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Rating: 
Summary: Funky Freaky and Fashionable
Review: The glamorous world of fashion meets with five funky divas living in Hotlanta in Andrew Oyefesobi's sophomore novel, Vanity and Voodoo Dolls. A plethora of characters and a hodgepodge of personal issues make up the storyline for this sometimes wild and wacky book. The novel begins with the emotionally fragile Dorian trying to slit her wrist on her birthday, at her party. Her roommate, Valadia, who is obsessed with the movie Mahogany, is trying to talk her out of the suicide attempt. Valadia has her own issues; she is getting ready to spring a surprise on her employer, Nieman Marcus. To get back at the men who have hurt her, she rallies together her friends to do the "cool burn" to unsuspecting men and constantly is at odds with other roommates and friends. Her journal entries give readers a glimpse to her inner thoughts as she ponders the three questions for the mystery file after each entry. In a separate, but parallel story is the supermodel for the Type B modeling agency, Alexis. Evan Billings and she are an item much to the dismay of his mother and modeling agency owner Bethesda Billings. Alexis and Evan continue to defy Ms Billings as their relationship blossoms. There are many other characters and storylines going on. The author does a good job of keeping all the characters involved in the story as their lives are intermingled. He also springs new twists and turns in characters' lives that keep most of the stories interesting. As dysfunctional as the characters are, they all have happy outcomes in the end. If the world of the funky, freaky and fashionable is your forte, then this is your book. Jeanette
APOOO BookClub
Rating:
Summary: Funky Freaky and Fashionable
Review: The glamorous world of fashion meets with five funky divas living in Hotlanta in Andrew Oyefesobi's sophomore novel, Vanity and Voodoo Dolls. A plethora of characters and a hodgepodge of personal issues make up the storyline for this sometimes wild and wacky book. The novel begins with the emotionally fragile Dorian trying to slit her wrist on her birthday, at her party. Her roommate, Valadia, who is obsessed with the movie Mahogany, is trying to talk her out of the suicide attempt. Valadia has her own issues; she is getting ready to spring a surprise on her employer, Nieman Marcus. To get back at the men who have hurt her, she rallies together her friends to do the "cool burn" to unsuspecting men and constantly is at odds with other roommates and friends. Her journal entries give readers a glimpse to her inner thoughts as she ponders the three questions for the mystery file after each entry. In a separate, but parallel story is the supermodel for the Type B modeling agency, Alexis. Evan Billings and she are an item much to the dismay of his mother and modeling agency owner Bethesda Billings. Alexis and Evan continue to defy Ms Billings as their relationship blossoms. There are many other characters and storylines going on. The author does a good job of keeping all the characters involved in the story as their lives are intermingled. He also springs new twists and turns in characters' lives that keep most of the stories interesting. As dysfunctional as the characters are, they all have happy outcomes in the end. If the world of the funky, freaky and fashionable is your forte, then this is your book. Jeanette
APOOO BookClub
Rating: 
Summary: Beauty is skin deep
Review: The poetic prose that Oyefesobi brought to life in Sin in Soul's Kitchen makes a few cameos in his newest novel, Vanity & Voodoo Dolls. In Sin in Soul's Kitchen, Oyefesobi told us about the neo-soul movement in New York. In Vanity & Voodoo Dolls, all eyes are on a group of sisterfriends living in Atlanta who are searching for their destinies. The cast of characters includes Valadia, an aspiring fashion designer who journalizes each day's events before she turns in, making parallels from her life to that of Diana Ross' character in Mahogany. Dorian is the "little girl lost" whom Taylor, the "lipstick lesbian" of the group dotes on. Dorian is offered a modeling career by Bethesda Billings, the entrepreneurial diva and
founder of Type B Modeling Agency. It is then that we learn the ups and downs of the fashion industry from starlets Alexis and Fabian. Add to this already robust storyline a mysterious murder, and you have an exciting novel full of depth. With an engaging and complex plot line, Andrew Oyefesobi enhances an already interesting subject matter with his passionate writing. He uses alliteration effectively, making the chapter names seem almost like poems themselves. Don't sleep on this writer. -- Reviewed by CandaceK
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