3mer 5aled 5aled থেকে Lakh Khandala, Maharashtra, India
Don’t Want No Sugar is the first book I’ve read by author J.D. Mason, but won’t be my last. I liken her style to Bernice McFadden, Gwendolyn M. Parker, and Tayari Jones. She pulled me into the story from page one. In this tale of love, betrayal, obsession, and homicidal tendencies, Don’t Want No Sugar, proves that the mind is a terrible thing to lose, and to lose ones mind as a young child has to be the worst. Young Roberta watches her mama love a man more than she loved her. When that man dies in her mama’s bed, her mother still can’t put her child over him; and after days of willing him back to life she abandons Roberta with the stinking, decomposing body, and eventually does the unthinkable. This is the setting for a life full of tragedy for a beautiful young girl. Roberta never recovers from her tragic beginnings. Back in the 1930’s and 40’s where the story takes place, folks might have said she was “touched” in the head. Those of the superstitious nature may have said her dabbling in Black Magic had played the ultimate trick. But today, medical professionals would diagnose her as having Paranoid Schizophrenia. At the age of 14 she becomes mesmerized by a local whore-monger named Charles Brooks, and decides she can’t live without him. Eventually Roberta’s love for Charles leads her to do some unconscionable acts, and it’s only down hill from there. J.D. Mason wove this tale so intricately that she has the reader sympathizing with Charles Brooks for the predicaments Roberta traps him into. As more and more lives get caught in her tormented web, it was amazing that only one horrid act was ever traced back to her. I like how Mason was able to introduce numerous characters into the story but only for the purpose of progressing, the story. However, in moving the story and the years along so swiftly, it resulted in a few letdowns, like what became of Charles and Roberta’s children. After reading more on the author I have learned that Don’t Want No Sugar is the prequel to her novel, One Day I Saw a Black King; so maybe the answers are in that book. Aside from a few misplaced characters (using a characters name when he/she is not the current subject), the book was well written. I also loved how the majority (if not all) the characters in the book were of a darker complexion and still considered to be beautiful, sexy, handsome, and desirable. Last, once I finished reading Don’t Want No Sugar, although truly satisfied, I still could not relate the story to the title. This is no biggie, just an internal quirk I have where I try to guess what the book is about based on the title.. Much Love, Tracy Tracy L. Darity is the author He Loves Me He Loves Me Not! and Love…Like Snow In Florida On A Hot Summer Day. For more information, please www.TracyLDarity.com.