Customer Reviews

Just Say No! : A Novel

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I am fortunate to work in an environment with other professional black men. Sometimes we have the usual picnics, birthday gatherings, etc. This time we decided to find a book with African American male characters that we could relate to. Well Omar Tyree's "Just Say No" was our decision. Of course we had some guys who didn't want to read fiction. However, this was something that we were going to try. Within the first few day's this book about two very good friends started becoming the focus point of our conversations during lunch or just in passing. Our group of seven gave this book 4 stars out of five but my personal vote is 5 stars. John "Loverboy" Williams and his best friend could only make us think about our friends growing up and the friendships that we have developed at work. I know this isn't a typical review but I consider this to be one of the best books that I have ever read. This is the first book written by Omar Tyree that I have read. Because of this I decided that it's okay for my daughter (12yrs) to read Flyy Girl and I picked up one of his books for my wife (No, Not Single Mom:) but Sweet St.Louis. They're both enjoying the books and we all agree that we like his writing style and the messages that he hides in the books. Well I guess that means that now I am an Omar Tyree fan. I will call his work faction.

I just finished reading my first Omar Tyree book called Just Say No. It is a book that I could not put down. I liked the fact that it showed a deep friendship between two African American males. As an African American male reader of many books, it was good to read fiction that gives my perspective of various aspects of life. Nothing against Black Female authors. I love many of their books too. It was also good to see references to places that I've visited as I live in the Philadelphia area. The book made me proud to live here, although I was born and raised in New York.

Although I don't work in the music industry, I am very interested in the financial and marketing aspects of it. The book shows a behind the scenes look of how a star can be created and how it takes more than talent to become a star. Of course, John "Loverboy" Williams was a very talented singer and song writer. However, he became too wrapped up in giving the fickle public what he thought that they wanted in order to keep their attention. His need to please and later to be immediately gratified became destructive not only to himself, but to his friend and manager Darin.

There are religious themes in the book that I found enlightening. Also uplifting was how Darin matured throughout the book based on learning the importance of honesty, loyalty and faith in God. The book discussed but did not glamorize the sex, drugs and violence that exists in the music industry. It showed it for what it is, but showed how the risky experiences that John and Darin had were not worth making a lifestyle out of as we see many entertainers doing these days.

Just Say No is a book worth buying and reading if you are into what I call "faction" books. The book could have easily been based on the story of artists and groups like: Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, The Temptations, The Nortorious Big and Tupac Shakur. The only negatives I can mention is that the book has many music lyrics in it that I thought were overdone. It made the book longer than necessary. The way the book ended was apparent a bit too early in the reading. The book also discussed strong reasons why someone may not want to put a family or friend in a psychiatic ward that some may not agree with. Other than that (and I had to think hard about the third criticism), It was one of the better books that I've read this year so far.

Omar Tyree gets criticized because he doesn't write on the level of a Terry McMillian or Eric Jerome Dickey. His inability to write prose rich with compelling characters and vivid description (like McMillian) or create those exciting page turning plot twists (like Dickey) have been some of the weaknesses of his previous work.

This time around, Omar Tyree's novel, Just Say No! is his best and most entertaining work to date. Tyree is beginning to realize his potential as a writer by giving us a story of the ups and downs that a singer and his best friend / manager encounter as they work their way up the charts in the exciting fast lane music industry. Omar takes us backstage and behind the scenes for a fascinating look at the groupies, drugs, and pitfalls that come with success. The bond of friendship between the two lead characters is touching and most will identify.

The book is a fairly fun read, yet has a few flaws worth mentioning. These flaws make me rate this book a three star instead of a four. One, Tyree wastes time describing drum beats and lyrics of songs. This isn't effective and has no emotional impact on us because music is meant to be heard, not read! Tyree is not a very clever writer of poetry or song lyrics. (The title itself, Just Say No! is corny and lacks creativity.) He probably should have kept mention of lyrics to a minimum. Also, towards the end, the book starts to become a little preachy and this slows down the pace of the story somewhat.

Should Omar now get the same praise as Terry McMillian or Eric Jerome Dickey? No! Not yet. However, Just Say No! is still worth reading because it is a good book. It is written in a simple, direct style, and this will probably be the best book he'll ever do! His next book is a horror novel called "Leslie", so things will probably go downhill from this point on!

