I started this series with great anticipation. Sadly I must report that in large part I have been disappointed. Not entirely, but more than I expected.

First let me say that the relationship story lines between the primary characters is enough to keep you coming back for more. The world building is rich and consistent enough to allow for some measure of suspension of disbelief. There are two massive obstacles for me, however, that keep pulling me out of suspension of disbelief and I find horribly distracting. First, the hip hop dialog is infuriating. I can't put a voice to it, but that's not the most frustrating part. So much of the dialog relies so heavily on "Sheeit...." and "daaayuum....." and "sistah, don't even go there...." that all together too much of the dialog is unfinished. Often the point they were trying to make is lost. Most of the time I was thinking "well, if you don't go there could you please THINK it so I know what you're talking about?!?" I finished Minion believing I had made up 1/3 of the book myself trying to compensate for unfinished dialog that was sacrificed to the hip hop god.

Second, although the author makes heavy references to several different religions and belief systems, with an emphasis on ancient Egyptian and western African cultures, the vast majority of the lore is Christian dogma based. The Christian dogma between these pages literally oozes out. I find that unoriginal and boring.

The writing that isn't trying too hard to be hip hop is exceptional and engaging. The story has promise but it gets obscured in Christian dogma. The heroine is strong in spite of being over protected for her own good by everyone around her (to the point of being left to go into heavy situations in total ignorance - some love). I want to know what happens with these characters so I will continue this series for a while, but honestly if something doesn't break with the dialog I'm not sure I'll be able to stay with it. That is unusual for me.

P.S. I wrote this review for another book review site after I finished Minion. I have since read the entire series and, to give the author her due, the hip hop dialog reduced significantly after the first book or two such that the readability improved dramatically, but enough was retained so that the urban/ hip hop flavor of the book remained.