Customer Reviews

Robbing Peter

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Award winning author, Kia Dupre presents a story with three intersecting story lines in Robbing Peter. Viveca has endured the hardships of marriage to a drug abuser and her twin sons, Elijah and Elgin, have brought her grief with their scrapes with the law. Iralaun, a self-absorbed, baggage carrying college student is sleeping with her roommate's boyfriend and then meets the perfect guy. A juvenile court judge, Belinda is plagued with bad relationships and finds herself being used by her current man. She then meets a cop who wants her but is still clinging to hope of reconciliation with his wife.

Viveca's life is drudgery; working odd hours as a nurse, cooking and caring for four children who are left unsupervised and plagued with memories of the pain and abused suffered from her ex-husband, Eddie. Her twins resent her for their father not being in their lives while their father is yet fighting his addictions. Viveca just cannot seem to get ahead to the point she has let herself go physically and mentally. She feels she has been let down by her marriage and by her church. Iralaun finds in Allen a man of character but does she deserve him? Her mother died without ever revealing the name of her father. Belinda is forced to reflect on her relationships while coming to grips with her disabled father's self-imposed isolation from his family. Eventually these characters are connected by fate and circumstances.

My online book club eagerly anticipated reading this book as our March selection, believing that the same competition that gave an award to such a wonderful book as The Darkest Child would surely be worth reading. We however were sorely disappointed. First of all, the book was poorly edited. Numerous misspelled words, wrong synonym usage, wrong verb placement, and grammatical errors were throughout the text. This was distracting and interrupted the flow. Secondly, the comments from my book club members were that the characters were stilted, underdeveloped and we just did not feel anything for them. With the exception of the twins, we could care less. Additionally the sequence of events and the intertwining of the three stories seemed to be forced, as to prove the theory of six degrees of separation. I agonized over both giving this book a fair, critical review and rating it impartially, debating between giving it a 2 or 3 as my APOOO rating was a 2.5. Perhaps with better line and structure editing, this manuscript in revised form will be a better product.

Dera Williams
APOOO BookClub

From the first chapter to the epilouge I truly enjoyed reading this book. The story is one that needs more awareness. I not only was able to relate to the charecters but I also understood their struggle. Kia Dupree put her heart into every charecter and delivered a message that was outstanding. If you are looking for a book with a great story and captivating message, this book is for you. Excellent job Kia, keep writing, we need more authors like you putting out more than just another novel, you sent a message, posed a question and dared a change to come forth. I enjoyed the story and adore your work.
Nikkea "Auset" Lewis
Pssst Bookclub member
Author of Gold Diggin' and Reflections of a Woman
http://ausetausarproductions.net

To say Kia Dupree's debut novel is outstanding is truly an understatement! From the beginning to end, page to page, one will be left wanting more; checking their watch making sure they're not late for an appointment; twirling the bookmark in hand, desperately trying to find a place to appropriately put it because it's time to go to sleep, and IT CAN'T BE DONE! Ms. Dupree's book will have you hooked immediately. She did a miraculous job introducing the characters & developing the story. Furthermore, she effortlessly and seamlessly tied together all of the lives of these individual women. Not only did she really cause you to evaluate each woman's situation regarding the lack of a model father figure, she artistically created such vivid imagery that pulled on every emotion imaginable. For her first work, Ms. Dupree has truly diplayed her excellence in the art of writing.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Dupree and buying this book from her. She is an extraordinary woman and an extraordinary writer. I was interested in the book from cover to cover - never getting the "how many more pages in this chapter" syndrome. The stories were intriguing and the characters refreshing.

My only wish is that Ms. Dupree had a better editor. A good editor could really have made this book shine. There are some grammatical errors, and I really think a good editor could have made it perfect. She is so talented, and I can see the start of something great in her writing. I look forward to reading her next book!

Kia Dupree's Robbing Peter shows the indomitable spirit of the black mother. We are all connected in some way, and Ms. Dupree brought that out in Robbing Peter. The characters were real and believable. I almost felt I knew them. The tour of Washington, DC and surrounding areas brought me home again. Although, everyone can't have a happy ending, Robbing Peter leaves us with hope for a brighter future to come.

