Customer Reviews

Shades of Justice

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This book is bad.
It's bubonic plague bad.
Ok, imagine that a nuclear bomb has exploded. You're left alive. Your flesh is decaying, you're sick, you're blind. The book is a little worse than that.
Why is the book bad? We could blame the publisher but that would to easy. We could even blame the writer however this is her BEST idea, so we shouldn't. Instead, lets blame Terry McMillan. Yes, I said it, Terry McMillan. as you may have noted this book's cover has changed from the initial photograph which highlighted the victim----oooh, I mean protagonist Gwen, it is now three multi colored "sistahs" and the line notes are now about their "struggle".
Who started this wave of multi-hued "sistahs" and their struggles? Terry McMillan. Who is propogating this wave? Bad writers.
Now lets talk about the book. Gwen spends most of the book as a victim freely sharing herself sexually with men under the most dubious of circumstances. She tends to lie and manipulate and perpetuate herself as a victim to the point of being destructive to the image of black women. This book is horrendous and I recommend that one not only NOT buy a copy but also warn off friends and family. The quality of the writing is rather juvenile as well,I don't mean to lambast the book but it deserves it and I am ashamed to see the quality of what readers will accept. These self-same readers aren't picking up the writers that are truly of quality, exploring the issues of race and gender. I could name a few but this doesn't strike me as the readership conducive area.

I have only completed two chapters of this book and I am already disgusted by the repeated use of the "N" word and the belittlement of dark-skinned sistas. I believe that Ms. Bullard has very unreal and distorted views of Black people. I am a dark-skinned woman and I take offense to Ms. Bullard making it seem as if only fair-skinned individauals are beautiful. I happen to know that there a beautiful people in all colors. I know that this book is fiction and I hope that the views that are expressed in this novel are also fictitious. I am going to continue reading this book, but will look over the disrespect.

The overall plot could have been good, but like other people I felt that it was just too unreal. First of all, how come every time we write a book we have give a Who's Who list in the Black community? She spent so much time telling us which places were the best to go and who would be there it just made me sick. I think she was trying to give the impression that this lead character was more than she really was. And what's up with this" LIGHT IS RIGHT" motto she had floating through the whole novel. Come on. How many times do we have to hear that the lead character wishes she was lighter and that her daughter had some of her "good hair". And why was the darkest sister in there a lesbian and fat ?! I found that part to be VERY demeaning. Third, why the stereotypical interracial relationship? That was really sad. There were just too many sorry Uncle Toms, and Sambo black folks for me. Overall, she depicted us as vulgar, power struck, backstabbing negroes. Oh yeah, hated that part " It takes a white woman to break a black man" That's real BS.

As a new attorney, I picked up this book anticipating a glimpse into my world. Unfortunately, this author has no concept of what black women attorneys are like. She has managed to denigrate black women and the legal profession by combining every negative stereotype and thought pattern one can think of in this "novel." It is obvious that she isn't proud of her heritage based on her constant derogatory remarks concerning traditionally black features. This book should be required reading in a class on how black women should NOT act or think.

The premise is filled with promise; ambitious and sexy attorney, equally driven ex-husband, politics, murder, adultery, courtroom action, and interracial relationships. What's not to like? Answer: this book! Problems--overloaded with stale, trite old cliches. Attempts at new ones fall even flatter. Constant harping on race takes away from character development. Hard to believe situations (could a man run his hand up and down a woman's thigh on one side, while her jealous husband sits by on the other side?). As with most fiction, one must set aside a certain amount of objectivity, but with the poor character development and weak dialogue, I'm working way too hard to keep focused on the plot. To her credit, Bullard's writing is easy to follow, and the plot is interesting. Still, this is a writer in search of a voice. If there is a next time, she's going to have to take her work to another level.

This book was facinating in the same way that a three car accident on the highway is facinating. This is quite possilby the worst book I've ever read. The first chapter was ok but beyond that, it was a train wreck. I kept thinking to myself, this has to get better, it just had to, but to my chagrin it never did. The only good thing about this book is I didn't have to pay full price for it. It's so bad, I wouldn't even recommend borrowing it

After I read this book, all I thought was, there's 2 days of my life that I will never get back

Ebony page turners

BOOKCLUB

This book is going on my top ten list of my all time favorite novels. I had to chuckle at some of the dissenting reviews. Is it so wrong to be both a mother and ambitious? Yes, Gwen was a bit on the extreme side with some of her actions and decisions. But haven't we all made misguided decisions a/k/a bad choices?

Wouldn't this be a perfect world if things were either black or white and no shades of gray? THIS IS JUST A NOVEL, it's not representative of all African-Americans, just a few . . . and we all know some Gwens, Willettes and CCs in this world. If you want fluff, read Terry McMillan's, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" if you want a solid TM novel, read her best work to date, "Disappearing Acts" . . . but I digress.

In closing, we have been conditioned to expect books and movies to have a happy ending . . . a positive resolution. A book doesn't have to be positive, because the World isn't always positive, people aren't always positive, etc., etc. Sometimes there are no happy endings! For individuals that think her novel is TOO MUCH, there are Christian-centered novels currently available on the market, you may enjoy reading them more. Again, Ms. Bullard has written a stunning debut novel, I eagerly await her next effort.

It took me from August 2003 until February 2004 to finish this book. I read 7 books between Shades of Justice. It started off good until she remarried and the author kept using the N word. The battles with her daughther was crazy and unreal. The story line kept changing. It started getting good at the end, but then that was a disappointment. It was not clear who killed CC.

Quite possibly the most puerile, pedantic book on the market today. Were it not for the blatant, rampant racism, sexism, and homophobia (does the writer like anyone?) in the book, it wouldn't be worth reading. because our esteemed novelist saw fit to saturate the book with offensive stereotypes and obscene situations, this book might make a great read -- if you like no plot, abhorrant characters, and a revolting world view. if this really is what the world is like for a black woman, then god help us. i seem to think that ms. bullard has things all wrong.

I read this book a few months ago and since then I have not seen much about it. Well, I know why. Average books just don't get the pub. I thought the plot was interesting but overall I wasn't really excited about the book. I like the plot because I thought that finally there was a book about black lawyers and their lives, but this one was a disappointment. That was probably one of the worst endings of a book I have EVER read! Also, she spent so much time trying to describe Houston and the details that it became redundant. Some things were too unbelieveable. I know this is fiction but some things were ridiculous! I think it was a good effort but overall, the storylines could have been more fine tuned and more in touch with reality. Some of that stuff about the men was crazy! Hopefully the next one will be better. Try again Linda!