Customer Reviews

I'm Telling : A Novel

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you are looking for a powerful, compelling read that brings together the themes of family ties, incest, love, & conquering the odds then you will find an amazing read with Karen E. Miller's I'm Telling.

In I'm Telling we are introduced to twins Faith and Hope. The ladies come from a family where they experienced the tremendous impact of incest. While Faith has strived to move onward with her life and has a thriving literary career and loving relationship, Hope on the other hand has gone toward the path of drugs and sex. Hope also carries the heavy burden that she is to blame for the incest at the hands of their stepfather. As Faith reaches out to help her troubled twin and work to heal the pain of their childhoods, their relationship is placed to the test as a betrayal arises that is so great that it could destroy their sisterly bond forever.

Karen does an amazing job of presenting above mentioned issues and doesn't sugarcoat any of them. She presents these issues in a strong and realistic manner which for many will truly hit home. This story was truly one that moved me from beginning to end and I connected to the characthers as they went through their trials and triumphs. If you haven't read I'm Telling, I would highly recommend it for you will truly be moved. Karen Miller is an author that you should add to your "to read list".

This book was recommended to me by a close friend. In fact, she literally dragged me into the bookstore to buy it. Once I read it,I understood why. This book if filled with drama. Not the kind that makes you feel dirty for liking, but the kind that keeps you turning the page out of concern for the characters that you've come to know and love.

Not all of the characters are loveable, of course, but I couldn't help rooting for Hope in spite of all the dirty things she did to her mother and to her sister. With the mother I thought she was a little justified, but I still can't understand why she would want to hurt Faith who only wanted to help her.

I'm going to stop there, because I don't want to be one of the reviewers who give away the whole plot of book (don't you just hate those reviews?), but I will say that I think Ms. Quinones-Miller did a wonderful job in writing this book. I was planning on picking it up anyway becasue i enjoyed her first book, Satin Doll, but I'm glad I got around to reading this book sooner rather than later.

In her sophomore novel, I'm Telling, Karen E. Quinones Miller has a definite hit on her hands. The story of twins, Faith and Hope, will stay with readers for years to come.

Faith, a literary agent, appears to have it all with her successful business and her faithful lover Henry. But her family leaves something to be desired. Her sister, Hope, is into every illegal activity known to man and her mother, Miss Irene, is Queen of De-Nial.

This novel takes a new approach to the subject of sexual abuse of a child. Instead of focusing on the act itself, we are shown the effects of the aftermath of the victim and other members of the family. We are also treated to the fairytale romance of Henry and Faith. Despite the terrible conditions under which they met, they manage to persevere and stick together through all the craziness.

I would definitely recommend to all readers who appreciate a well written story and I look forward to Miller's next novel.

Reviewed by Nicole

APOOO BookClub

I had been waiting for this book because of an excerpt i read on Karen Miller's website, and when it arrived at my bookstore i snatched it up quick. I was not disappointed. It was one of those books that you don't want to put down. I read it in just two days.

I'm Telling is about a family that was victimized by incest, and what happened to them because of it. I hated the mother at first, but then wound up feeling sorry for her even though she didn't do anything to help her daughter. Some people will do anything to have a man in their lives. Sad but true.

But I loved Faith, and I was really touched by the love she had for her family, and how bad she wanted to see them heal. And her boyfriend was off the hook.

I would definitely recommend this book.

Miller is back mesmerizing us with yet another shero overcoming her past. In Satin Doll, she gave us Regina Harris, a successful freelance writer over coming her troubled past." I'm Telling is a story of the Freeman women Faith, Hope and their mother Miss Irene. Each one dealing with Hope being molested by her stepfather. "I squeezed my eyes real tight, but I couldn't get what I had just seen out of my mind. My stepfather's face in between my twin sister's legs. Even with my eyes closed I could still see them."

Every time I read one of Miller's books, I learn something. Satin Doll taught me the harm of "silent agreements" in a relationship. In I'm Telling, I learned it does not matter the outcome of telling a secret you have to get it out and obtain some sort of closure. Faith told the secret, trying to help her sister and Miss Irene's reaction was not what Faith expected.

Miss Irene longed for someone to adore all 400 pounds of her, and Hope was so mentally unstable that she never realized the one thing she wanted she already had in her twin sister Faith, to be chosen over another. The characters and the situation pulled me into the story. I felt like I was walking through this novel with Faith and Hope. I'm Telling held every expectation I had, I am not partial to reading about molestation but Miller did it with such style the story never annoyed me. I read I'm Telling in one sitting.

Missy
APOOO Book Club

Faith and Hope. Fitting names for twin sisters who are as close as everyone always think twins are. Or are they? Hope would never do anything to hurt Faith, who spends most of her life trying to save Hope from herself. Or would she? Just how fair is Hope willing to go to make Faith prove how much she loves her? Then there is Ms. Irene, Faith and Hope's mother who has learned to take denial to a new level.

When Faith tells their mother of the relationship between her live-in boyfriend,whom the twins call "Papa," and her twin sister Hope, it is Papa she chooses to believe, not her own daughter. From there, their lives are changed forever.

As a teenager, Faith meets Henry, who is every woman's dream. And while he may have had to do a few illegal things in his young life, they were done for a reason: to put himself and Faith through college. Through all the things she goes through, Faith knows that no matter what, she can always depend on Henry. Or can she?