Again, I can't believe that people over the age of ten years old actually read Omar Tyree books. The book Just Say No, and the accompanying CD which features Tyree "singing" are just plain embarassing. I agree with the other reviewer that said the characters were predictable, including John "Loverboy" Williams. It's like Tyree has a formula that he must use for all of his books. I don't recommend this book, and I sometimes wonder if the positive reviews for his books are written by Tyree under different names, or by blind people without access to Braille. Pick up a serious piece of African American fiction instead of this tripe. Oh, and if you don't believe me, read this sentence. It begins the book and almost made me stop reading right there. Notice the abundance of prepositions.

"I stopped daydreaming about the past and looked out of my cab window at a mental hospital of red brick and gray cement that was out in the middle of nowhere within the state of Maryland."

Because Omar Tyree is from Philly I admit that I am biased and try and give all of his books a chance. With Just Say No I found myself not at all as interested in the book as I should have been.
A brief synopsis: Darin Harmon, an outgoing kid befriends shy John Williams. Although the two are opposite (Darin is into sports and John is into music) they remain friends throughout grade school and high school. Once in college John comes out of his shell after singing at a talent show and becomes John "Loverboy" Williams. The book moves along through Darin and John's sometimes rocky, sometimes sweet road to fame and the girls, drugs and drama that goes with success, fame and money.

The story seemed to move along at times and I found myself savoring every moment. There were parts that I couldn't wait to get through and had to force myself to read (the lyrics so some of the songs for example) and that's when I found myself wanting to put the book down in frustration.

The inside look at the life of a celebrity was really interesting and I found myself glad that I wasn't on that road but this book did lead me to ask if I could "Just Say No" to the temptations that were avaiable to John and Darin.

I began reading Omar Tyree's JUST SAY NO! this September
when I was beginning school.It started out decent but one thing
I noticed was that if you read one Omar Tyree novel,you've read 'em all.It seems like my man Omar recycles elements from his
other novels.I did enjoy this book thought and reading this
novel let me see how the music business REALLY is.Judging how
good Do Right Man was,I was excpecting a better book,but overall
thought,JUST SAY YES,bookworms! PS to O.T.:No more retarted song lyrics OK!

My wife purchased this book because I am from NC and an A&T graduate. The book started out good and I enjoyed Damon and John's rise to fame. The references to A&T's campus and campus life were fairly accurate and brought back pleasant memories. Unfortunately, that's when the book became predictable. Except for the insight into the music industry which was great, the book became mired in drug and sex exploits. Then you could predict how it would end. You can not build a quality novel around the shallowness of the characters in this book. Normally I can not put down a good book, but I had to push myself to complete this one.
I wish the author would have developed the characters better. There were too many unanswered questions about the main characters and the women have no depth. They sound like the "Average Girl in the Video". Maybe this it what it is like in the today's lust and ego driven music industry. Perhaps Mr. Tyree was just trying to keep it real. The music beats incorporated into the text disturbed the flow of the novel and made it much longer. This just doesn't work and does not add anything to the story. Next time add more plot better characters and less fluff. If you want to get a inside look at the music industry, read this otherwise wait for the paperback version or check it out from the library. Not Omar's best.

Well, well, well, Omar definately got himself off of my author black list. After "For the Love of Money" I was extremely leary about reading anything by Omar but "Just Say No" was a big surprise to me. It was a captivating read from start to finish. Although the ending may not have been a fairytale ending, I would not have had it any other way. The "Lover Boy" was surely heading for self destruction. This novel is a must read. I recommend it highly. Omar is back in my good graces. Keep up the good work.

What in the world was Omar thinking? This was the worst book I read in a long time. It took me weeks to read, when it usually only take a me a couple days. I had no desire to pick it up and finish it. I was an Omar fan (key word was) until I read this. Did he have a deadline to meet or what? This story is hard to follow especally with the song lyrcs. Pleeeese Omar, I know you can do better than this. I think you have lost your touch. You might have a shot in the music buisness. Leave the novel writing to the pro's.

I couldn't get through the first couple of pages. Wait for the paperback, better yet don't waste your time at all.