup, Slap Ya Self, Eighth Avenue, Harlem Hospital, All Paul, Aunt Viv, Daily News, Jack Daniel, Times Square

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 4 books:

Extra Marital Affairs by Relentless Aaron in Back Matter
Criminal Minded: A Novel by Tracy Brown in Back Matter
Just Because by Becky Kelly on page 289
Nasty Girls: An Urban Novel by Erick S. Gray in Back Matter

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	76% buy the item featured on this page: Hood Rat: A Novel 4.5 out of 5 stars (52) $10.17
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Customer Reviews

52 Reviews

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4 star:		(16)
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Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (52 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hoodrat needs to be on your book list!!!!, November 5, 2006

By	shyste(coast2coastreadersbookclub) - See all my reviews

Hoodrat is a novel about four friends living in the hood. Yoshi,Billy,Reese and Rhonda are four friends who get theirs how they can no matter who it hurts. Rhonda is the worst of all who is giving her baby daddy Paul a hard time for no reason and this leads to both their untimely demise. Yoshi is a stripper who lets a man know this is strictly business until the one unsuspecting guy,Jah comes into her life after a horrible attack to let her know she can be loved unconditonally and she realizes there is another way to get money. Billy is the confused broken hearted one who is longing to fill a void and doesn't know how to repair her heart until Marcus. Reese is peer pressured into doing drugs and eventually loses her reputation for not thinking and her ways lead her to a pregnancy and no clue of who the father is.

I loved this book because it needed to be written. My sisters need to wake up and take their place and do the right thing..not try to make it off the men in their lives and definitely learn to respect themselves. K'wan did an excellent job bringing these characters to life and by getting into the female mind. I think a lot of young sisters need to read this book because there is an excellent message to be learned. K'wan has done it again!!!

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wake Up Ladies!, October 23, 2006

By	Urban-Reviews.com (Urban-Reviews.com) - See all my reviews

Yoshi, Billy, Reese, and Rhonda are four scandalous friends. Yoshi doesn't have time for love from a man because she's too busy digging and emptying their pockets. But Yoshi will soon learn that everything that looks good isn't good for you. Billy is a former high school basketball star who has sworn off men. She has a little attraction to women until she meets a man that may make her want to give the opposite sex one more chance. Reese is a follower who is trying to find the love that she's been missing all of her life by hopping into bed with different men. But Reese gets a wake-up call when she ends up pregnant from a shameful one night stand. Rhonda is twenty-something with three kids by three different men including a teen daughter. She rides off of the system and different men for her own financial stability instead of working. But Rhonda's gravy train comes to a halt when one of her men turns the tables on her.

Hood Rat is an entertaining and thought-provoking novel by K'wan. K'wan expertly gets into the female psyche of these questionable women. If there was ever an example of how women should not act, then this novel is it. From Yoshi being a stripper/prostitute to Rhonda making her baby daddy's life a living hell for no reason, these women had no shame. My personal favorite character was Billy because it seems like she was a hood rat more by association than anything. She wasn't totally innocent but she had the most sense out of the group. This novel is definitely a wake-up to all women about the importance of self-love and how it influences their relationships with men and their children. Hood Rat is an excellent novel about lessons learned and the importance of making the right life decisions.

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars K'wan is the King of Urban Fiction-- hands down!, November 25, 2006

By	PrinceLuva79 "Loves a good book!!" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

I just finished this knock out novel by K'wan "Hood Rat". The book was pure FIRE!!! K'wan did his thing, I mean he stuck his foot all up in it.

Travel within the pages of this book and you will meet an assortment of interesting characters. Let's start with Rhonda, a twenty something mother of 3 who gives new meaning to the word trifling, she's a welfare queen and proud of it. She doesn't give a sh-- about her kids only getting drunk, high, sleeping around and making life a living hell for her baby daddy Paul, and girlfriend Marlene.
Then there is Yoshi a stripper/money getter, and her best friend Billy a tomboyish beauty with a broken heart, who is not sure if she likes men, or something else. The 4th member of the crew is Reese who lives at home with mom and is basically Rhonda's sidekick, she sleeps around and has no ambitions or goals, just like Rhonda.
There is also Jah, a true gangsta who is Paul's liitle brother. Spooky his ace boon coon from the womb to the tomb. Crazy Eight the neighborhood mentally challenged pest, up and coming rappers Bad Blood who are Pain, True,Lex and Jay. Bad blood was discovered by Don B., a star in his own right. Marcus, and Cat, who work at the Shooter's Club, a brother and sister that both have their eyes on Billy. Also there are Slick and his crew Rel and Groovy, plus Paul's best freind Larry Love.
All of there paths will cross in a truly crazy and violent turn of events during the summer of 2006.
I agree with one of the other reviewers, my fave character was Jah too, you really start to root for him although he is busting caps all over Harlem, he's got a good heart and a soft spot for a special lady. I was saddened by the way Paul's life turned out.
DRAMA is all up in the pages of "Hood Rat"!!This book is a must read, it is so good I was sad to see it end. I look forward to K'wan's next work!!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Review
Well I haven't finished the book as of yet but it is very good. At times I find my self not being able to put it down. Sooooooo much drama. Author has skills!!!!!!!

Published 1 month ago by Dana R. Paul

4.0 out of 5 stars half and half
I loved the book but i found myself feeling Yoshi and Billy's story moreso than Rhonda and Reese's. i couldn't get into the latter be it that they were just too much for me... Read more

Published 3 months ago by A. Fay

4.0 out of 5 stars OK.. but still OFF THE HOOK!
This novel frustrated me during the majority of it because it seemed to just be the everyday lives of "Hood Rats" smoking, drinking, tricking, clubbing, making money, making poor... Read more

Published 9 months ago by KEKE

4.0 out of 5 stars SO Hood
At first I thought this book was dull cause I couldn't focus on the story line but after a few chapters I couldn't stop reading. It was pulling me in. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Temeka Lyon

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
Book in great condition when received. K'wan as usual has done it again! He definately keeps it real. Read more

Published 13 months ago by MHendrick

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
Hood Rat...
This book had me hooked from beginning to end there were times in this book that I didn't know if I wanted to cry or to laugh... Read more

Published 15 months ago by DAWN

4.0 out of 5 stars Another drama from a formidable cast, and a compelling story
K'wan's latest addition to the African-American urban street fiction is armed with normal modus operandi from him, including the Harlem landscape, language and larceny. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Alvin C. Romer

4.0 out of 5 stars Im so Hood!!!!
I just had to read this book after all the hype I heard about it.And I must say that it was pretty good,It sort of started off slow to me and I felt that the author was... Read more

Published 17 months ago by Ms.Lincy

5.0 out of 5 stars Bona Fide Urban!

"Hood Rat" is an excellent portrayal of four young friends trying to survive in the hood. Yoshi, Billy, Reese and Rhonda each have different personalities which bring about... Read more

Published 18 months ago by LOCKSIE

4.0 out of 5 stars It was a great read
I really enjoyed the book, it was the first I've read of K'Wan and I'm now a fan too! Out of the four girls Yoshibelle was my favorite because she was bout her bread and you had... Read more

Published 18 months ago by Jazz

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