Review: Colorism
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 9, 2014
This is the second book I have read by Nicole Jackson and it was a decent read. There seems to be a theme with her books which is colorism, dope boy celebrity, light skinned chick that steals his heart, and pregnancies. In this book the characters are Falen, Toya, Tino, Booby, and Crystal. Falen and Toya are best friend who grew up together in the projects.  What I enjoyed most was their interactions and relationship. They appeared to have a genuine bond and surprisingly there was no backstabbing or betrayal between them. TIno is local dope boy celebrity who everyone has their sights (and hopefully) claws on. Falen begins the book as an insecure girl who wears baggy clothes to hide her frame.  She and Toya come up on a lick and begin making major money. Falen begins her transformation by wearing better clothes, heels, and straightening her hair. With this comes new attention and the most prized is Tino's. During a fateful night Falen ends up on the streets and Tino comes to her rescue. They begin a fwb relationship not really putting pressure on an official title. Right after their coupling Tino leaves town for almost a year...fast forward 10 months...Falen and Toya have come up and their names are ringing bells in the streets. They have a nice Navigator, a nice home they share in the suburbs and designer labels out the wazoo.  But who actually had to pay the price for Falen's come up? When war begins in the streets over Toya and Falen's lick;  secrets come out from affairs to secret paternities.One disappointment is the blatant colorism. The author makes a point to describe someone's color as if that's an explanation for their actions. Basically, if you're dark, you are the villian. If you are light, you are the prettiest girl in the neighborhood that everyone wants yet your heart is pure as snow (insert sarcasm). I noticed it in the last book I read "Can't Stand These B" but just thought it was needed to explain the beef between the two friends. For some reason the darker complected one is always jealous and envious of the lighter complected one. Here is a quote taken verbatim from the book: "Little high yellow Toya was ******** Quita's black a** up" I'm not sure if this is a Houston thing but we can certainly do without the misconception of  "light is right."All in all it was a good enough book that I was able to enjoy. Its worth .99 and now I am moving on to her next title! Be back soon :)