Mama by Terry McMillan

I wish I can review this novel in a more positive tone. I wish I could do that but I simply can't. This novel entitled Mama by Terry McMillan started off rather nicely but by the time I reached the second quarter of the book, all the slang and mundane family squabbles started to get on my nerve.

I mean no disrespect to the author but this book is supposed to portray the main character, Mildred Peacock as (sic), "the tough, funny, feisty heroine of Mama." Perhaps I didn’t dwell deep into the character or imagine myself in her shoes but truth to be told, the storyline is rather flat and mundane to say the least. Let me quote the whole summary here.

“It ain’t that I don’t believe in God, I just don’t trust his judgment.” Mildred Peacock is the tough, funny, feisty heroine of Mama, a survivor who’ll do anything to keep her family together. In Mildred’s world, men come and go as quickly as her paychecks, but her five children are her dream, her hope, and her future.”

Don’t get me wrong but there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this book. It’s just that the storyline progresses like a soap opera albeit without cliffhanger in between chapters (at least soap operas have cliffhangers ok :-P); and before you knew it, the characters are all grown up and Mildred is left all alone.

So basically you’ll read about how Mildred raised her kids, how her kids branched out by themselves and survived in the big-bad world and eventually how they treated their beloved mother.

I know this review is flat and portrayed a rather simplistic view but it's purely my personal opinion. I’m not sure about Terry’s other books but judging by this one, I don’t think I will read the next one from hers. Period.


Personal rating: 4 out of 10

Cons:
1) Mundane story line. Boring.

Pros:
1) Not sure. :-P