Aaliyah Jackson

received an advance review copy from the author in exchange for an honest review and I both loved it and hated it. Family can cause you to clench your fist and grit your teeth so when Gemini's cousin started flirting with her boy friend she wanted to smack sense into them both! All Darius thought about was basketball and getting into the NBA. When one of their arguments got too heated they both said some hateful words and once she cooled down she phoned him but his cell just rang and rang.

Darius Darnell knew he was star material and playing in front of the big wigs when he beat his college's rivals would bring him closer to fulfilling his dream and no matter what his girlfriend, the hot shot lawyer wannabe saidm it was his ticket to get out of the ghetto! Then, he awoke one morning in the medical clinic in pain with his dream gone.… (plus d'informations)

In my quest to find another free download of a romance book I came across this one and decided to download as I still wait to receive another book to read/review which I’ve won through the internet.

“Hoop Dreams” by Aaliyah Jackson is a true depiction of today’s inner city youth where for males one of the only way out is getting into sports like football, baseball, or as in the case of Darius, the male protagonist in this book, basketball. Where young girls like Gemini have who has a dream of going to college and eventually becoming a lawyer even though she has a tough time making through community. Both dreams are trying to be shot down by those around these two.

And then you have young girls, like Gemini’s younger cousin Phaedra, who have unwanted pregnancies, are forced to give up their child and up no direction in their lives except drugs and more sex. These girls are also usually interested in snagging someone else’s guy due to a possible jealousy, whether or not they’re involved in another family member like Phaedra is trying to do to Gemini.

I was hoping to find out whether Gemini got Darius back in her arms, away from her cousin, but the author ended her book with a cliffhanger which continues in its sequel which unfortunately I don’t really have the luxury of time to read.

Beware, because the language used in this book is at times raw. While on the subject of language, some reviews pointed out the use of British terms in this book. I feel this can be explained by looking at the author’s bio [if I found the right Aaliyah Jackson] which states her parents and older brother are from France. This explains why she can speak French; and since the English used by her parents is British it explains why the author has used “mum” for Mom and “nightdress” for “nightgown,” terms which had been used as she grew up as a child. The difference in the terminology used in this book should have been picked up in its editing.

In the end I’m giving Ms. Jackson 4 STARS for her endeavor here.… (plus d'informations)