Customer Reviews

Loving Donovan

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Loving Donovan is the story of survival of the fittest while falling in love along the way. Campbell is a smart girl who was raised in a home with a heartbroken mother and a father who wouldn't know the meaning of being faithful if it bit him in the face. In spite of her parents example, Campbell still believes in the power of love. She has her share of men friends but has yet to meet that special someone to knock her off her feet, that is until she meets Donovan.

Donovan is also from a broken home. His mother is too busy running the streets to be a mother to him and his father is busy working and checking up on his mother. His parents' relationship ends bitterly, leaving Donovan and his father to go to live with his grandmother. As a child, Donovan endures one of the worst forms of abuse and it affects the adult he becomes. Regardless of the obstacles that come his way, Donovan still one day dreams of marrying and possibly playing in the NBA. His relationships never last more than a few months because he is deeply affected by his past. He doesn't think he will ever be able to love a woman fully until he meets Campbell.

Although Donovan and Campbell grew up not too far from one another, a chance meeting brings them together as adults. Can two people in love look beyond their unhappy pasts and have a future filled with happiness? Or will the past continue to haunt them and block their blessings of love?

Bernice McFadden has done it again, Loving Donovan is yet another excellent novel. From the first page to the surprise ending, this is a book you CAN NOT put down.

Reviewed by Eraina B. Tinnin
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I have read all three of Mcfadden's prior novels. This is a very talented sister with three dimentional well told stories that I usually finish over the course of a weekend. Needless to say I was looking forward to "Donovan". Much to my surprise I found the novel mildly interesting with a rushed ending. I really wanted to feel for campbell at the end of her break down. Especially when the story begins by letting you know that this is about a love gone wrong and even in the present donovan is still thought of. I felt a little let down. Alot of time was spent on the character's upbringings. But their time spent together seems too much like two ships passing in the night. It wasnt the love supreme it lead up to be. Mcfadden has a real talent for creating strong female characters who's past are heart felt. I highly recommend her debut "Sugar"

If you have never read anything by Bernice L. McFadden, Shame on you!! You have to pick up a copy of Loving Donovan.

Have you ever wondered what ever happen to that first first love? No matter what time of day, week, year, or hour, just the thought of that person sends goose bumps up your spine. This is the type of love that is shared by Campbell and Donovan. Before the reader can actually find out about this incredable love, you have to know who they are and how they came to be.

McFadden introduces the reader to each character in chapters perfectly named "Her" and "Him". In each chapter, you discover a young Campbell and Donovan and their desparate desire for approval, acceptance and love. Each has been been damaged in some way. Yet, unknowingly, they are present when each has been violated. Campbell and Donovan struggle throughtout the book to find themself and each other. In the chapter named "Them" Campble and Donovan come together and share a love that is so true. But because of their past they can never come together.

McFadden will make you laugh, cry, get angry, and love. Her writing is poetic, simplistic and speaks to the reader through her acuate visual images. You will also remember the love that you let get by and wonder in the same manner as Campbell in the prologue ... Would I .. Could I .... leave for that same love all over again??

Peace and Blessings!!

Because I am a (true) fan of Ms. McFadden's, I must be totally honest in my review of her latest novel, LOVING DONOVAN. I could not WAIT to dive into this book, after reading SUGAR & THIS BITTER EARTH (which are definitely 2 MUST reads). I have to admit, this one took me by surprise. While the story line is a good one and the writing is excellent, something was/is definitely missing. I understood all of what took place in the book....the dysfunctional family issues, the violation of children...to name a few.

But what I just didn't get is why/how did DONOVAN just drop out of sight, out of mind...and out of the ending of the story? Campbell obviously loved him too much!!!! Some call it a cliff hanger, I choose to call it a rushed ending that didn't make much sense. In discussing the ending with someone else who recently read this book book, they shed a bit more light on the ending and said to me that some men really do leave the way Donovan did. While I know this is true, I guess I expected a SUGAR kind of rush out this book and I kept reading with hopes of getting one, but it never happened.

I am sorry, I just don't feel this is one of Ms. McFadden's best. However, I will keep reading her future works, as I do believe and know that she is a gifted writer.

