Customer Reviews

Six O'Clock (Indigo)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Katrina Spencer, in her debut novel Six O'Clock, introduces readers to a very different and refreshing story. Yolanda Peterson is a young and talented hair stylist who is employed at one of Houston's popular day spas, Behave Hair Salon. Her talent is over shadowed by her thin figure. Yolanda was given the nickname Six o'Clock from her father because her figure reminded him of the hands on a clock, straight up and down. Tired of hearing everyone tell her she has a pretty face but she needs to eat and put "put some meat on them bones," Yolanda strikes out to prove that there is more to her than her thin shape.

Yolanda receives a promotion to assistant manager and she learns a difficult lesson in maintaining her friendship with a stylist, Natalie, and moving into her role as manager. She also decides to let her manager, Maxwell, know that she is interested in him romantically. Despite acknowledging that Yolanda is pretty, fun and easy to talk with, Maxwell cannot escape the fact that Yolanda is as thin as a pencil.

Six O'Clock was a wonderful story to read. Spencer tells how it feels to be an African American female who is not bootylious or has big breasts. The story focuses on the impact of words, perception, image, self -esteem, balancing work, friendships and relationships, and peer pressure. Readers will be able to identity with Yolanda as she reaches out for acceptance. I recommend this book for everyone, particularly young females. I will eagerly wait to read more from this author.

Priscilla C. Johnson
APOOO BookClub

I really enjoyed this book. It is a story of a young black woman who is so thin that her father laughingly calls her "6 o'clock" and other people whisper that maybe Yolanda has "one of those eating problems" (anorexia). When she goes to her boyfriend's family get-together and he is too embarassed to introduce Yolanda as his girl, she has finally had enough!
Read how she finally puts her foot down and lets her family and her significant other know just how much they have hurt her and that she doesn't intend to stand for it anymore!

This is a great story about self esteem and how family comments can either bring you up or bring you down. In this book, cruel comments (at least she feels that way) from family, co-workers and people in general makes her feel like the outsider. When she finally gets mad and takes a stand, she lets everyone know how they have hurt her over the years and finally finds peace and true love.

Yolanda Peterson has been a successful hairstylist at Behave, the upscale beauty salon in Houston, TX, for several years. When she gets a coveted assistant management position, working with the man of her dreams, you would think she'd be happy; but Yolanda has had self-esteem problems for years. Yolanda has, what most people would call, an overactive metabolism, and she has suffered through years of emotional abuse by her father, classmates, co-worker's and society in general, due to her inability to gain weight.

Yolanda is a smart and successful woman who allows her new promotion and her desire to fit in to cause her to lose focus of what is truly important in life. It's only when her self-esteem has been ripped to shreds and her career is suddenly in jeopardy, along with her father's life, that Yolanda finally stands up for herself. She even helps the one person who has caused her the most pain in her professional life.

SIX O'CLOCK is a story about women and men who have an unrealistic view of what true beauty entails. Yolanda is discriminated against because of her thinness, while her best-friend is discriminated against for being overweight. Both of these women are loving and smart, but Natalie has a greater sense of self, and allows no one to "dull her shine". The other characters have similar issues, one whom suffered years of physical abuse as a child because of her looks, and is still trying to overcome the effects of that on her life.

Ms. Spencer's debut novel touches on the definition of beauty, by society's standards and our own personal desires. She has done an excellent job, weaving the stories of multiple characters together, while allowing the reader to sympathize and empathize with their struggles. I enjoyed the fact that she allows you to see that even those who seem to be on top of the world can have some secret taking a toll on their lives.

[...]

What if you were 5 ft 10 inches tall and weighed 110 pounds and your nickname was Six O'clock, how would you feel? Yolanda, being pencil thin and tall, has always been the butt of jokes and had to withstand snide remarks regarding her lack of weight. The cruelty of others has also had a negative affect on her self-esteem. It is not her fault she is straight up and down like the hands on a clock at six o'clock. At least she is successful as a master stylist at one of the most prestigious local beauty salons and spas in Houston. With her career on the rise since gaining a promotion, she also is able to work with her crush, Maxwell, the salon's manager. Unfortunately, Yolanda's chances of getting him to notice her are slim to none.

Maxwell has his own issues to deal with. He has to work with the woman he almost married before he was informed she was a liar and held more secrets then he cared to reveal. Working with Yolanda, at times, is uncomfortable because of her obvious crush, but something about her smile makes up for her lack of a body. As they continue to work closely together, he starts seeing Yolanda in a completely different light.

Using the salon/spa as the background, SIX O'CLOCK has intertwining stories regarding sabotage, vindictiveness, family, suspense and much more. The story is not merely a love story, but a contemporary story about all these people who work together whose lives outside of the beauty salon are filled with more drama than one can imagine. Although Yolanda is the main character, the subplots tended to grab my attention more. The characters were well-developed with a suspenseful plot to move the story forward. However, I was unable to connect to the love story between Yolanda and Maxwell because the fire and desire was missing. Yolanda's penchant for self-deprecation and her inability to see the beauty within, at times, was annoying. Even with these hiccups, SIX O'CLOCK was an entertaining read.

Reviewed by Cashana Seals
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers