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DNF: The Unraveling of Bebe Jones by Roje Augustin
The Unraveling of Bebe Jones
written by Roje Augustin
published by Breaknight Books
find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iBooks, Smashwords, Book Depository, Goodreads
Why did I pick this book: I participated in the blog tour hosted by CLP Blog Tours. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)
Where I stopped reading: Page 54 (Nook)
Why I stopped reading: I just could not get into this book. First, the British spellings didn’t set right with me. The story is set in the US. The characters are American. And while the story is told in the third person point of view, I do not understand why there were British spellings throughout. It didn’t fit in my opinion. There were quite a few typographical errors as well. More than any of that, the story just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like the main characters—Desiree and Bebe. I didn’t connect with them, I didn’t feel for them, I didn’t care about them. Maybe they got better as the story went on, but I wasn’t interested enough to finish this book.
What others have rated this book: According to Goodreads, the average rating for The Unraveling of Bebe Jones is 3.53. It looks like a majority of readers gave this book 4 stars. There were 12 5-star reviews on Amazon. At Barnes & Noble, the majority of the reviews were 4 stars. Just because I didn’t finish this book doesn’t mean you may not.
About the book – from Goodreads: When Desiree Washington ventures into the darkly glittering world of legendary singer Bebe Jones, she gets more than just a job. She gets a family in crisis, a diva meltdown, and a head full of stitches…
The Unraveling of Bebe Jones revolves around the rich and famous Jones family and the people who work for them as they cope through an array of personal dramas. The story begins at the height of the Global Financial Crisis, when 23-year-old Desiree Washington lands a job with her idol, legendary R&B singer Bebe Jones. Desiree quickly discovers that the outwardly perfect Bebe is in fact a troubled and lonely diva reeling from a career in decline and a marriage in tatters, and that behind all the money, glamor and fame, there are skeletons in the family closet. Throughout all of this Desiree seeks support from her best friend Sean Minton, an aspiring music producer who hails from the insulated world of New York’s black elite burdened with secrets of his own. Rounding out the cast are Bebe’s husband, Magnus Chadwick, a British hedge fund manager who cares more about money than family; her disgruntled household staff—all with strange ties to Bebe; and her children, brave casualties of their mother’s nightmare.
4 Comments
by Cait
Hmm, I can totally understand not connecting with the characters. I rarely DNF (because, hehe, I’m a bit OCD like that…finish what I start even if I hate it), but not connecting with the characters tooootally annoys me. The spelling, though, I kind of can’t relate! I’m Australian, so I’ve spent my whole life reading American spellings in books, even though I spell the English way. It’s just how it is, for me. *shrugs*
by TheEveryFreeChanceReader
I don’t always DNF. In fact, I just started doing it. There are a few books that I may go back to but when it takes a few days to get only so far, I have to give up and move on. The spelling doesn’t usually bother me. If it is a British or Australian book or main character, then I totally understand it, get it, accept it, roll with it. I have no problem. But… when the main character is American, the book is set in the US, and there are not any British characters in the book, then I don’t see why there would be British spellings. Also, not everything was spelled the British way. It’s more about consistency and fitting the scene/characters, not just the British spellings. (I hope that makes sense.)
by Breaknight Inc
There were British spellings because I live in Australia and my computer is set to the English standard. And there is a British character in the book, Bebe’s husband.
by Breaknight Inc
The more I think about it, the more I feel the need to say a few things in my defence. First, I planned the Bebe Jones series as a kind of universal human drama where the family at the heart of the series is African American but the story is not about being black. I did this because I am so tired of the standard in African American lit, which is typically about one of three things: Slavery, Sex, or Urban drama, i.e. crime/gangster/drug violence, etc. Black people are much more than those things I assure you. Essentially, I wanted to see if it was possible to write a series of books about an AA family that didn’t involve any of these very negative stereotypes. An experiment, yes. But well worth it.
Second, I think it’s incredibly unfair to leave such a low rating WITHOUT finishing the book. What if you toiled over a seven course meal and your dinner guests decided the whole thing was awful based on just the appetiser? What if you wrote a long essay for a school assignment and your teacher gave you a very public ‘F’ after reading only the first few pages? What if someone told everyone they knew that you were a stupid person after just one look at you?
You didn’t read even a third of the book and yet you felt it acceptable to leave a zero rating? I don’t mind if people don’t like my work. I knew going in that not everyone was going to like it because, let’s face, no book is perfect. I’m fine with that. But I do take issue with someone leaving a poor public opinion based on only a small portion of the work. For you it means nothing, but for us writers, it’s our lives, our careers. What did you get out of leaving such a negative review even while you didn’t bother finishing the book? I get nothing out of your review. If anything it harms me. But I’m curious to know how it benefits you?
I know I can never control this, and it’s one of the most frustrating things about being in a creative industry, but if you choose not to finish a work, don’t bother leaving your opinion on a public forum. It makes both you and the author look ridiculous. If you do finish the book and still don’t like it, then fine, leave your review. That’s fair. I personally have never and would never do such a thing if I decide not to finish an author’s work. I call that showing a level of respect to the creative endeavour. But that’s my two cents. In the meantime, I eagerly await your masterpiece. Merry Christmas.