Customer Reviews

Live and Learn

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Niobia Bryant's newest offering, Live And Learn introduces readers to Cristal, Alize, Moet, and Dom. These four individuals have been friends for several years. Each of them has their share of drama and is searching for the way to get to the glamorous life. They all have different taste in men, perfume and lifestyles.

Cristal was orphaned as a child and is looking for someone to take care of her. She has her eyes on one man and just may find another. Will she choose true love or the lavish lifestyle she craves?

Alize is in her last year of college and is a dancer. She is in a relationship with Rah, a thug, who takes care of all the material things she needs. She is looking for someone she can count on to take care of her every want and need. Will she find the love she is looking for?

Moet is caught between two lives, church life with her parents and the life she portrays with her friends. She so desperately needs the attention of her father, but tries to get the attention elsewhere. Will she get her father's attention?

Dom is a stripper and lives with her mother and daughter. Her mother, Diana, is just like one of her friends. She smokes and drinks with her mother. Will Dom's fast life spiral out of control?

Live and Learn is a very entertaining novel. This book is filled with drama and held my attention to the very end. This read was well-written and very descriptive. The author was able to convey the importance of learning from your mistakes and standing by your friends through good and bad times. I especially liked the parts of the book that was called "Girl Talk". It was the conversations the ladies had together about different things going on in their lives. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to others. I can not wait for the sequel in 2008. Although this is my first time reading Ms. Bryant's work, it will definitely not be my last.

Reviewed by Phyllis Ann
APOOO BookClub

Niobia introduces us to 4 four friends and their lives are anything but boring. They all wanted bigger and better things out of their lives but along the way they learn a thing or two about what it is they truly want. This book had my cracking, made me mad, made me cry and made me feel for all four ladies. A time or two I was like oh my damn. The book is HOT! If you had/have close girlfriends this will make you think of you and your girls and think about your relationship with them. Ok I'll stop now...LOL! Loved, loved this book! Can't wait to read the sequel in '08. Definite recommendation along with Niobia's other books.

Monica, Latoya, Keesha, and Danielle are lifelong friends who are more like sisters. Their bond is so tight that nothing or no one can come between them or so they think......

Monica aka Alize refuses to fall in love, after growing up a child of divorce and watching her mother refuse to let go of her father, she has no problem using men to get what she wants. Although, she is determined to finish school and lands an internship at a prestigious firm, her attraction to thugs may shatter more than just her dreams.....

LaToya aka Moet is living a double life, around her strict christian parents, she's a meek college student but around her girls, she's Moet, life of the party but she's hiding a huge secret from her parents and her girls and when she winds up pregnant and alone, her girls come to the rescue.....

Keesha aka Dom uses she got to get what she wants and as a stripper, she's used to having money thrown at her but when tragedy strikes, her life begins to quickly sprial out of control and soon she hits rock bottam, will she able to find her way back before it's too late?

Danielle aka Cristal grew up an orphan and is determined to never go without again. Working at Platinum Records gives her access to plenty of "ballers" but she has a plan to land the big one, the CEO of Platinum Records but what happens when love appears in an unexpected source? Will she choose love or money?

Live and Learn by Niobia Bryant is a wonderful story about the bonds of friendship. Full of drama, betrayal, unforgettable characters and sizzling sex scenes, it is sure to keep the reader's attention from beginning to end. Can't wait until the sequel comes out! Reviewed by Shay C of PeoplewholoveGoodBooks.

I just finished this book last night and I just have to ask myself: Is this truly how these girls from the hood are?????? These girls claim to be smart running their games to get money from these men but they didn't seem very smart to me, even the two college educated girls.

******* Spoiler alert so be warned!!! *******

I thought the most unbelievable character was Moet. Yes, her parents were strict and religious. So were mine. I can understand her getting pregnant by the Reverand and having the abortion. But wouldn't one think the next time she had sex, she'd try to prevent an unwanted pregancy? Why would she now have unprotected sex with Bones????? Her girls were on the pill. I'm sure they talked about that. Very unbelievable that she gets knocked up twice.

The next character I took issue with is Cristal. She has done everything right in her mind and has now snagged Shahad; however, her attraction to Mohammad is growing. One would assume that she did not make Shahad use a condom when they were together. Now Mohammad shows up on her door and declares his love and she just let this man put his 11 inches up inside her and have his way with her. Incredible!

Alize is cheating on Rah and she sees nothing wrong with that just because of his small gerkin. Yet she's mad pissed when he does the same to her. Cameron falls madly in love with Alize although he doesn't really know her. She's a golddigger, a cheat, and a liar. Holla!

I just felt sorry for Dom.

The story was interesting enough that I'm curious to see how this all ends in the next book Show and Tell.

I'd actually give this 3 and a half, but not 4 stars. Having read the sequel first, and not given it a fabulous review, I can say that reading this one while the sequel was still fresh made the sequel better for me.

One of the things that made these two books annoying for me is that all four main characters have given names: Latoya, Keesha, Monica and Danielle, but they all have nicknames: Cristal, Moet, Alize and Dom, and the author keeps switching back and forth between them, so it's like EIGHT characters instead of FOUR and it's hard to keep them straight.


And one glaring mistake: Alize gets pregnant in this book and the baby is a boy. (The book ends right when she has the baby, but the baby is never talked about.) In the sequel, her baby is TIFFANY, a baby girl.

Beginning with Aliz'e, leading up to Cristal, let's not forget Dom, and we couldn't do with Moet!!! These four best friends all have life worked out to fit their own personal designs, which may not be perfect to someone else, but guess what, it's working for them.

ALIZ'E is a product of divorced parents and she's playing the field, albeit discreetly for that mighty dollar, while striving to keep her own ends intact. CRISTAL lives with the insecurity derived from being an orphan, but she's working independently to live that designer labeled life with a major player in her eyesight. Don't hate the player, hate the game! DOM battles low self-esteem due to her dark complexion and her gutter mother that has no problem smoking weed with her child, as long as she keeps the funds flowing frequently. She's a druggie and a stripper with a child that she doesn't have the time or patience for. And then there was MOET...she lives the good life, in church, all prim and proper all while under the watchful eyes of her super-saved parents, keeping it on the down-low doing the Diggety with the good reverend while bowed down in prayer!!! Whatchu say!!! "Live and Learn" is spell-binding with the unfolding of all the drama in these four ladies lives.

Ms. Bryant has mos def credited herself in this urban genre with a style of story-telling that will have your begging for more and dreading the assured ending! Sistagirl has been in the game for a while and shows that she DOES indeed have staying power! Rising to the occasion of getting out of her comfort zone with a job very well done! If you're searching for a great read, "Oops, here it is!" Get ya read on!

Kudo's Ms. Bryant!!!

What a page turner! In reading the first couple of pages I almost put this book down, because the nicknames Alize, Cristal, Dom & Moet gave the book a real "ghetto" start & immediately got on my nerves. I am so glad that I got past those first 3 or 4 pages because the story was very good, well written and had me experiencing deja vu. These four "sisters" wanting the finer things in life and sacrifing their morals, self respect & even their bodies to get them definately brought back memories of my early twenties. The funny thing is, just like these ladies, things were "all good," crazy and sooo much fun for me & my girlfriends until karma catches up with you. The title is so appropriate, because just as it states you "Live & Learn" as you travel through life's tumultuous ups and downs. Great Read

I think I have grown weary of Urban fiction. The girls having nicknames of drinks wasn't all that bad, but I think it would've been better to keep their gov't names :) I don't know which is which. But I get very turned off by the constant name dropping. I don't really need to know each designer item from head to toe including lipgloss? I hear that this is not how Niobia usually writes..so I will try to read her other novels! This one..not working for me.

The book was purchased out of interest from the characters name in it.Cristal, Alize, Moet, and Dom; all of whom I've had my share pleasure of enjoying at some point in my life. I feel like this book touch home to many different circle of friendships with variety of backgrounds and personalities. I can say I'm hooked on the series and can't wait for Show and Prove to hit stores!

I thought this was a good book. It was a page turner. I could do without all of the name brands, but other than that it was worth reading. I'm interested in reading the sequel.