Massive Black Hole

by Andrea Barbosa

At 18, Cibele, a student from Rio de Janeiro, dreams of a life in New York and moves to the big Apple as an au pair girl, where she meets the precocious Amy, a young scholar whose goal in life is to study sciences and astrophysics. While visiting the MET, Cibele is impressed by a particular work of art depicting hell, in the style of Hieronymus Bosch. When Amy introduces her to astronomy, she is consumed by fear of black holes. Lost and confused with what to do with her life, she meets ambitious Agatha from Texas, who came to New York to succeed as a fashion model. While trying to survive and achieve their goals, the 3 young women question the meaning of life, death and the existence of hell, and their friendship ultimately turns into a maze of betrayal, jealousy and selfishness.

Massive Black Hole is a surrealist literary fiction novel that explores moral issues concerning suicide, abortion, friendship, betrayal, life's purpose and the existence of hell through the lives of the protagonists.

˃˃˃ Because hell is real.

Embark on this spiraling journey through Rio de Janeiro, Texas and New York discovering the ambitions of 3 young women trying to find the meaning of life. Through a series of events that prompt them to play with each other's destiny, they will face their ultimate challenge: is hell real?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

236 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2013

About the author

When not writing or working her full-time job, Andrea Barbosa travels in search of history, museums, and adventures. Her short stories and poems have appeared in several anthologies and journals, including the Southern Pacific Review and Ariel Chart.

She was the VP and Press Director for the Houston Writers' Guild for 5 years and is a member of the Board of Directors for Kallisto Gaia Press, a non-profit that publishes The Ocotillo Review Literary Journal.

She has been a guest speaker at Houston Writers Guild writing conferences, Houston Baptist University Writers Conference, Lone Star College Bayou City Book Festival, Fort Bend County Libraries Book Festival, First Colony, Maud Marks, and Bear Creek libraries, Bay Area Writers League, NW Houston Romance Writers of America, Authorology workshops by Inklings Publishing, and is a regular guest author and panelist at Comicpalooza's (Texas largest pop culture event) Literary Track.

Awards:
2015 Readers' Favorite Silver Medal Award - Poetry: Holes in Space - A Poetry Collection
2015 Honorable Mention Award - Spider's Web Flash Fiction Contest from Spider Road Press
2015 Honorable Mention Award - Houston Writers Guild Contest from Houston Writers Guild Press' Mystery Short Stories.
2016 First Place Award - Spider's Web Flash Fiction Contest from Spider Road Press
2016 Solo Medalist Winner in Contemporary Romance - New Apple Literary Book Awards
2018 "Official Selection" in Romance - New Apple Literary Summer e-Book Award

Contact her for any speaking engagements or book club appearances and signings.

Reviews

[Indy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a twist! Hard to say much about the book without giving out a spoiler alert though! It has all the elements of a great drama wrapped up in fiction! And the unexpected ending... makes you wonder... this is the kind of book I'll be thinking about for a long time... could that be possible? Very thought provoking. And you will love and hate the characters! It's a must read!

[Jon Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Massive Black Hole is one of those books that make you think. The story is about three characters, Cibele, Agatha, and Amy. Each one has her own set of flaws, which make their interactions fascinating. The dichotomy of Agatha's beauty to her personality and how each character affected the other two was well done. I like how the story progressed and love the ending.

If you're looking for a good read that engages your imagination and philosophy of life, then read Massive Black Hole!!

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cibele was currently living in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro working in a souvenir shop. She did not get along with Maria her boss. It was part her fault also she wasn’t an aggressive sales person as was Lucas, who she despised also. Maria had the 1st employee review. She was let go. There was a reason Cibele moved from NY to Brazil. She got her passport/visa & moved to Queens to be an au pair, & later a model. Dad (account mgr.) & Mom Brenda (nurse) & child Lilly (autistic) met her at the airport. Amy (15) a gifted child was the oldest daughter. She volunteered a lot to work with autistic children. Amy & Cibele went to a planetarium. Cibele thought of the black hole (a vision of hell, Christ’s Descent to Hell) was a painting at the Metropolitan (Met). The year was up & Cibele moved to the YWCA in Manhattan, how ironic Agatha was her roommate (pg. 86). They both wanted to become models, each had their own portfolio. The girls went to show Amy. Amy & Cibele described the black hole (analogy) to Agatha.

Agatha worked as a secretary for a law office downtown Houston, Texas. She was having an affair with her boss Moe which secured her job. She had been a model from NY. They were total opposites, she was in her 40’s & he was a real piece of work & had a lot of baggage. Sex was only at the office. He was retiring & the new boss Frederick was on board. Janice (younger) was another secretary they did not need both. Bob is Janice’s B/F.

Looking in her mirror Agatha saw monsters. Her mother had died giving birth, & she lived with her aunt for the most part, she had been raped by her cousin at 13, as well as he physically abused her. She married a F/B player from HS he was offered a scholarship in college, but 1 game to go he got seriously injured & would never play F/B again, he ended up being a truck driver & pizza delivery to support Angela’s modeling career. Things took a downward spiral from there; she was going to get fired for several reasons, they never got a divorce & headed for NY to try modeling there. Agatha husband had committed suicide. She did not go to the funeral because PPL were going to blame her for his suicide.

Agatha & Cibele decide they must go their own separate ways. Agatha couldn’t find modeling jobs, she found a waitressing job & Cibele visa was about to expire, she found a nanny job. Agatha was jealous because Cibele was going to be on a TV commercial…

The story line thickens: can Agatha, Cibele & Amy remain friends? Will Agatha abort her baby? Where will Agatha life go/end up? Where will Cibele life go/end up? How will the characters get out of the/their black hole (abyss, super novae, spiral galaxies, meteors, satellites, planets, quasars, stars, clusters)? What is the plot Cibele & Agatha are planning against Amy?

My fav; “Christ’s Descent to Hell”, sums it all up. As a former crisis/school counselor this was a great book for me to read. Homeless & transients can be quite challenging to work with. Great story line, kind of a psychological thriller, most of the time it was easy for me to read/follow, no grammar errors or out of story line sequence, quite a few unexpected twist/turns, never a dull moment & great characters. It did pull together later on. Might even make a great movie. I ended up giving it a rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free book
Tony Parsons MSW

[Abby Vandiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever twist in a well-thought out story. Massive Black Hole is the story of three women who, as the old adage goes, can't see the forest for the trees. Although their lives, passions and insecurities become intertwined, the three are self-indulgent, pretentious and naive.

The story was lacking on dialogue and told instead of showed the characters personalities, their surroundings and their predicaments. The character Amy seemed wise beyond her years and the story may have made better by her being older than 15-16. But the weaving of the story, from the glimpse of what was happening as the story opens, to the return to the past telling the back story, and culminating with the realty of the present was masterful. An unexpected turn of events, which this story certainly has, is what makes a book worth reading.

[Mercia McMahon]

Disclaimer: I am an author and do not give ratings.

Andrea Barbosa’s novel Massive Black Hole is an engaging work of literary fiction based around the intertwining lives of three female friends in New York: Agatha from Houston, Cibele from Rio, and Amy from New York. The massive black hole of the title is a reference to the Pseudo-Bosch painting Christ’s Descent into Hell which is a major motif in the story. Art and prose are not the only cultural forms present in the novel as there are also a few of Barbosa’s poems in the text. Barbosa is a long-term resident of the United States, although born in Brazil. She cites fellow Brazilian author Paolo Coelho as a major influence and it is evident in this novel with its narrative that wanders from the sacred to the mundane to the highly figurative.

Massive Black Hole is clearly within the realms of literary fiction, but those who like a lyrical style will be disappointed. Despite Barbosa’s poetic abilities (her latest book is a poetry collection Holes in Space) this novel is written in a quite prosaic manner. In addition there are a large number of typographical errors that might put off literary fiction readers, who tend to have a lower tolerance for such problems. Another area in which this novel may disappoint the literary set is that Barbosa tends to explain why a character is acting in a certain way rather than allowing the reader to glean that from the narrative. There are also a couple of formatting problems on the Kindle version with Chapter 26 not beginning on a new page like the rest and oddly for a book with titled chapters there is no Table of Contents (there is in the print edition).

There are problems with Barbosa’s style but persevering with the novel is well worth the effort. The dénouement is very interesting and should leave most readers with a positive response to the novel. Certainly for me the ending justifes the means.

© Mercia McMahon 2014

[Edward Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this debut novel by Andrea Barbosa, what you see is not what you get. I thought this book was about black holes and space. It's not. The title refers to one of the character's conceptions of what hell must be like - a place you can never escape.

The story is about two women from different countries who come together with similar interests. Both of them are beautiful, but lack much guidance and long-range planning. They are advised by their parents to take better paths than they end up choosing, but that's about it.

Each of them ends up in New York in pursuit of modeling careers, and this is about the only thing the two have in common. Along the way, the story takes a dark and unexpected turn in regards to a third character named Amy. The first two women with the unfortunate names of Cibele (Sybil?) and Agatha often have conversations where they discuss the ultimate meaning of life. Cibele argues in favor of a theosophical view, whereas Amy, a would-be astrophysicist is more pragmatic and scientific. Ironically, it's Cibele who thinks of Hell as being like a massive black hole.

I liked the narrative and the story kept me interested although the theosophical debates were not argued very well, but then, these are not the brightest women around. And I was sad for the secondary character after an evil plot was executed against her. I didn't like the turn of events, or the ultimate outcome for Amy, which is the one that was desired by those who plotted against her. Evil kind of wins in that regard.

But then it ended with a nice, unexpected twist for the bad guys.

I give the book 3.5 stars, but rounded up since it did keep me going, and that's saying a lot after so many other debut indie books I've tried that don't succeed in that regard.

The author shows a lot of promise and having been a beta reader of her next book, I can say with certainty, she's definitely talented and getting better as she goes. I look forward to seeing more.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reviews below were found on different websites from readers of Massive Black Hole who are not on Goodreads:


Review posted on Barnes&Noble website about Massive Black Hole:

Posted June 6, 2013
This book is great! It's very interesting to see the development

This book is great! It's very interesting to see the development of the characters and their struggle with the situations that come their way! I loved it! The descriptions of the places are great, I can't wait to visit New York and Rio de Janeiro and see the locations for real! The ending is so unexpected and you have no idea what is going to happen. Very surprising, I was not expecting it. Amazing!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

5 Star review! on http://www.powells.com/biblio/9781484...

Laura Smith, October 20, 2013 (view all comments by Laura Smith)
This is the type of book that is not for everyone. Definitely not every one will understand what is behind the idea of the 3 teenagers becoming friends and then, through their life experiences and circumstances, turning against each other because of jealousy, envy, etc. The beginning of the book shows 2 of the characters in their 40's and gives a glimpse of what their lives have become, then goes back to the past when they were teens and came to know each other. This is not a mystery, this is not a romance, it's almost scifi in the sense of the ending. Brilliant concept, and not mainstream at all. Very different from what everyone is reading lately, therefore, go with an open mind.

[Lisa Burkett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Massive Black Hole by Andrea Barbosa is most defiantly more than what you would expect from a debut novel. The book goes further than a story about friends gone wrong; it takes you into a moral, philosophical and or religious questioning of the responsibility of our actions and purpose in life. If you go into it as a simple read and can only see it as a novel about three young women and their dreadful choices in life, you have lost the meaning or purpose of the story. Some of the reviews will warn you that it is not a Romance Novel and it is not, I think that for now it is and stands all on it’s own.
Andrea Barbosa has been brave and adventurous in tackling a very lucrative and competitive market with such a different approach to her first novel. She could have easily tackled a more lucrative subject matter and probably have obtained higher reviews; yet her belief in her dream and determination to pursue such a competitive market will in time, I believe, gain her a special niche in the literary market; one that hopefully will flourish. For now I am curious to see how Barbosa will handle a new novel, will she take us thru the Seven Deadly sins?

[Johi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty cool story about the lives of two girls, at a time when they knew each other and were friends, some twenty years ago; and their separate lives as adults in their forties. I say two and not three despite what the description of the book says, because I feel the story revolves around Brazilian beauty Cibele and gorgeous Texan Hooters girl Agatha. Both girls go to New York in search for something better and end up as roommates -- their destructive personalities clash and affect not only their lives but the life of Cibele's good friend Amy. This is a story that makes you keep reading to see where these two unstable characters will end up. A great debut novel by Andrea Barbosa.

[Fernanda Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in one night. Great literary fiction with a surprising twist at the end. Only thing I would change is structuring the POV switches so they are easier to follow but keep all as the combination is what really makes the take work so compellingly.

[Sue Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right from the first page, this story captured my imagination in that there are so many different facets of the book.

We’ve got three young women from completely different backgrounds, and who have virtually nothing in common except for the fact that they have nothing in common. But that adds to the affluence of Andrea Barbosa’s writing. We have Cibele from Brazil, a country where Catholicism is prevalent, and Amy from Queens, New York, who is slightly younger and who is not a religious person at all. The two have many lengthy debates on the vagaries of science and spiritually.

The more Cibele hears Amy’s persuasions about the non-existence of heaven and hell, the more she finds herself at a loss to justify its existence too, even if she does refuse to admit it. And the more Amy – who’s interests lie in astronomy and the cosmos - reads about spirituality and the Christian values of Brazil, the more inquisitive she becomes about Cibele’s perception of it.

All of these fulfilling conversations about black holes of the universe and of souls and angels are very delicately handled by Ms Barbosa - with the catalyst of these discussions being a painting by Hieronymus Bosch, Christ’s Descent into Hell, which fascinates both girls – until the arrival of Agatha, a narcissistic sociopath who derives satisfaction from manipulating, deceiving, using and abusing others in order to get what she wants, which in her case is to be a top fashion model. But, like all those suffering from narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), Agatha has an extremely high sense of self-esteem but a very fragile self-worth.

I must congratulate Andrea Barbosa on reproducing the narcissistic sociopath perfectly here, although not once does she mention the words ‘narcissist’ or ‘sociopath’. From personal experience I know that if a narcissist or sociopath attacks someone, that ‘survivor’ never knows who the next person will be to turn against them and become a puppet to the toxic person. This is Agatha turning Cibele against Amy, and she does this with a complete lack of remorse or shame ……. despite the consequences. Think Fagin turning Bill Sykes against Nancy.

Agatha has a deep-seated rage at her core, so skillfully portrayed by Ms Barbosa, that she never sees others around her as people, but only as targets or opportunities. The other two girls are her only friends, but to her they are nothing but victims. To Agatha the end always justifies the means, and she lets nothing stand in her way until both girls, in completely separate ways, are broken. Cibele’s conscience is in turmoil, but not Agatha’s. People like her are simply wired different from the rest of us, for when things go wrong, Agatha actually blames Cibele and Amy for abandoning her, which is typical sociopathic behaviour.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s a remarkable achievement from the author, and well worth a read.

[Cate's Book Nut Hut · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is a debut work for this Author.

This is a book with not one but what appears to be three female leads that need to be kept track of. Because of this it was difficult at times to keep remember which character I was involved with in that particular section of the book, and I found myself having to flip-flop around to make sense of what I was reading. The characters are well written and not too badly developed; something I feel could have been improved upon if each characters story had been taken to the brink of the conclusion, then bringing in one of the others. After all they were all involved in the same incident, no spoiler there, just a little tease. The characters are, in essence, the main driving force of the story in this novel, but their lack of depth actually detracted from the read as a whole. None of the three were what I would call particularly strong, but they did incite some emotion from me, so in that they are worth reading about; you will either love them all or hate them individually for their flaws.

It is apparent from the way the Author describes her locations that she has travelled extensively and has personal knowledge of the places she writes of. However, in some areas these descriptions became so detailed I felt as if I were reading a travel guide. Unfortunately though, as well as the locations were written and a picture painted, it did not make me want to pack a bag and hop the next flight to either Brazil or New York. Regardless of this I did get hints of Joyce Carol Oates whilst reading, with maybe a pinch of a couple of Authors I couldn’t quite place.

I think for me personally, the downside to this book was finding out about halfway through it was actually one of my dreaded romance novels and not a ‘mystery’ as I understood it to be. This did not stop me from reading to the end, and has not influenced my review in any way either.

This is a good little read, if you can get past the romance, and I would recommend it as a beach read, or something for a lazy evening on your deck in your yard. I feel it would be suitable for an older YA reader as well as adult readers.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.wordpress.com/...




This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

[Julianne Redmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I started reading I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to like this book. But my advice to you...STICK WITH IT! Any doubt or misgivings that I had about it were tossed out of the window by the end of the story.

