Rating: 
Summary: Full of Every Emotion Known to Man
Review: After reading My Brothers Keeper, I find it hard to believe this is a debut novel. ReShonda Tate Billingsley is a name that literary readers will come to know and love. This novel is by far one of the best debut novels I've read to date and has been placed thus far as one of my best reads of 2001. ReShonda takes us inside the lives of the James' clan, at one time the picture perfect family with a loving father, doting mother and three carefree children. That is until the patriarch of the family loses his job and with that his identity as a man. Their father's only sense of self-worth is in the nearest bottle of alcohol, a dime bag of ... and the bruises he leaves on the woman he promised to love 'till death do us part'. One night during his tirade Gerald (father) goes too far and forces his children to come to the aid of their mother. Their son Eric and youngest daughter Jada comes to their mother's rescue while Aja (pronounced Asia) stands by and does nothing. The course of events that happen that night will change their lives forever. Meet Aja who thirteen years later has taken on the role of Eric and Jada's keeper. Aja seems to have it all; great looks, a job she loves and a best friend that personifies the true meaning of sisterfriend. However, Aja uses her siblings as a crutch to hold onto the past, avoiding all future happiness with handsome sportscaster, Charles Clayton. Charles is the epitome of the perfect man, willing to stand by Aja as she deals with her ghost from the past. Their romantic attempts are continuously interrupted by Eric, who's anger has become parallel to that of their father. Eric is an NBA hopeful who's so concerned with not being like his father that he becomes him anyway. Aja and Eric complement one another's anger as they continue to wallow subconsciously in the past, harming all those who love them emotionally. Jada is the only one who seems oblivious to the incident that occurred so many years ago, as it has left her mentally handicapped. Mrs. Billingsley does a wonderful job of teaching us the pitfalls of harboring hatred and anger. She immediately pulls you in from the very first page and holds you captive until the end. I found myself laughing out loud, wanting to shake the characters but she threw me for a complete loop as I got near the ending of the story and cried as if I had lost my best friend. My Brothers Keeper is a wonderful read, full of every emotion known to man. If I learned one thing from this book is that a child should be protected, but that's not always the case. We may not be responsible for the things that occur to us as a child, but we have to find a way to overcome it or it will destroy you in one way or another. Reviewed by Tanya
Rating:
Summary: A Page Turner, You Won't Forget !!
Review: Aja James carries the weight of the world on her shoulders, going from a loving family enviroment into a family that is full of fear. Life was good for Aja, her brother Eric and her sister Jada until their father lost his job and was unable to cope. Now exposed to late night terror when their father returns home intoxicated and violent, physically abusing their mother. Tragedy strikes when they witness their father shoot and kill their mother. With their mother dead and their father in prison Aja, Eric and Jada are left with shattered pieces of what was once a good life and each harbor the shadowing effects of Domestic violence in their own way. While Aja tries to move on with her life, Eric's rage leaves him following the same path and Jada hasn't spoken a word since the tragedy. When Roxie fixes Aja up with the most sought after bachelor in town, Charles Clayton Aja's life gets better and she finds real love in between being her brother's keeper and watching over her silent sister and trying to forgive her father.
This story was a page turner that will have you holding your breath, bitting your lip and batting back tears. A deep look into Domestic Violence and the shadow effect it has on their lives. A story about trying to forgive,trying to forget and trying to move forward from a tragic past. We picked this review to publish in our local urban newspaper Urban Voices. It is a must read. ReShonda is a reporter for KRIV-T.V. in Houston.
ReShonda self published My Brother's Keeper with much success and now Siom & Schuster/Pocket Books is re-releasing it.
ReShonda was winner of the 2002 Black Writer's Alliance Gold Pen Award for Best New Fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Obligations
Review: Aja, Jada, and Eric, three siblings, all remember
better times for their family. Father and mother were
happy and in love. Unfortunately, as sometimes is the
case in life, the family ran into hard times. Father
lost his job and everything spiraled down hill from
this point. The spiral ends with the siblings being
left without their parents.
It's twelve years later and Aja, Jada, and Eric are all
battling the demons created by family tragedy. Eric
is a lost and hurt little boy in a man's body.
Jada has withdrawn to a world of silence as a form of
protection. Aja, our main character, seems the
strongest and most functional of the group. However,
things are not always as they seem.
The plot is predictable in many areas. Some of the
characters' actions push the envelope, as their
reactions appear better suited for the local soap
opera. Charles, Aja's love interest, is too perfect.
