Because I haven't posted in a while...
...here's my review of Chris Tusa's Dirty Little Secrets, copied and pasted directly from my alter blog, Robolobolyn's Universe of Books. (Yes, Robolobolyn's Books is no more. It suffered a little... incident... and is lo longer alive.)
Set in the slums of New Orleans, among clusters of crack houses and abandoned buildings, Dirty Little Angels is the story of sixteen year old Hailey Trosclair. When the Trosclair family suffers a string of financial hardships and a miscarriage, Hailey finds herself looking to God to save her family. When her prayers go unanswered, Hailey puts her faith in Moses Watkins, a failed preacher and ex-con. Fascinated by Moses’s lopsided view of religion, Hailey, and her brother Cyrus, begin spending time down at an abandoned bank that Moses plans to convert into a drive-through church. Gradually, though, Moses’s twisted religious beliefs become increasingly more violent, and Hailey and Cyrus soon find themselves trapped in a world of danger and fear from which there may be no escape.
Earlier this month I was asked by author Chris Tusa to read and review his book, Dirty Little Angels, which has just recently came out. I read the summary, thought it sounded like something that I'd like, and emailed Chris back telling him, yes. I didn't regret it. Though it took me a little while to finish it (I got pretty busy shortly after I started this book, and didn't get to finish it until last night) I have got to say, parts of this book took my breath away, others made me want to yell at certain characters (ex, Mama, Meridian, and Hailey) and there was even a time or two when I felt like crying. (Okay, there was maybe a time where I actually did cry, but let's not spread that around, 'kay?)
Dirty Little Secrets isn't a extremely long book, only 170 pages, but it was full of twists and turns that I would have never expected in a million years. For example, the ending. Because I don't want tot give too much away, all I'll say about the ending is that, wow, that sure wasn't what I was expecting. The ending just came out of nowhere, surprising me and probably a lot of it's other readers as well.
And although the writing was a little rough, and the ending left a few things open, the content was amazing. Everything written in this book could happen. Has happened. Is happening right now. People are being cheated on, friends are getting pregnant, people are being killed, raped. People are poor. They don't use proper grammar. They start smoking at an early age... The list goes on and on. This novel gives us a look into the life of a not-so-well-off teenager who's going through these problems and more.
Hailey's mama suffers from depression, the daddy has been layed off, and her brother is getting in with the wrong people. As Hailey struggles to deal with their problems, she begins a downward spiral that leads to some pretty serious issues for Hailey herself. Will she get help or hit the very bottom? Read Dirty Little Angels to find out!
And who couldn't love the cover? It drew me in completely! I'd have probably read the book based on the cover and title alone! :)
Plot: 9.5/10
Characters: 9/10
Cover: 10/10
Romance/Sex: 6.5/10
Creativity/Originality: 10/10
Total: 45/50 = A :)
I give this book ...
Robolobolyn (: