Rating: 
Summary: The title does not fit this book!
Review: "Using what you got" focused on Tiara a very naive 18 year old who had book smarts but really no common sense. Her father is the one who implanted in her the idea that a rich man is the only thing she needed. So he too was blinded by all the glitter when Lionel showed up. His insecurity about his wife leaving him made him really spoil his daughters and put them in a mind to be "Gold diggers" as was Tiara. The only people that had enough sense in this book were Aunt Charlie and Rashad. Aunt Charlie had pinpointed Lionel from the begining. Rashad could see people for who they really were on the inside. The glitter and glamour didn't please him. The title to this book did not fit the storyline at all. Tiara didn't know how to use what she had. She had brain power and looks. Even the end she was still in that golddigger frame of mind but refrained when she realized how it would hurt her father and the man she loved. I believe if her father would have accepted that proposal that was offered in the end Tiara would have also went along with it. But that's just my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: The title does not fit this book!
Review: "Using what you got" focused on Tiara a very naive 18 year old who had book smarts but really no common sense. Her father is the one who implanted in her the idea that a rich man is the only thing she needed. So he too was blinded by all the glitter when Lionel showed up. His insecurity about his wife leaving him made him really spoil his daughters and put them in a mind to be "Gold diggers" as was Tiara. The only people that had enough sense in this book were Aunt Charlie and Rashad. Aunt Charlie had pinpointed Lionel from the begining. Rashad could see people for who they really were on the inside. The glitter and glamour didn't please him. The title to this book did not fit the storyline at all. Tiara didn't know how to use what she had. She had brain power and looks. Even the end she was still in that golddigger frame of mind but refrained when she realized how it would hurt her father and the man she loved. I believe if her father would have accepted that proposal that was offered in the end Tiara would have also went along with it. But that's just my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: It's All About Tiara!
Review: Forget world peace, Tiara Bynum lives in her own world, and the most important things in her life are: how good she looks, which men will want her, and having enough money to buy whatever she wants. She lives with her father Reggie and her little sister JoJo in a Harlem project. Reggie is a garbage collector, and he makes good money. He only lives in the projects so he can save for a brownstone and provide a better life and living enviorment for his girls. The weekends for Tiara and her friends are all about having fun. One Saturday night she and her friends get into a cab driven by Rashad. And while Tiara feels an instant connection to Rashad, she doesn't think he is giving her the attention she deserves, so she sets her sights on someone else. Tiara meets Lionel; a flashy, rich, fine and attentive man, who showers her with gifts. She feels that he is the man of her dreams. Will her dreams become nightmares? Karen E. Quinones Miller has written a fast paced novel that will keep readers turning the pages. This is her third novel and I feel that she has broadened her audience, because this book is informative enough for teenagers and entertaining for adults. USING WHAT YOU GOT teaches lessons in love, forgiveness and the ability to change. Reviewed by Simone A. Hawks
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: Didn't have it like that!!!
Review: I have to start this by saying that book definitely wasn't all that. It was very, very shallow or maybe I am getting it mixed up with her main character Tiara Bynum, who is definitely shallow. One thing I can say is that Karen E. Quinones Miller made Tiara so real that I couldn't stand her through out the whole book. I think Karen E. Quinones Miller is colorstruck to some degree. She stresses the people that are light skin curly hair and light eyes. I'm sorry that doesn't make a person at all. She also makes is seem that since Tiara had hazel eyes made her the bomb diggity, which to me she was not; I felt she was a conceited witch. Ms. Miller mentioned in the book that Tiara wore a weave, well, that's telling me right there that she wasn't all that. When every situation went her way, she would say "cause I got it like that". She was very rude and nasty to mostly everyone around her except her father and that was only because he bought her nice things and gave her money when she wanted it. I didn't like how Ms. Miller had so much physical fighting surrounding her story,it seemed that every situation, someone had to fight their way out of it, even her father a grown man and her aunt a grown woman was in the book fighting people. What type of example are they setting for Tiara and her little sister Jo-Jo. In the book's acknowledgements, Ms. Miller thanked her daughter Camille and her daughter's friends for helping her right the story and keep her on point. Pleeeeeeeeeeze...its seemed like a bunch of immature girls wrote that story instead of a grown woman protraying a story of a young girl. I am just saying that it was a poor style of writing for her third book. I don't mind when author's have similar story lines but the difference is how they tell their story, but Ms. Miller did a poor job at this one. Her first two books I love, but this one left a lot to be desired. I think she may have lost a fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre
Review: I read this book and I was disappointed. It focused on a girl who is very superficial and only seems to care about herself. I think in the end she really did not deserve to be happy. She still had the same attitude toward everything and the only reason she did not accept the money is because she did not want Rashad and her father to figure out she hasn't changed.
