Renee and Jay

Rating:
Summary: Terrible book
Review: I really felt after reading this book that I should submit a review, because this has to be one of the worst books I have ever read, and I've read few. This book doesn't deserve 1 star it deserves none. I thought that Renee was a bully she was horrible to Jay. I can't believe that any person would put up with the way that Renee treated Jay. I also couldn't understand how Jay was supposed to be in love with Renee, her personality just sucked and she was very immature. If Renee thought so much about her 'black people' then what, is she doing with a white guy like Jay? I thought that Jay was a very weak character. There was just no chemistry between Renee and Jay. Renee's mother was awful the whole book was terrible and very insulting. If this book was supposed to be funny then it just wasn't. I will not be reading anything by this author again. I can't believe that a book this bad could be published.

Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet
Review: Before I purchased this book, I had heard both good things and bad things about "Renee and Jay". I wanted to find out for myself what this book was like and I was surprised. I've read numerous books where an interracial romance is the focal point, and "Renee and Jay" did not live up to any of them. Yes, there were some tender and touching moments, but I became annoyed with Renee, one of the main characters, within the first few chapters of the book because of her attitude and her belittling demeanor.

The story revolves around Renee, a head-strong black woman living in Roanoke, Virginia, and Giovanni, the Italian man who falls in love with her. There are the obligatory moments where people don't see the beauty in their relationship and cause trouble, but like I said, there are some touching moments as well. Renee's mother and Giovanni's father are two interesting characters that you'd have to read about to really understand.

I think the one thing I didn't like in this book was Renee's constant explanation of black people, "our people," and "my people" as if black people just recently came into existence and no one from another race or culture could ever understand them. It became extremely annoying after a while and ultimately turned me off to the book. I can understand trying to teach someone about your culture, but she treated Giovanni as if he were stupid and couldn't comprehend anything.

Being a black woman who is in an interracial relationship with a white man, I could see some similarities to my relationship in the book (very few though). The rest of the book just had me shaking my head in annoyance and sometimes anger.

J.J. Murray is a good writer, however, I just didn't like this particular book of his. I'll check out another of his books, "Something Real" and see what that's like. Hopefully it's better than this one.

Rating:
Summary: Sweet, but boring and predictable
Review: This book was a nice idea. However, I found the book to be extremely dull and predictable.

I mean come on, from the moment these two met, they were inseperable. They didn't seem to have any BIG problems. Nothing stood in their way to make the story interesting. Renee was on the rebound, and she just fell in love with the first man to show her a kindness. He could've been purple--she still would've fell in love.

And come on, who hadn't figured out halfway through the book who Renee's mom's new man was. DUH! What was supposed to be a surprise twist, was just another predictable part of the story.

For the white readers out there; please do NOT think that Renee is the typical black woman. All of us are not nasty, jealous, gutter mouth bullies who live w/Mama.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Big disappointment
Review: I have never been so disappointed and offended by a book like this. I didn't like either one of the characters.
Jay came off as being very weak. I could have sworn he was 16 the way he was acting and allowing Renee to bully him.
Renee was spoiled who couldn't deal with anything without her mother. I still can't understand why the 26 year old was still living with her mother. I was sick of her saying things like "Julia Roberts can kiss my black ..."

Rating:
Summary: All it took was one chance meeting...
Review: The phrase "love at first sight" is not just a saying, but a reality with the novel, RENEE AND JAY. A hard-working african-american woman and a italian waiter meet after her being stuck in a snowstorm in Roanoke, VA, and from there, the seeds of love were just being planted. Neither one of them knew it yet, but that storm would change their lives. It was realistic about the opposition from his father and her mother, and even though Jay was stronger in his conviction of love for her, Renee had enough self-doubt to lend this story true credibility. It's all about how much you are willing to give of yourself and how hard you are willing to fight, just to stake your claim at happiness. The best part of this novel is the characterization of Renee. I don't know if Mr. Murray lived around african-americans for an extended amount of time, or if it is in fact that his wife is black, but he hit the nail dead center on how to interpret Renee. The mannerism were so in touch and on point, it was almost scary to think that this book was written by a white man. Definitely talented, Mr. Murray gets my vote to support a second novel. Good Work!

