Rating: 
Summary: A good read, for the most part.
Review: I'm going to go ahead and give "Dippin my Spoon" a four star rating. I didn't think it was terrible writing, considering Nina Foxx is a first time novelist. Overall Dippin my Spoon was a good read. The book was interesting, strong in some places; while weak in the others. The lead character, Amber lacks confidence, in my opinion. She seemed so insecure. I especially hated the way she was oblivious to David's dirty work. At one point, it got annoying. The end left me with many questions like, "What ever happen to..." or "What about..." It was as if Nina wrapped up all the loose ends in a brief epilogue. I wanted to know more about Malik. Nina tended to focus more on Che and David then Malik, who in the end was a crucial character in this story. Did Malik and Amber even spend enough time together? David and Amber's relationship was boring, their "meetings" were written where they were repetitious and predictable. There was so much more she could have done with Malik and Amber, in my opinion. It all ended so soon. The book did keep me reading, but to the point where I was skipping lines to get to the good part. Still, the book was exciting to me. It was written in a way where you wanted to know, even if you had to skim through the boring stuff. Props to Nina for writing a first novel that wasn't too bad.
Rating: 
Summary: JUST AWFUL!
Review: If you have a high school diploma, and certainly if you are college educated, don't waste your money on this book! I applaud Ms. Foxx for taking the initiative to follow her dream and get published... HOWEVER, it is one of the most poorly written books I have read in my entire life. Seemed like all of the sentences begin with "And then..." And then there was one ENTIRE chapter that was a VERBATIM repeat of a dream in a previous entire chapter, except that it ended with "and then I woke up realized I had the same dream all over again." Say what? Character development was basically nil, plot was bad. And just terrible, terrible writing. Awful! My book club picked this book because I suggested it after meeting the author at an event -- she had told me if we picked her book, she would come to our meeting and do an "Oprah-style" discussion. We picked the book, set the date... then she cancelled. Probably a good thing, too, because I would have been embarrased for her to hear the comments about the book -- which were 100% negative. We really tried hard to find something positive to say, but not one of the 6 of us could do it. Save your money....
Rating:
Summary: My Stirring of Your "Spoon"
Review: It was a really fun read. The characters were full, the story had life and energy and the writing was decent. If I had to pick the my favorite part of the book, I'd have to say it was the relationships. Che' + Amber; Tyler + Amber; David + Amber; and Malik + Amber (why does it seem like the world revolves around this Amber person anyway? )-- were all were pretty compelling and endearing in their own unique ways. Take Che' and Amber, the most obviously fun relationship -- their unbelievably selfish and deeply symbiotic 'friendship' is sinfully fun to watch (and not just because I'm a guy, and we all have a weird attraction to that women digging women thing). I would have liked a little more on Che'(but I just chalked her up as a typical "preacher's kid", with typical PK problems) -- but her lack of remorse in hurting Amber coupled with her deep need to be a part of Amber's life was an interesting twist that happens all too often among sistas. I thought the Tyler and Amber relationship was pretty cool in how it showed that young "love" is really hard (especially when it is more comfort love than passion love); Foxx made it make sense in the story pretty well. While Tyler was a slob and a whacko, he was very human and Amber was co-dependent and dependent all at the same time (I'm no psychologist, so work with the intent, not the medical descriptions, please) which was very real -- there are a lot of couples out there like these two, looking for new ways to exist. David and Amber was the least fun for me, but was the most believable. You would think that she was smart enough to see through his crap -- naiveté is okay, but she lost herself too deep and too quick -- but then, I guess some good D--- overcomes common sense now and again... Malik and Amber was nice to see, but was a stretch I thought. I hate that he had to get assaulted for her to realize what she felt (granted, I think she knew whe fell in love with him sometime after breakfast and beforethey finished talking 'round noon). I've been a Malik in my life before (and a Tyler and a David too to some extent or another, I suppose), and he rarely gets the girl -- actually he usually winds up talking her back into the relationship with the a--hole who is all wrong for her because he's too patient/kind/giving/in love/stupid, but it was nice to see him end up okay for a change. Overall, I liked the dreamy interludes. The writing was crisp and lyric, especially chapter 3, although I must admit that I probably didn't fully 'get' the snake thing -- but then again, I'm not always the brightest. By the way Foxx, were chapters 13 and 18 duplicated for some type of recurring dream effect, or was it a small error? I can feel the Amber, Che', Malik, David and Tyler in the being of folks I know and I like the way Foxx laid it out on paper. I know its "gravity" that really makes the world go round, and that "money is the key to end all your woes" (yeah, went there with a little Run DMC quote), but thanks for showing that love is really the only thing that truly matters, and the journey to find it is always worth the trip. Peace, Africa
Rating: 
Summary: A must read
Review: Just goes to show the grass is not always greener on the other side. A Dynamic story that holds your interest from begining to end
Rating:
Summary: Buyers Beware
