Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

One star means you "hate" the book. Hate is such a strong word that I can say it's a little "over the top" in how I feel about this book, BUT not by much! You ever hear about a book or a specific artist and feel this overwhelming pressure that You Must Like It or you're not civilized or "cultured enough". I have felt this way before (shout out to Esperanza Spalding) and once again found myself saying I must love this book if Oprah and Essence says so. I mean I'm an African American woman born and raised in Philadelphia how can I not love this book. At first, I must admit I was smitten, yes each chapter ended abruptly, with no sense of closure just doom and gloom or a feeling of What The... But I kept thinking "It's got to get better and Mathis is surely going to get back to these characters. By 60% into the book (for all my fellow Kindle readers out there) I was more than annoyed and was wondering what is the point to all this misery. By the time I got to the "Bell" chapter I was "speed reading" through each click of my Kindle. A friend of mine, who also read this book and had the same reaction as I did said the book should be called "What Happen...to the Twelve Tribes of Hattie?" If someone out there does know, they sure didn't find out from reading this book. Mathis needs to find her "voice" as a writer and pick a lane while she is at it. Putting everything in a book including the kitchen sink does not make for a fascinating read. Also to Mathis CLOSURE is a good thing you should try it out in your next book.