Keila
I liked this book. As my first biography of Marvin Gaye, it seemed to be a comprehensive view of his life and struggles. As for the author, I'm not a big fan. His detailed accounts of the people, places, and circumstances that spanned the decades of Gaye's career were appreciated, but I could have done without the flowery language used in between those stories to portray him as a tragic hero. I was distracted enough to skip over paragraphs at a time, and I'm a little hesitant to try another of Mr. Ritz' books. I guess I would recommend it in spite of that. Consider this a 3.5 star review.
The whole time I was reading this book, people asked me if I liked it. And all I could say was, “It is long.”
And it is.
So long that had I not read it electronically, I might not have gotten through it at all. But now that I'm finished, I believe I did like it. The storytelling was very good, and I was actually surprised at how intrigued I was by how Theo's life progressed. I didn't expect most of what ended up happening, and I enjoyed seeing how all of the characters acted and reacted to the circumstances they were put in. I would recommend this for those who truly enjoy good storytelling.
Finished it in a day. The characters were relatable, the stories well fleshed out. so good. I thought it was going to be a “here, Black woman, are the rules for how you get man” but it wasn't that at all. The intros to each section contained some gems, but the book stayed true to the individualism of each person to make her own choices, in every arena.
This was an interesting experience. While I found the act of reading a chapter a day and journaling accordingly to be a great habit to firm, I often found the book to be clichéd. Much of it felt like an ad for the author's church and other books. However, overall, the practice that this 40 days has created for me has been life changing. I appreciate this book for that.
I did not like this book. It was like a futuristic 1984, except...not good. While some of the subject matter seemed applicable to our current relationship with technology, the characters were one dimensional and there didn't seem to be any balance in the pretty predictable plot. I kept waiting for something to happen, anything exciting. But nothing. leave this one on the shelf.
