Customer Reviews

Joy & Pain

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lala Page is loving life. She has a great job, wonderful home and a good man she has been with for over six years. They are looking toward the future, when suddenly her life starts a downward spiral. JOY & PAIN is her story of realizing life isn't as it appears and life is full of joy and pain.

Lala must deal with betrayal and try to move forward with her life. In this process, she starts to mentor a young boy who is struggling with the fact his mother has left the family. When Lala finds the boy's mother, she also opens more drama than she ever could have realized. Lala also befriends Sydney, an older married gentleman, who turns into a father figure for her, but she also becomes the confidante for Sydney's wife. With so much going on in Lala's life, it is a wonder she can keep it together and all she wants to do is get over the pain of past hurts and help others in need. The problem is she tends to get in too deep and makes some impulsive decisions that do more bad than good. Everything Lala deals with and endures leads her on the road to self-discovery.

As a fan of Franklin White, I have anxiously awaited his newest tome. JOY & PAIN exhibits many of the finer attributes of White as a writer. One is his ability to write in a female's voice and delve into the issues women must deal with. He does bring the drama in this tale, even if at times it may not be warranted. I would have loved to have more background on Lala so I could understand her naiveté and impulsiveness. I also would have liked to see her character move past the anger of her betrayal instead of lingering in it. With so many subplots, the story was bigger than Lala's issues and the focus seemed to be on the drama surrounding her friends and acquaintances. The pacing was moved along by the predicaments Lala found herself a part of. A natural progression of the main character was lacking and the ending just seemed unsettled. Although this story didn't meet all my expectations, it was a quick read with some great topics for further discussion.

Reviewed by Cashana Seals
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

Franklin White is one of my favorite authors and I was really looking forward to enjoying his latest novel. I was highly disappointed when I finished it. His characters were not colorful and none of them really stood out. I didn't really care what happen to any of them. This book was very predictable and I figured out the ending before I even got to the end."

It hurts to write this review because I am a Franklin White fan. Potentially Yours is an example of this author's work at its finest. Unfortunately Joy and Pain is not. Let's start with the positives. It's a quick read and a very fine story concept. Now the negatives. The book's back cover doesn't accurately describe it's contents. The cover mentions exploring the drama of friends and lovers. That didn't occur. I wanted to read much more about Lala's and Keith's relationship and what lead up to their drama-filled situation. Readers are told Lala and Keith were together six years and Lala "wasted" so many years with Keith. Too bad readers aren't given a chance to read about this experience. The book instead begins with Lala's and Keith's untimely demise when the father of Lala's best-friend Adria's baby is revealed. It gets very interesting but there was no closure. And that plot is practically abandoned when Lala decides to volunteer at a youth center and eventually fights to save a little boy and his family while being guided by her mentor, a mysterious man named Sydney who is old enough to be her father but has been burdened with relationship problems of his own. There was hardly anymore mention of Keith and Adria. I didn't get it. The book was boring and lacked substance and entertainment value. It would have been much more interesting had the author stuck to the original plot--the love triangle between Lala, Keith, and Adria.

Lala is so happy with life, but she has no idea that her sunny days are about to be cloudy with plenty of rain in the forecast. Lala must be walking around with a dark cloud over her head because her once perfect world gets turned upside down by the two people closest to her. Her girlfriend Adria and her man for the last six years Kevin decide that they are going to go half on a baby and leave Lala out the equation.

I usually love Mr. White's work, so I will just say that I didn't love this one. I was disappointed that the main character was just plain simple. After reading so many stories, I'm not looking to read about a woman who has a degree and who is supposedly so smart and then end up being so stupid. That is such a turn off. I'm not even sure if Lala's character was supposed to come across as stupid, but she clearly did. She went from one thing to the next with no kind of common sense coming into play at all. Then there were chapters that I guess were supposed to shock you, but ultimately just turned me off even more. All of this is simply my opinion. Another reader may find Joy And Pain to be entertaining and well worth the read.

Reviewed by Angie for Urban-Reviews

Loved "Fed Up With the Fanny". However, "Joy and Pain" was a huge disappointment. The story line contained fast paced drama, which provided for a quick read. Unfortunately, White placed much more emphasis on providing drama, at the expense of only scratching the surface on character background and interaction. So much was left unsaid and unanswered. Better character development was very necessary.

I finished this book, hoping that it would bring all the characters to some type of closure. The entire story had too many things going on at once and some of the issues were hard to digest. The author may want to give it another title..."Confused."

This book doesn't disappoint. From the begining the characters are shown to be the best of friends and as life would have it, thier friendship turns sour and she tries many things to turn her attention away from the ultimate betrayel. Franklin White is one of the best authors in the genre I can't believe it's almost been ten years since I first read his first book Fed Up with the Fanny! A must read and I will continue to read this author.

I enjoyed the book, it catches your attention right away then it slows down abit. The book was filled with alot of heart ache, however I it was a good read.

In love you experience Pain. Lala Paige is happy. She has been in a monogomus relationship with her boyfriend Keith for 6yrs. She is at the point in her life where she is ready to settle down...get married and have a baby. But Keith has a different take on their relationship. What Lala wants Keith is not gonna give her. Lala loses her boyfriend and best friend all at once and she is grieving the loss of both but at the same time she is angry. She wants Keith to experience the pain that she is suffering. Will she get revenge or will she leave well enough alone and try to move on with her life?

Franklin White does and excellant job with Lala's character in the novel. The pain that Lala experiences the thoughts that go through her head, he depicted a woman from every aspect of the pain a woman goes through. For a man to hit home so well with a womans emotions ...I was throughly impressed with that alone. This was an excellant novel.

My final rating: 4.5

People seek romance for the joy and pleasure that comes with finding one's true love. "Joy & Pain" is a look at the harsh reality that comes with it - while there is always joy to be found, one must deal with the pain that comes alongside it. Lala has almost everything that she could want in life, or so she thinks when she tries to settle down and her formerly dedicated boyfriend suddenly wants nothing of it. She becomes intrigued by Keith's sudden non-commitment in this enthralling romance of dealing with all the agony that comes with life's delights. "Joy & Pain" is a strong choice for fans of the genre.