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The Ugly Girlfriend (2000)

by Latrivia S. Nelson(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Romance

series

The Lonely Hearts

review 1: Well, I liked it. The ride was not entirely unpleasant but it was not the best either. Good thing though, I could not put down the book. It's easy to read. It's short. The grammar was correct even if I found some phrasings odd. But I am a foreigner so I probably can't judge that well. I was in a sudden need for a good modern romance fix and with some modifications it could have been memorable. The premises was good but the author shy'd away from it being a good book who asked interesting questions. I don't know why authors don't go for it sometimes. They have a plot in their heads but they just fall timidly into conventions and it reads like a pamphlet book sold in a train station. It could have worked better. I mean the leading lady in this novel is a nice, down-to-earth... more, seemingly smart, nerdy, professionnal, grounded, pretty, black woman. At least she is supposed to be all theses things. Yet she is unlucky in love. She meets "Mitch" who is also very unlucky in love and in the span of a couple of weeks they fall in love. Unfortunately for us, the author thinks it's cute listening to her heroine constant ranting. Latoya spent most of the novel ranting about her weight, her skin color, and her hair and I felt frustrated to no end. It is so damn difficult to find a good black female character in urban litterature I was disappointed that she had to be phony and her friends "Real housewives of Atlanta" types of "bitches". I mean if only the author did not cheat her way through the book it could have been a great read. It could have been "something new" material. If Latoya had been less "Jill Scott" and more "Precious", I'd feel for her. But the girl is a size 14! In what universe, a size 14 is considered overweight and not date worthy? I mean I don't live in that universe with my size 18. Because from where I stand "bitches with a size 14 gets laid. What is wrong with her? She was being so immature by moments. Too fully appreciate the story, I imagined that she was more of a size 22 than a size 14. I also imagined that she had "Octavia Spencer" kind of quirky beauty. That is how I manage to make the plot credible. I had doubts a man like Mitch would listen to her prattle. The things she said sometimes was quite offending in their ignorance. I mean she bashed her friends for being sex-driven one-night stand magnet and then they're conveniently jealous of her when she got herself a man. She always belittled herself to the point of it being ridiculous. She bashed the weave-wearing Deana. She bashed the seemingly annoying Angela. She goes out with them and they're conveniently not that good to her anyway. What is the point of this friendship? It sounds very Tyler Perry-ish. Also,what is wrong with the racism and the colorism stereotypical talk? There was no real interoggation. No explanations. No discussions. There was only statements from the main character. The girl was convinced her friends pitied her and at the end of the book we realized it is conveniently true. The author never addressed the weird social views or the self-esteem issues she might have in an intelligent manner. I also did not like that Mitch's wife was black. It seems too easy. He even go as far as saying he should be allowed to love what he loves. But it could have made much more of an impact if his first wife had been any color in the sun but black. Because only a man who is already into "swirl" would be into her. Also did she need to meet an african american partner also a woman to feel entitled to stay in her position towards Angela. The man bloody well worked his ass off. We saw it. There was no doubt in my mind he probably deserve his promotion. That was ridiculous and uneeded. We're in 2014. She lives in the US. I'd understand if she lived in my island where some places still act backwards with white people being your boss and their children also being your boss because it is how it worked. But it was nothing like that. The plot felt contrived with too many clichéed situations and not enough quality time with our protagonists. I happened to like her relationship with Zach and I'd have been happy to read more about it.I like that he had a bit of spunk in him. He was a cute kid. What happened to the illegitimate baby plot? Will Mitch be paying alimony for the other kid we never saw or discussed? I liked Mitch to some levels. He was attractive but although his complicated lovelife was quite a turn off but it was one of the rare things that worked well in the book. Overall the plot felt rushed and his pov sometimes not really realistic. I was surprised with their love scene because it was not what I imagined. But it worked. It could have been so much better was what I thought when I read the last sentence of this book. It could have been so much better. Chances are if you pick up this book, you will read it and then put it down and think exactly the same. It is not a bad book but it could have better.
review 2: This was a good story. I disagree with other reviews that stated that Latoya jumped from one extreme to another. She and Mitch spent time together every week, and when they went out or had dinner together, they spent hours just talking. We cannot have detailed info in a novella as we would in a novel, but the language alluded to having spent much time together before they had sex with one another. In the novellas the attention is in the wording. Close attention has to be paid in order for the story to make sense. In which this story did a very nice job. less

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