B. Richardson
GAAL Book Club of Atlanta

This is an excellent book,it read so beautifully,the characters where well developed and personable.I read this book from cover to cover nonstop!!!!!!!!!!! as soon as i was finished I ran out and purchased five more to give to my family so that they could also share in the beautiful experience of this well written novel !!!!!!!!!I hope to see you on Oprah's Book club real soon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In this day and age there are many single parent families. As the mothers work several jobs to maintain the household and raise the children, the fathers are nowhere to be found. There are some households where the fathers are physically there but not emotionally, mentally, spiritually or financially. ROBBING PETER by Kia Dupree delves into the lives of three women whose lives are very different, but who end up being connected as their city of Washington, DC is terrorized.

Vivica Jeffries is a single mother of five children. Vivica married her high school sweetheart, Eddie at a very young age. They began having children right away and shortly thereafter, Eddie became addicted to crack. After being physically abused one too many times Vivica kicks Eddie out and is forced to raise her five children alone. She has a set of twins, Elgin and Elijah, Evan, Eric and Eve. With virtually no education Vivica struggles to go back to school, hold down a job and raise her children. In an effort to give her children the best, she ends up being away from home more than she is at home and in essence the kids are raising themselves. While Elgin and Elijah are terrorizing several communities in the DC area and bullying the younger kids at home, Vivica has her hands full.

Belinda Maxwell, a family-court judge, is single and has no children. She is very successful in her career but unsuccessful in love. Belinda finds it hard to understand how her mother can wait on her father hand and foot when he refuses to do anything beyond his disability to care for himself. After an accident that caused him to become disabled and confined to a wheelchair he virtually has done nothing for himself, although he could if he wanted to. Belinda is finding herself being submissive and nurturing to the men she dates, and she begins to lose her sense of self. To complicate matters even more she gets involved with a married man. Belinda wonders if her father was more active after his accident would she be a different person towards the men she dates.

Iralaun Fugere is a college student who has never known her father and doesn't even know his name. Growing up she was taught not to trust or fall in love with men, but to basically get what you can and be gone. This works well for Iralaun until she meets and falls head over heels for Allen who is nothing like the losers she previously has been with. Allen is kind, considerate and understanding. Will Iralaun let her guard down or will she continue to get what she wants and be out?

Full of twists and turns and a heart wrenching surprise ending ROBBING PETER is definitely a book that needs to be read. See how women of all walks of life are connected in more ways than specifically an absentee father. The characters are very well developed and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I cried, yelled and laughed with the characters and found myself asking where ARE the fathers?

Reviewed by Eraina B. Tinnin
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Robbing Peter is an emotionally stimulating depiction of the cycle of life. It is a graphic trip into the reality of how one person's decisions can have detrimental effects that not only travel through generations, but permeate the lives of seemingly unrelated individuals in a vicious pattern stricken with poverty, drugs, crime, and self-loathing. I absolutely loved this book. I picked it up on a Wednesday, and was unable to put it down before reading its last pages the following day. If you want a page-turning read that doesn't pacify the cliche that "every cloud has a silver lining", then Robbing Peter is for you. And if you need that cloud...strangely, Robbing Peter is still for you. Ms. DuPree, I will definitely be following your works in the Future.

While reading Robbing Peter I felt like i was right there in the pages with the characters. Being from D.C. I was always waiting for an author to capture my city the ways it should and Ms. DuPree dose just that. Her writing style is wonderful, it was an easy read because of her style. Robbing Peter was a page turner. I finished the book in 3 days, I could have finished sooner if I could have read it at work. I can't wait until her next book. By the way when is is coming out and is Ms. Dupree doing any apperances at books stores in the near furture? Let me know, I don't want to miss out on the opportunity.

This new writer has enormous talent. I read this book in three days. She has created three characters that everyone can relate to. It takes you through the struggle and sacrifice of a single mother; The soul searching of a young woman trying to find her own identity and rid herself of her mother's baggage; and a woman who has realized all her dreams except two very important things: finding a man who truly loves her and dealing with personal issues that involve her mother and father. This book will entertain you as well as enlighten you about the struggle of a woman. This book is highly recommended.