In a style so simple but rhythmic, Bernice L. McFadden takes readers on an unforgettable journey. Loving Donovan is a captivating novel about two people's journey to each other. We are shown from childhood into adulthood what has shaped and influenced the 2 main characters, Donovan and Campbell, to be the persons they are when they meet. From childhood abuse, infidelty and a whole lot of family dysfunction, readers are taken on a well-written rollacoster ride through the lives of these 2 people and the people around them.

McFadden is simply a lyricist. She has the skill to turn a phrase into a thing of beauty. In this captivating novel the part when Campbell allowed herself to fall in love with Donovan was sheer brilliance: "Campbell lets herself fall off the cliff of safety that she had been hanging on for years, and let herself fall in love with Donovan" (I am paraphrasing here not word for word) I felt like I was on a cliff myself falling in love with Donovan too, that's how good McFadden is as a writer. This book will touch your soul and will surely remind you of past loves.

This novel was as wonderful as the other novels by Ms. McFadden. What I really loved about this novel was that it is a story of true love and not sex and lust like many other novels. This story tells of two people who grew to love each other and did not just fall in love over night. I really like how Ms. McFadden used the "Her" and "Him" sections to illustrate how their pasts had such a huge impact on their relationships with one another. It illustrated how things of the past that are not addressed head on can damage what could be a wonderful relationship.
I hope that Ms. McFadden's next novel picks up where this one left off.

It is this reviewer's opinion that Bernice McFadden's latest novel, Loving Donovan, is another hit! She cleverly and thoughtfully reveals the stories of Campbell, Donovan, and their relationship. The "Her", "Him", and "Them" chapters are told in true McFadden fashion. She takes us back to the beginning - rewinding time and starting with the very young Campbell and Donovan and slowly moving them into adulthood.

Through carefully placed flashbacks, we transcend generations and meet Campbell and Donovan's grandparents and parents in their younger state of being. We experience their pain, joy, shame, and fears. We learn their most scandalous and guarded secrets and begin to understand all the complexities and dynamics that shape their thoughts and actions. We clearly see the cycle of desolation that ultimately molds and influences Campbell and Donovan. The families are dysfunctional, the homes are broken, no one is perfect, but they are doing the best they can given the circumstances. McFadden gives us just enough to understand Campbell's quest for love and to empathize with the troubled, delicate psyche of Donovan. Will Donovan and Campbell overcome the personal baggage to embrace love? Can they supercede their haunting, painful pasts for a promising future together? Read to find the answers.

It is the beauty of McFadden's words, pacing, and storytelling style that keeps the reader mesmerized throughout the book. This reviewer finished the book in one sitting. Her writing style is simplistic, precise, and rhythmic which makes it so easy to visualize images, hear the voices, and feel the emotions. Loving Donovan will not disappoint McFadden fans...I loved it and cannot wait to see what she presents next.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO Bookclub, Nubian Circle Book Club

Ms.McFadden has again painted a vivid portrait that every person who reads this wonderful novel can relate to! She is a writer for the ages and the future, her prose is so well thought-out but easy to read and relate to. This novel is another "you cannot put it down" book so be prepared! Anyone who has had issues growing up that carry over into their personal relationships will find this not only mirroring, but healing in some ways. Read it today....you won't be disappointed!

Ms. McFadden has woven a tight dramatic story of love and survival with Loving Donovan. It is a book you cannot put down and will be discussed for some time to come. I had the pleasure of being at her booksigning at Barnes and Noble Astor Place January 27 and her aura, warmth and insight warmed an otherwise frozen New York evening! I recommend this novel to anyone who has had to question and endure trials in love and life! Read it and enjoy!

This is the second of Ms. McFadden's books I've had the pleasure of reading, and I look forward to reading more. This novel reminded me of Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye." I agree with the reviewer who wrote that the final part of the story seemed a bit truncated, a let-down, since it followed a thorough and completely satisfying analysis of the protagonists' pasts. I wish it could have lingered a bit longer on the later lives of Campbell and Donovan. The far-reaching symptoms of child sexual abuse are movingly and accurately portrayed, however. Usually, early sexual abuse is ascribed to a female, so it was particularly poignant to read of its effects on Donovan. I know the story first hand, from clients and friends, and it's just as terrible as McFadden writes it. This novel could be suggested reading for men in sexual abuse/addiction support groups. I will recommend it to people who I know have experienced this trauma in their lives. There's very little about male childhood sexual abuse available in literature. Thanks to the author for her contribution, and for the fabulously complex characters (including the horrible "Grammy"). Bernice McFadden is a true artist.