Rating:  Summary: What Was This Author Thinking!?!?!?!?!?!? Review: I awaited this book with great anticipation. I purchased this book as a possible selection for my book club. I was thoroughly disappointed. I truly hated this book. I hated the plot, I couldn't believe the characters. The characters were very extreme, either extremely evil or so perfect; nothing in between. The way the chapters were tied together was very lame. Dropped characters without any "real" ending. I cared NOTHING about these characters, with the exception of one, the black women were portrayed as evil, mean, nasty, vindictive. Not all black women have those agendas portrayed in the book, not all black women feel that way about men. I just couldn't get over this book. The ONLY reason why I finished this book was 'cause I hate to not finish a book, I spent my $16.50, I darned well was going to finish this book. I kept hoping that these women would have some kind of "earth-shattering" experience to change their personalities; I realize as the story was getting close to the end, that it wasn't going to happen. What's wrong with wanting to date black men "exclusively"? What? You will only have true happiness if you sample/date outside of your race? What was Ballantine Books thinking? I know that the publishing houses now realize that African American people read and spend major money on books; but, does this mean that anyone with a "waiting-to-exhale" story can write a book? Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe in supporting African-American Artists; but, not if they put out crap like this. Not only is this book not worth buying in any form (hardback or paperback), it's not even worth getting it out from the Library.
Rating:  Summary: Delorys Welch-Tyson makes a dramatic debut. Review: GINGERSNAPS draws readers into the world of highly-successful black women who seemingly have it all. But behind the facade of fame and fortune, amid the peaks and valleys of passion and success, she peels away the layers to reveal real women--resilient, funny, dynamite.
Rating:  Summary: A quick and fun read. Review: Two snaps for GINGERSNAPS. In this extremely hilarious novel, Delorys Welch-Tyson delves into the psyche of six saucy, sassy, ambitious black women whose lives are turned upside down in the endless escapade of truth or consequences. So you gotta craving for somthing sweet, hard, and--down right irresistible, GINGERSNAPS is for you.
Rating:  Summary: Hilarious Book! Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was fun, very readable, with some great dialogue. The story keeps moving, things keep happening, and every character's thoughts and intentions are clear. It was fun, and I was looking for a sequel from this author. Delorys, where are you?? I hope you didn't let these naysaying reviewers stop you from picking up the story where it left off!
We should remember that this is FICTION and not take it so personally. As an African-American woman, I have known variations on all those characters and their friends. But this is true of just about any fiction -- it's a story.
Enjoyed reading this fun one.
Rating:  Summary: a self help novel Review: The book's review promises hilarity, and you find that in the first two pages. But after that...the book just seemed a soap-box for espousing TOO many philosophies about life and relationships- something that should be saved for a non-fiction book. On the one hand, DWT broadened horizons beyond the usual black-only male/female relationships. Many of the thoughts expressed about race were what we think in reality, but don't talk freely about. However, the end was SO unrealistic! How did Aletha finally win the award, after a man had been killed on the show? Why didn't we get to see Louise- the ex nun, develop pre/post confession? Why is it that Reggie popped back up at the end of the book, having finished his new novel? AND, what was up with Desiree's short story? I mean, you get the gist of why she wrote the story, but why would the author decide to make that the epilogue?! The final words of the novel tell you "they all lived happily ever after", but I would like to have actually SEEN the characters transform, as opposed to a general summary. It seems that DWT tired of writing and the book, and stopped, just to have an ending. I recommend the book for it's varying views, but it's not one to leave you smiling or laughing.
Rating:  Summary: The Book Was Pretty Darn Bad! Review: Actually, it was atrocious. I don't think I need to say much, because most of the other reviews hit on everything that's bad about the book: too many characters, only two of which are paid enough attention to; making Black women into caricatures to drive home the author's point of finding happiness in a relationship with someone of another race; using outlandish adjectives to describe the most common things, just to name a few. And what was with the author's obsession with Jews? All of the characters were unrealistic. Aletha is the only one I can buy, because she was a celebrity, so I could see her being that self-absorbed and expecting things to always go her way. But Desiree is just so PERFECT! Just because she's a psychologist, and married to a Jewish man? Get real! Marrying outside of your race does not guarantee marital bliss anymore than marrying someone of the same race does. I was pretty interested in Veronica's story, but the author left us hanging. Debra was absolutely ridiculous, and I can't tell if Tyson was implying that her negative experiences with Black men had driven her to lesbianism, or if she was just in such denial that she kept dating men even though she really liked women. Either way, that character looked like a total idiot, and Tyson did a bang-up job of offending lesbians, Black men, and Black women in one fell swoop. Janeen and Louise were both pretty minimal characters, and just plain stupid. Too stupid for me to even waste time writing about. Here's what I got out of reading Gingersnaps: psychologists, Jewish MEN, and people in interracial relationships have got their stuff together. The rest of us, particularly Black women who want to be in relationships with Black men, are just crazy.
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