Nevertheless, those who enjoy light reading with
soap-opera style drama will like "My Brother's
Keeper." However, those of us, who prefer more
realism, may find the novel a bit much.
Leanna
R.E.A.L. Reviewers
Rating: 
Summary: AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?
Review: Am I my brother's keeper? For Aja James the answer to this question is yes.
After surviving an ugly past that left scars to her entire family, Aja James
still struggles to keep herself and her siblings together. When she was a child, Aja watched as her father murdered her mother in a
drunken rage. This act destroyed the family as her father went to prison and
Aja and her brother and sister were sent to live with different family
members. Aja emerged from this tragedy seemingly unscathed except for her
extreme protectiveness of her brother and sister, her hate for her father, and
her emotional scars that form a wall around her heart and block her chances for
a lasting relationship. Her brother, Eric, emerged angry, filled with rage and
violent tendencies. Her younger sister, Jada, faded into a world of silence
that locked her into the past. My Brother's Keeper is largely about how these siblings deal with their wounds
and try to figure out how to deal with their father as he approaches his
release date from prison. Aja, Eric and Jada struggle to rebuild the stability
that died with their mother long ago. Their desire for that stability both
brings them closer together and drives them farther apart. My Brother's Keeper is a compelling and bittersweet read. Reviewed by Diane Marbury (HonestD)
Rating:
Summary: Am I My Brother's Keeper?
Review: Apparently Aja thought so. The first few pages alone will just suck you right on it. You are left trying to pick your jaw up as you almost get a paper cut trying to turn the pages fast enough! This was a story, as others have said before me, of the tragedy of domestic abuse, how it can not only destroy the life of the one being abused, but the children too. It was a story of just how hard it is to break the cycle of abuse, no matter how much you tell yourself that you are not going to be like the abuser. Aja felt it was her duty, because she did nothing the night of the ultimate degree of abuse to her mother, that now she had to give up her life to make it up to her brother and sister. Wrongly, she felt that it was her punishment to sacrafice her own happiness in order to make sure they could be happy. Her sister was really beyond her help, and in his own way, so was her brother. When she meets the incredibly handsome Charles, she can't believe that some one as handsome, successful and loving could want her and she risks sabatoging herself. The character of Aja could have worked your nerves, but the way Ms. Billingsley wrote her, she didn't. You could understand her motives and reasons for some of the things she did. For a first time novelist, I think Ms. Billingsley did an outstanding job of drawing you into her story and becoming involved with her characters. All the threads were beautifully woven together at the end and you are left fulfill and satisfied. I am sure we will be hearing alot more from this talented author!
Rating:
Summary: Movie Potential
Review: Domestic violence is rarely written about in African-American homes. Rashonda Tate Billingsley tells a story that most people are afraid to write or even read about.
I could definately see this one on the big-screen!
Rating:
Summary: FORGIVENESS
Review: Exceptional writing for a first author. Although all three siblings experienced the loss of both parents (death/imprisonment), Aja was affected the most. Eric's feelings of hate/guilt prevented him from succeeding professionally and personally. Jada's mental breakdown allowed her to exist without living. Yet, Aja had to learn that "forgiveness is the key to the recovery of the soul".
Rating:
Summary: FORGIVENESS
Review: Exceptional writing for a first author. Although all three siblings experienced the loss of both parents (death/imprisonment), Aja was affected the most. Eric's feelings of hate/guilt prevented him from succeeding professionally and personally. Jada's mental breakdown allowed her to exist without living. Yet, Aja had to learn that "forgiveness is the key to the recovery of the soul".
Rating:
Summary: Don't Let Your Past Ruin Your Future
Review: From the very first chapter of this amazing novel you are absolutely captivated. Reshonda Tate Billingsley truly created a masterpiece when she wrote My Brother's Keeper. This novel centers around family, the scars that family can give that takes years to heal, and unfortunately some scars that you never heal from. The realism and consequences of domestic abuse are very evident in this novel. This book is a lesson in a sense of what the consequences are when you don't forgive past hurts, and move on with your life. Thank you Mrs. Billingsley. I give this novel a 5. Tamara Ward - A Prolific Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Debut!
Review: I am an avid reader and when I saw this book, the cover caught my eye. But it's what was inside that kept me up all night. I started this book and couldn't put it down. It's an easy read and I found myself going through an array of emotions for the characters. As an advocate of women's rights, I even found myself sympathizing with the abusive male character. I can't remember the last time I got into a book like this one. This goes to the top of my recommendation list. I look forward to reading more from this author!
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