DNF -- Slick by Brenda Hampton
Sep. 24th, 2006 01:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksMade a library run Friday afternoon. A couple of books that I had on hold arrived, including Sujata Massey's Girl in a Box and Julie Leto's Dirty Little Lies. Also picked up what I thought was a Black/AA contemporary/urban romance in trade paperback: Slick by Brenda Hampton. Hadn't heard of the author before, or the publisher (Black Pearl Books), but the reviews were positive and the cover proclaimed it as an Essence Magazine best seller.
The backblurb sounded a little over the top, but interesting. I like the friends to lovers theme. Sadly, Slick was a disappointment: DNF. The 100 or so pages I read were pretty bad, D/D+ bad, IMO. I kept reading beyond the usually 50 pages because I wanted it to get better. Nah. It's in the return pile.
It was shelved with the romance, but it really wasn't. Straight fiction, maybe? Urban fiction? I'm not sure. The problem for me though, was that I thought the heroine-protagonist was sleazy. Not because she has sex with someone other than the hero (though she does) but because of the dynamics of her relationship with Dana and with the hero. It didn't feel like they were friends or even liked each other. I couldn't figure out why they were "friends" at all. And Sylvia, in addition to being friends with Jonathan through Dana, is his secretary. The interaction between the two of them was utterly unprofessional; beyond that, it seemed inappropriate and over the line among married friends. [I know, the range of professional and friendly behavior is huge, but some of the interaction was just way over the line, IMO.] In fact, I couldn't believe that Sylvia hadn't been fired for some of her behavior in the office.
Part of the problem is the adultery -- on both sides. Hot button issue for me. Dana just seemed pathetic and stupid: cheating and thinking she'd never get caught; cheating with an employee of her husband; with a guy who had multiple other women and at least four illegitimate children. Ick. Then there is the whole poaching problem. If Jonathan and Sylvia had gotten together after his divorce, and the tension or conflict was post-divorce (just because a couple is divorced doesn't mean it is open season on the newly-single ex-spouse of a friend), the relationship wouldn't have bothered me. But Sylvia and Jonathan were doing inappropriate stuff while he was still married. I know, his wife cheated first, but that is a cop out.
Additionally, the language bothered me. I can understand intellectually that BEV is a recognized dialect of American English with its own linguistic value, but seeing "ain't" and using be instead of is/are make me cringe. I can deal with that in spoken English, but have to resist the urge to break out the red pen when I see it in writing. Too much swearing (even more than in Brockmann's SEAL books, which is saying something) and too much urban slang.
I'm sure there are lots of readers who will love this book, but I wasn't one of them. Poor choice on my part. Next time maybe I'll look for an AA historical or other sub-genre instead.
Dana & Sylvia have been girlfriends for what seems like forever. They've never been afraid to share everything about their lives and definietly keep each other's secrets...including hiding Dana's On-The-DL affair from her husband, Jonathan.
Though Sylvia is uncomfortable with her participation in the cover-up and despises the man Dana's creepin' with she remains a loyal friend. That is, until she finds herself attracted to thevery man her friend is deceiving.
As the lines of friendship and matrimonial territory erodes, all hell is about to break loose! Choices have to be made with serious repercussions at stake.
The backblurb sounded a little over the top, but interesting. I like the friends to lovers theme. Sadly, Slick was a disappointment: DNF. The 100 or so pages I read were pretty bad, D/D+ bad, IMO. I kept reading beyond the usually 50 pages because I wanted it to get better. Nah. It's in the return pile.
It was shelved with the romance, but it really wasn't. Straight fiction, maybe? Urban fiction? I'm not sure. The problem for me though, was that I thought the heroine-protagonist was sleazy. Not because she has sex with someone other than the hero (though she does) but because of the dynamics of her relationship with Dana and with the hero. It didn't feel like they were friends or even liked each other. I couldn't figure out why they were "friends" at all. And Sylvia, in addition to being friends with Jonathan through Dana, is his secretary. The interaction between the two of them was utterly unprofessional; beyond that, it seemed inappropriate and over the line among married friends. [I know, the range of professional and friendly behavior is huge, but some of the interaction was just way over the line, IMO.] In fact, I couldn't believe that Sylvia hadn't been fired for some of her behavior in the office.
Part of the problem is the adultery -- on both sides. Hot button issue for me. Dana just seemed pathetic and stupid: cheating and thinking she'd never get caught; cheating with an employee of her husband; with a guy who had multiple other women and at least four illegitimate children. Ick. Then there is the whole poaching problem. If Jonathan and Sylvia had gotten together after his divorce, and the tension or conflict was post-divorce (just because a couple is divorced doesn't mean it is open season on the newly-single ex-spouse of a friend), the relationship wouldn't have bothered me. But Sylvia and Jonathan were doing inappropriate stuff while he was still married. I know, his wife cheated first, but that is a cop out.
Additionally, the language bothered me. I can understand intellectually that BEV is a recognized dialect of American English with its own linguistic value, but seeing "ain't" and using be instead of is/are make me cringe. I can deal with that in spoken English, but have to resist the urge to break out the red pen when I see it in writing. Too much swearing (even more than in Brockmann's SEAL books, which is saying something) and too much urban slang.
I'm sure there are lots of readers who will love this book, but I wasn't one of them. Poor choice on my part. Next time maybe I'll look for an AA historical or other sub-genre instead.
