OK, so it has been a weird week yesterday's read was not by T.D. Jakes but by Shannon Holmes and called Dirty Game. It has left me with a big 'ol case of...cogitation. I've gone halfway through and that's as far as I'm going to go.
The first half isn't bad. It works for what it is. A good story set in a dark urban street environment. About halfway through the story ends...and then repeats itself in a minor key. When I realized that I gave up and skipped to the end.
Destiny's destiny is predictable although I'm sure how she gets there is filled with precarious turns and street language and other stereotyped behaviors. Questions of value to any young person at any time in history are raised throughout. The characters rarely voice these questions but their actions will lead the prudent reader to ask these questions.
It's a nicely woven tale and it fills the bill as a genre. It uses Soap Opera techniques to bring up questions and that's a valid approach. Soaps are not all bad. In the 1980s, General Hospital raised many a college-student's debate skills as the Luke and Laura rape scene was debated, rehashed, and debated again. Consciousness was raised. So be it.
To some it's dull. To some it's tedious. To others it's an effective way to tell a tale and raise questions. I get now why the kids dig the Urban Lit and its value in my library. I have accomplished my goal. Fair enough!
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