The characters were so well-written that I truly despised Agatha and Cibele. My skin crawled just reading about the type of women that they were at the beginning of the story. I don't think I could ever be in the same room with either of them, and it's been a long time since I had such a visceral negative reaction to any character in the story. While my background and beliefs definitely veer from Amy's I still really liked her...her logic, her innocence, her truly good nature. It was Amy that really kept me reading the story.

And the story itself...it took so many unexpected twists and turns that I truly appreciated the ending. The whole story had me thinking about the idea of "hell-on-earth" so to speak. All three of these very different women had their own version of it and it started me thinking about my own experiences...what would I choose to do should I have been in their shoes?

If you want a fast, funny read, then this isn't the book for you. But if you want a book that makes you think, one that you will truly enjoy, don't pass this one up!

[Nihar Suthar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrea Barbosa shows signs of becoming a great author. Her book kept me hooked as I wanted to keep reading to find out what happen to Agatha and Cibele towards the end. Massive Black Hole really makes you think about the essence of life and happiness. It questions things beyond our control, but yet remains very interesting.

There are a few improvements that could be made here and there - the switching abruptly between characters, time periods, and locations especially threw me off at times. I feel like the story got a little confusing sometimes with all the changes. In the end though, Andrea did a good job of bringing everything together. Also, there were a few grammatical errors, but definitely less than a lot of other authors out there.

Overall, Andrea did a great job with this debut novel. She was very descriptive and really made it possible to visualize most parts of the novel, while making me think about the deep questions of existence. Great work!

-Nihar
www.niharsuthar.com

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received my copy of this book free in exchange for a fair review, which is posted elsewhere.)

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Massive Black Hole is a surrealist work of fiction that explores moral issues concerning suicide, abortion, friendship, betrayal, life's purpose and the existence of hell through the lives of 3 protagonists

Andrea Barbosa's debut novella Massive Black Hole was a heroic attempt for this newbie author.��

I admire Barbosa's premise but the story is in need of serious editing and improved writing. I enjoyed the aspect of incorporating Bosch's Christ's Descent into Hell, very clever and original. As I said great premise but requires extensive rework.��

The part that failed miserably was in one of the protagonists. A 15 yo young adult no matter how intelligent would in no way be hanging out and befriending two 40 something year olds. Besides if the 15 yo was as intellectual as described she seriously would not be involved with her two imbecile protagonists. Zero intellectual compatibility. Another downfall, the other two self-centered wacko protagonists decide to exercise revenge on the 15 yo so she knows what suffering is all about. Apparently the 15 yo knows nothing about life - Duh? Maybe because she's 15. Just a complete unrealistic scenario and utterly stupid, my opinion.��

Maybe, and I say maybe loosely, with a rewrite, some harsh editing and changing the 15 yo to a more realistic and appropriate age this story could have potential.��

If your willing to be generous when reading a green author, your expectations are minimal and the age and plausibility isn't a negative in your eyes than by all means have a go at Massive Black Hole.

[James Sulkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

A work of fiction

The author leads you to believe in a mindset that's full of fear and torment. Her conception of hell is just that....her conception of hell.
As far as a work of fiction it was a pretty good read, however, if the author was trying to convey the Christian lifestyle, the strongest hope for mankind was left out. As far as Christ, personally taking our sins, and dying for us as scripture teaches, salvation is based on good works instead of grace.
I wish the author would have presented grace instead of good works, but that's just my opinion.
Dropping the "f bomb" one time was unnecessary. There were a lot of sexual situations which didn't go into detail, so for that I'm grateful.
The book is labeled as a fantasy. It was just that...a fantasy.

[C.M. Okonkwo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall "Massive Black Hole" was enjoyable, and it had a very nice plot.

The first few pages were a bit slow, especially the traffic jams, office scene with the Agatha-Janice-Bob scenario, then Cibele and Amy, but once we went back memory lane, everything went smoothly.

I liked how the book ended as well, but a little bit of suspense would have added some spice to it. (The last few chapter titles already gave out an idea of the ending.) However, the only thing lacking in the book was dialogue...

Read more on my blog: http://cmokonkwosblog.blogspot.com/20...

***
CMO