I thought the novel "I'm Telling" by Ms Karen Quinones Miller was much better.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre
Review: I read this book and I was disappointed. It focused on a girl who is very superficial and only seems to care about herself. I think in the end she really did not deserve to be happy. She still had the same attitude toward everything and the only reason she did not accept the money is because she did not want Rashad and her father to figure out she hasn't changed.
I thought the novel "I'm Telling" by Ms Karen Quinones Miller was much better.
Rating:
Summary: Vanity
Review: I really enjoyed this book by Karen Miller. This story is about Tiara, and she think everything is ABOUT HER. She don't even realize that she is only wrapped in herself and doesn't care for no one except herself. It's until she hits her very bottom to see how rotton she is.
Rating: 
Summary: I Enjoyed This Book..
Review: I really enjoyed this fastpaced read. This is my second book by this author. She has a way of weaving a tale that makes you think you are watching a movie. Tiara was a trip with her "yeah I got it like that". The only thing that was wrong with Tiara was that she was spoiled. I read another review where the reviewer states that if Tiara was all that why was she in the projects still. Hello duhh her father was working very hard I might add to get them out of their situation and also living in the projects does not mean that you have to have low self esteem. Because before I grew up and bought my own house I realized it wasn't where I lived but how I choose to carry myself. I still have friends that are single moms living in the pj's that are doing the Dayuum thing. Anyway........I am anticipating Ida B. GO Karen,Go Karen and by no means listen to the haters.........Peace Topazzz
Rating:
Summary: All That Glitters...
Review: In USING WHAT YOU GOT, Karen Quinones Miller uses a deceptively simple palette to paint an intricate portrait which delves into the dysfunctional dynamics of a single parent household headed by a father with a questionable value system. Harlem is the backdrop for this gritty story, with its vibrant colloquial style, but at its core is a theme of family love and loyalty.
The centerpiece of this provocative work of fiction is glamour girl extraordinaire Tiara Bynum. Tiara is a college student whose vain preoccupation with her physical appearance is only matched by her determination to find a wealthy man. Tiara and her tomboyish younger sister JoJo's only parental role models are their father Reggie, an ex-gambler/ex-prize fighter turned sanitation worker, and their whiskey imbibing Aunt Charlie, whose once beautiful face was disfigured in an auto accident. Reggie is fiercely devoted to his daughters and is indulgent with them to a fault. He has, however, instilled less than stellar values in Tiara regarding the importance of finding a man who can spoil and provide for her materially.
When Tiara meets Lionel with his sleek Porche and designer clothes, she is immediately mesmerized by his flashy lifestyle and sees him as her dream man. Matters become complicated when she finds herself attracted to Rashad, a down to earth, community oriented cab driver whose seeming indifference to her good looks only serves to peak Tiara's interest in him. Soon Tiara has to make a choice which will change her life forever.
In USING WHAT YOU GOT Karen creates characters that are at once endearing and exasperating. At the end of the story the reader is left with the impression that Tiara has somehow been reformed by her experiences, which makes the story a bit incredible. Overall this book is a very thought-provoking read. Reviewed by Autumn
of the RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: Just OK
Review: Miller makes an attempt to delve into the life of Tiara, a beatiful young girl raised by her father after she and her sister were abandoned by their gold-digging mother. Unfortunately, Tiara has taken her father's love and affection as a sign that she should be the center of every man's universe. This leads to some troubling times in the Bynum family. She, like many other sisters wants the man with all the cash but overlooks the brother with upstanding values and character. Even though this book has some interesting characters, it does a mediocre job of tackling the issues at hand. I put this book down for about a month before I picked it up again. That's not a good sign!
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