Renee and Jay in Multiculturalism in YA,Fantasy, Sci FI,Paranormal and fun books ;p

Jan 08, 2011 The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears rated it did not like it

Shelves: genre-interracial-romance, wtf-bad-romance, wtf-books-i-wish-i-hadn-t-read, wtf-books-to-roast-smores-to, wtf-hugely-epic-fail, wtf-character-fail, wtf-epic-race-fail

I don't know where to start with my criticism of this book.

I suppose I was hoping for something with a lot less dependency upon trite stereotypes of black womanhood. I was trying very hard not to be offended at yet another white male fantasy of what black women are about, even one written by a man in an interracial marriage.

Renee, for all her supposed education and sophistication, was a tiresome character, and her personality was far from being amusing. In fact, she came off rather ignorant, es I don't know where to start with my criticism of this book.

I suppose I was hoping for something with a lot less dependency upon trite stereotypes of black womanhood. I was trying very hard not to be offended at yet another white male fantasy of what black women are about, even one written by a man in an interracial marriage.

Renee, for all her supposed education and sophistication, was a tiresome character, and her personality was far from being amusing. In fact, she came off rather ignorant, especially when it came to trying Italian cuisine for the first time. I mean, did the woman live in a vacuum? It seemed that Renee had never enjoyed a pizza or spaghetti before. If Roanoake, VA is that backwards, I for one most certainly wouldn't want to live there.

Renee's views of Italians came off as biased and prejudicial. Her comments about Giovanni having a "smell" that she found distasteful was bothersome. Does the author really believe that most black people in America have never been around Italians? Has the author ever lived in New York, or somewhere a tad more cosmopolitan?

To me, Renee came off as selfish and far more concerned about what other people might think about her growing relationship with Jay, and less about her own true feelings. I was very disturbed by her refusal to allow Jay to hold her hand or bestow a kiss on her in public because she didn't want anyone to see them together.

In many ways she was petty and juvenile, and if I had been Giovanni, I'd have married someone who had their heads on a little straighter than "sister girl" Renee. Renee's overbearing mother and best friend left a lot to be desired as well.

Giovanni was too typically the "romantic" hero and he could have used a lot more guts. The entire "hip-hop" poet aspect, also left me feeling a little unsure. It seemed almost contrived somehow, as if the author was trying to convince the reader that Giovanni's interest in Renee was sincere.

The only decent characters with any sort of warmth and likeability were Giovanni's father and sister, who was a lesbian. Their reunion was probably the most touching moment in a book rather bereft of them.

Being in an interracial relationship myself, Renee's behavior just reinforces my belief that some people simply are not emotionally mature enough to handle going against the grain. For myself, the only happiness I care about is that of my partners' and my own. The rest of the world can go hang.

I will say, in spite of my disatisfaction with much of the novel, I still read it in two days, the only reason being the lack of interracial romances in general.

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