Forever My Lady : New Book Review
Kristi Martinez
June 18, 2007
Review by: Gabriel Campisi
Forever My Lady, written by first-time novelist Jeff Rivera, is a departure from main-stream novels. It explores an urban and inner city atmosphere, where crime-ridden youth struggle to stay alive every day. Friends go to jail and get killed around the clock. Parents come and go. Gun-fights and drugs are as much a part of the scenery as the telephone poles and the birds. It's all a fact of life for the characters living in this world. The setting is not a very nice place.
And yet, this setting is a very REAL world. Real people, day in and day out, struggle to maintain a form of existence in this place. This world is in America's backyard, but the mainstream typically ignores it -- like it doesn't exist.
Author, Jeff Rivera takes his readers and jumps into this world head-first and doesn't look back. Rather than focus on a tale of violence, however, Rivera tells a story of love and hope, a story of inspiration.
The main character in the story has everything going against him, yet is able to find strength and inspiration enough to come out on top and make the right choices in the end. We are with the main character every step of the way as he arcs and changes inside. In effect, we, the reader, change with him. We see the bad of the world, digest it, then together form a vision of hope to contrast the darkness that thrives.
Although most readers have never been sentenced to boot camp (where the bulk of this story takes place) or had a loved one gunned down before them, most will identify with the core emotions and feelings of hopelessness and despair in the beginning -- emotions brought on by the wrong choices we make in life.
It is these raw emotions that hook the reader because they are so easily identifiable -- so REAL -- even if most won't admit it. Because of this hook, readers will stay with the main character, seeking a resolution. And as a sliver of hope becomes a beacon of light, readers will root for the main character all the way through to the last page.
I think the emotions that take place in this book are universal emotions, not restricted to Latinos. I believe the book will appeal to youth everywhere, regardless of race, especially those that live in urban dwellings. I suspect this is only the beginning for author Jeff Rivera and we will be seeing a lot more of him and his works in the years to come.
Forever My Lady
Warner Books/ Grand Central Publishing
Author: Jeff Rivera
Coming: Friday, July 13, 2007
http://www.ForeverMyLady.com
ISBN: 0446698814
ISBN-13: 9780446698818
Format: Paperback, 272pp
Gabriel Campisi is the author of the best-selling book The Independent Filmmaker's Guide to Writing a Business Plan for Investors (McFarland & Company) You may visit his website at: http://www.GabrielCampisi.com
Forever My Lady, written by first-time novelist Jeff Rivera, is a departure from main-stream novels. It explores an urban and inner city atmosphere, where crime-ridden youth struggle to stay alive every day. Friends go to jail and get killed around the clock. Parents come and go. Gun-fights and drugs are as much a part of the scenery as the telephone poles and the birds. It's all a fact of life for the characters living in this world. The setting is not a very nice place.
And yet, this setting is a very REAL world. Real people, day in and day out, struggle to maintain a form of existence in this place. This world is in America's backyard, but the mainstream typically ignores it -- like it doesn't exist.
Author, Jeff Rivera takes his readers and jumps into this world head-first and doesn't look back. Rather than focus on a tale of violence, however, Rivera tells a story of love and hope, a story of inspiration.
The main character in the story has everything going against him, yet is able to find strength and inspiration enough to come out on top and make the right choices in the end. We are with the main character every step of the way as he arcs and changes inside. In effect, we, the reader, change with him. We see the bad of the world, digest it, then together form a vision of hope to contrast the darkness that thrives.
Although most readers have never been sentenced to boot camp (where the bulk of this story takes place) or had a loved one gunned down before them, most will identify with the core emotions and feelings of hopelessness and despair in the beginning -- emotions brought on by the wrong choices we make in life.
It is these raw emotions that hook the reader because they are so easily identifiable -- so REAL -- even if most won't admit it. Because of this hook, readers will stay with the main character, seeking a resolution. And as a sliver of hope becomes a beacon of light, readers will root for the main character all the way through to the last page.
I think the emotions that take place in this book are universal emotions, not restricted to Latinos. I believe the book will appeal to youth everywhere, regardless of race, especially those that live in urban dwellings. I suspect this is only the beginning for author Jeff Rivera and we will be seeing a lot more of him and his works in the years to come.
Forever My Lady
Warner Books/ Grand Central Publishing
Author: Jeff Rivera
Coming: Friday, July 13, 2007
http://www.ForeverMyLady.com
ISBN: 0446698814
ISBN-13: 9780446698818
Format: Paperback, 272pp
Gabriel Campisi is the author of the best-selling book The Independent Filmmaker's Guide to Writing a Business Plan for Investors (McFarland & Company) You may visit his website at: http://www.GabrielCampisi.com
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