Review: Self-publishing is a great tool for aspiring authors who can't get their foot in the door. But in this case even the publishing company should have turned down this job. While attempting to get through this book (because I had spent my money on it) I had to keep reading the authors bio to ensure that it stated she was a college graduate. This book was simply awful. It was filled with typo's, mispelled words, and the grammatical errors were ridiculous. I have only given one other book review because a book was so bad I felt it was my obligation to forewarn buyers. The book had no foundation, no substance, no direction. It was as if Ms. Foxx ran into an old friend on the corner and was relaying gossip about an old classmate. Several times I found myself so confused that I went back to read previous pages in order to follow the disarray of what she considered a storyline. She did not develop her characters, she didn't draw the reader in. She hopped around so quickly never tying up loose ends. One second the main character is trying to explain to her husband that things weren't working, and in the very next sentence (not paragragh) they are in another city celebrating Christmas. Her anger and resentment towards the character who was supposedly her best friend, left me confused and angry. Oh, the book was simply awful and if I could demand a refund I would. Instead I will ask, if she reads this reveiw, that she please forget about the second novel and continue in the path of her chosen profession. Writing is simply not in the cards. But I do commend you for trying, but somewhere along the way someone should have told you to save your money and just let it go. As for the first reviews on this book, my only guess is that those people were friends or family members, as no true lover of books could give such raving reviews of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Buyers Beware
Review: Self-publishing is a great tool for aspiring authors who can't get their foot in the door. But in this case even the publishing company should have turned down this job. While attempting to get through this book (because I had spent my money on it) I had to keep reading the authors bio to ensure that it stated she was a college graduate. This book was simply awful. It was filled with typo's, mispelled words, and the grammatical errors were ridiculous. I have only given one other book review because a book was so bad I felt it was my obligation to forewarn buyers. The book had no foundation, no substance, no direction. It was as if Ms. Foxx ran into an old friend on the corner and was relaying gossip about an old classmate. Several times I found myself so confused that I went back to read previous pages in order to follow the disarray of what she considered a storyline. She did not develop her characters, she didn't draw the reader in. She hopped around so quickly never tying up loose ends. One second the main character is trying to explain to her husband that things weren't working, and in the very next sentence (not paragragh) they are in another city celebrating Christmas. Her anger and resentment towards the character who was supposedly her best friend, left me confused and angry. Oh, the book was simply awful and if I could demand a refund I would. Instead I will ask, if she reads this reveiw, that she please forget about the second novel and continue in the path of her chosen profession. Writing is simply not in the cards. But I do commend you for trying, but somewhere along the way someone should have told you to save your money and just let it go. As for the first reviews on this book, my only guess is that those people were friends or family members, as no true lover of books could give such raving reviews of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I Know What It's Being Dipped In
Review: This book started out as a good idea. The writing seemed to be okay and the dream sequences could have pulled a drowning attempt at a novel to safety, but it didn't. The characters lacked depth, there were too many holes in the plot and the main character didn't seem to know what she was doing. Ever. I flipped back to re-read parts because I was afraid I had missed something. It seemed as if the writer's mood was being reflected throughout the book. If she was in good spirits, then Amber and David got along. If not, Amber and Che tried to outdo each other with deceit and duplicity. Neither of them seemed to be the type you'd want for a friend. It was hard to like anybody in this book because you never knew who you'd be reading about from page to page. The characters weren't written in a way that you could get to know them and even at the most mundane points in the book the author felt she had to go back 10 years to explain something that had little or no relevance to the story at all. Only Toni Morrison can get away with that, but you best believe you don't win Nobel prizes doing it badly.
Rating: 
Summary: The book was not that bad. (3 1/2 stars)
Review: This book was ok for her first novel. I think some of the reviews for this book were way too harsh. Give Nina a break people!! Amber was extremely stupid when it came to her personal life. I wanted her to dump Che as a friend. I also wanted a little more detail about Amber and Tyler's divorce. We never did find out who broke in Amber's apartment. David was just disgusting. It was refreshing to see Malik enter into the picture. With better character and story development, Nina Foxx will become a better author. A good first start.
Rating:
Summary: If I could give it no stars, I would
Review: This book was terrible. Like the other reader said, I waited and waited and kept reading, hoping this book would go somewhere. It was boring, predictable, and just a poor story line. It had potential, but in the end it was a waste of trees, and a waste of time... :(
Rating:
Summary: Not everybody figuires it out
Review: This was an entertaining read. Amber is naive, her husband? Ugh! Things that look good turn out not to be so. The grass is greener on the other side, but didn't Erma Bombeck say that it was because it was growing over the septic tank? I think we are all like Amber at some point, and the sad part is, not everybody figuires it out! Another truth is that friends like Che don't always want to be gotten rid of. She was deliciously nasty and I would have liked to understand her more. Will she be in another book????
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