Rating:
Summary: this was too funny...
Review: renee was a straight trip, she isn't the epitome of every black woman, but enough of us so that even if we don't act like her, we atleast know someone who does. this was well worth the (horror) twenty something dollars i paid for, seeing as how i bought the hard copy cover, but since there is such a singular lack of black women, white men romance books, i couldn't help but buy it. it was well worth the money. the characters were so freakin' funny, the plot upbeat and sincerity well felt. thanks j.j. murray and keep them coming

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful...beautiful...beautiful
Review: Renee and Jay took my breath away. I absolutely loved the way 'Giovanni' loved 'Renee'. This book focused on so many types of love (the love between 'Renee; and 'Jay'; the love between 'Pops' and his late wife 'Ruth'; the love between 'Christina' and 'Alexis'; the love between 'Mama' and ''Michael'; and the love between 'Collette' and 'Clyde'. Even if someone doesn't understand anything else...they should understand love.

As far as people having a problem with the book, they are entitled to their opinion, however, this book wasn't about 'Giovanni' being dominated by 'Renee'...it wasn't about 'Mama' dominating 'Renee'...it wasn't about 'Renee' being a spokesperson for the entire Black race...it wasn't about 'Mama's' attitude towards Italians...and it wasn't about whatever other problem readers had with the book (though I don't see what possible problems they could have with it) it was about people being people-imperfect, flawed, prejudiced, and ultimately loved. It is a real portrayal of real people and real Life. Life is not always pretty-but Love is always beautiful.

Some readers may not understand the dynamics of interracial relationships, then again how many of those readers have experienced interracial love. You can befriend/love someone from another race, and still retain some prejudices. It is not about prejudice it is about overcoming those prejudices, and 'Renee', 'Pops', 'Mama', and 'Renee' did overcome those prejudices. You can have a chart detailing the requirements of your fantasy love, however, Life often has other plans and as a result you often end up loving someone you never imagined you would.

I was over the moon to read a book about a Black woman that wasn't relegated to the role of victim, but uplifted to the role of 'love of his Life'. I applaud JJ Murray and his wife...they make a great writing/editing team; and they make a beautiful family.

Rating:
Summary: A Sassy Romance
Review: This story between Renee and Jay for me was a cute romance. Only because the language sort of threw me. But the romance
lovely. I did enjoy it and I am looking for his next book.

Rating:
Summary: No Serious Romance Allowed
Review: I think this book was meant to be funny. I read it in 3 hours during my commuting time. Giovanni was very SWEET and Renee was your average woman with a messed up love life. I laughed over the antics of Renee and Collette. Pops was a genuine Eye-talian father worrying over his son and Shirl was a typical mother worrying over her daughter. The pace of the romance may have been a tad unbelievable at first but when you get into it you see that they are meant for one another.

Rating:
Summary: The castrating black matriarch prevails!
Review: Okay, I am going to do this again. I could not get past the first sixty pages of this novel. I have traveled across the United States, even Roanoke, VA, to personally state that this book is just laced with characters with tired old stereotypes that do not have anything worthwhile to them. How many times have black women, in particular, been branded with being poorly educated, materialistic, and bossy to the point where we emasculate men? I wonder how Mrs. Murray felt when she read this. I wonder what made an individual like Renee so engaging to readers. Was it the fact that she was emotionally abusive to Jay, or that she still lived at home with an over controlling mom? On the other hand, maybe it was the fact that she loved to say 'my people' and show off her ignorance about black and white people to point of embarrassment.

I'm not too concerned why Murray wrote such monolithic characters, probably it was his pathetic attempt to "keeping it real", but what's up with the reviewers who praise this book? Do they mean to say that EVERY BLACK WOMAN and ITALIAN MAN they encountered acts EXACTLY this way to the letter? I think what is safe about stereotypes is that you don't have to think about the person because you already know the answer. The challenge arises when the stereotype talks back.

To be fair, I didn't finish the novel, so maybe there are some redeeming qualities to it, but it wasn't just the stereotypes alone that made this novel fail. It is poorly written with scenes that jump to the next, which at times didn't make sense. If you want to read about multifaceted, non-monolithic black characters that are involved in interracial romances, I suggest the author Sandra Kitt's novels for starters.