This sophomore effort by Karen Miller is outstanding and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a book club selection, I am sure it will open up a lot of discussions about things most would rather not talk about. There is a lot to be said about telling that which an abuser would rather you not. More people have to realize there is more power in telling than keeping silent. Kudos, Karen, for tackling a difficult subject. I look forward to your next book! YOU GO GURL!!!!!

After reading the first couple lines, I just that I was in for a good read, WRONG!!

(not wanting to tell the story but...)
What was the purpose of the three pages wasted on the "five percenters"? And Miss Irene did nothing but get excited over a hot meal and bottle of cheap wine.

Mrs. Miller tried get out too much and nothing was flowing right. The characters were not developed and the story line was weak.

I was disappointed and this book will be returned.

Elegantly written and simplistically conveyed, I'm Telling is the story of a dysfunctional family with a secret that spans decades and ultimately to explode."...she didn't go to bed with him!" Faith yelled at her mother. "He raped her. She was only 11. He raped her. He was a pervert. A child molester. You brought a child molester into our house...It's your fault! You let that bastard screw your baby daughter and you didn't do anything to stop him." OR THIS QUOTE "I squeezed my eyes real tight, but I couldn't get what I had just seen out of my mind. My stepfather's face in between my twin sister's legs. Even with my eyes closed I could still see them. And I could smell them, too. A funny smell. Kind of like sweat and something else."

Aesthetically identical twins, with dissimilar personalities, Faith and Hope entered this world from the same stomach, at the same time. That created a bond that wrapped around them throughout their adolescence...One trying to protect and save the other. I'm Telling provides a detailed glimpse of the twins as adults, where they are existing and thinking at opposite ends of the measuring stick. One twin bathing in a successful career & a thriving relationship, while the other drowns in self-destruction with drugs and prostitution. However, their love and loyalty for one another has not changed. Nevertheless, the stygian occurrences of their childhood impacted both of their minds. Flaky, perverted men plus an oblivious mother equaled pain and suffering for the twins. Each spews their pain differently. Miss Irene, their mother, breathes in denial. In her mind, the atrocity was against her. Can the twins and their mother address the perils of their past...or will they continue in their asylums of denial and despair until they are all useless?

The author delivers raw characters rigid with anger, resentment, need, and silence. Drawing upon ripe emotions, Quinones Miller delivers a chaotic stream of thoughts, situations, and desires that feed off the colorful souls of her characters. The characters spoke in soft monotone to my eyes, daring me to blink before they finished exposing their insides. The story captivated me. I had no choice other than to read this novel in one sitting. The story will draw you in too, so make sure you have enough time to finish the novel before you even begin to read it. --Reviewed by KaTrina Love

I read a review of the book, and I was prepared for the incest between Hope and her stepfather, but it wasn't until I was actually reading the book that I found out that there was a really romantic relationship between Faith and her boyfriedn. And boyfriend was off the hook! It was so cool to see some of the things they did to keep their relationship fresh and interesting. I plan to use some of them myself if I ever get a boyfriend.

But back to the incest. It wasn't as depressing as i thought because Miss Miller didn't hone on the incest itself as much as the aftermath. I have to admit that it took a long time for me to like Hope, but I did eventually, and I was rooting for her. But I was really rooting for Faith. she was trying so hard to hold it together for her family.

Really good book, and I would like to read more from this author.

I finished this book in one sitting, not because I was enthralled but because I was anxious to see when it would all come together. But I finished sorely disappointed because I do not feel that it ever really did. I just couldnt figure out the main characters of Faith, Hope, and Miss Irene at all.

Incest and choosing men over one's own children seems it would cause a vast and bitter rift between mother and daughters, but not so here. While they got into heated arguments every ten pages or so about what happened in the past, they still always ended up acting like nothing that catastophic had ever happened to them as they joked, hugged, and laughed. I dont know about anyone else, but if I was molested and my mother chose the man over me and called me a slut, and as a result I ended up a free-loading prostitute on crack, I'd have some definite issues with our relationship. And it is true that even when experiencing something like that, the victim will still love the parent, but it seems that years later they would have atleast had some long, deep talks and Irene would have apologized for putting men before her children. But that never really happened.

Instead there were just pages and pages of the women playing "who would you choose",chunks of absolutely insignificant and uniteresting dialogue(such as the way too long conversation about the word 'gesundheit'), filler about Faith's job including way too much unnecessary delving into the lives of her clients, and a WHOLE lot on Henry and Faith meeting, Henry's prior involvement with the Five Percenters, and the "Godfather" restaurant incident, which was actually clever in its own right, but was still totally random in addition to everything else if the story wasnt meant to be about Henry and Faith. Not to mention the subplot of the lesbian wedding, of which the ending was not a surprise at all. I thought it very obvious what was really going to happen, and it really seemed as if she could have worked that part into the novel a little better. Sure, she made it all come together at the end, but it was at the expense of not tying the strings together on the issues between mother and daughters.

The supposed big climax at the end just left me scratching my head as nothing about the past was delved into deeply or rationally, no apology or understanding from the mother, and no insight as to how the healing process began. You simply turned the page to the beginning of the last chapter and all of a sudden it was six months later and all was well and everyone was happy and best friends again. HUH?!?!Maybe it was just me, but I simply couldnt figure out what exactly was supposed to be the main plot of this novel. And perhaps that lies more on the editor who should have done a better job in plugging up the craters(not holes) in the story.

I think it did have the potential to be a good story, however. And since I do like supporting African American authors, I will definitely give Ms.Miller another try. Hopefully her next work will contain a more definitive central plot and much better editing to avoid the filler.