Dark Justice (Book) - 11/29/2018 10:47:14 AM
I will start by saying that you must read the book to the end. At first I wanted to put it down because what Zenith experienced in the beginning was horrifying and so graphically written thatI began to form very intense images and feelings as I read the first few chapters. This is a testament to Amanda Grihm's writing. I stood up and cheered as I read the last words of the story because there were so many triumphant things that had taken place in those last few words. Amanda Grihm is a truly excellent writer. I expect some day soon to see her name and her works celebrated on a best sellers’ lists.
Amanda Grihm should be read by every psychiatrist because she writes what a psychotic break must feel like. It may be because of the climate of the country and the division we’re experiencing today that I focus on the civil rights aspects of Dark Justice. When I finished Dark Justice I felt that I had a better understanding of how to interpret the divide in the country today. Some people willing to do anything to others (even kill them off) just to hold on to some old notion of ill-gotten privilege while others pull together to do the right thing even if it means breaking rank and rules.
In the beginning Zenith Chagrin wakes up to a nightmare. She brought her baby home from the hospital weeks after giving birth because he was premature only to wake from a deep sleep to voices taunting her about the whereabouts of her newborn baby. When she tries to run to her son she is grabbed by a stranger before she can turn on the lights.
The struggle Zenith endures to get to her baby is heart-wrenching. When the lights come on, Zenith sees that the two strangers are not strangers at all, they were Kenneth Deorty and his wife Sue. They worked with her at BIMSTAR. Kenneth was her manager and Sue worked for Zenith. They worked side-by-side on a daily basis. Sue, unskilled but too privileged to earn a living and Kenneth, who feels entitled to promotion without being qualified and who is also trapped by a family secret that he’d be willing to kill to keep quite.
As I read Dark Justice I was struck by the irony of the immorality of the people who acted against Zenith as if they had a right to judge her for being pregnant without being married. I not only felt what Amanda Grihm wrote, I experienced everything that she wrote. I felt the dark justice very deeply by the end of the story. I found myself cheering out loud. I could feel the dread and darkness that had to fill Blacks in the darkest days of Deep South. I also felt empowered by the humanity and support of those Whites who fought for Zenith knowing that her life, quality of life, and mental wellness was at stake and that their jobs and lifestyles could be at stake for showing their support for her.
After waking from that nightmarish experience of being shot in the head, Zenith found herself driving on a highway without a memory. This is when I realized how well Amanda Grihm was able to write feelings from experience. We all have times when what a person says makes you feel like some action has been taken place, like someone saying something so harsh that you feel like you’ve been slapped. The first part of the Dark Justice expresses the feelings and the second half tells the experience. The second part of the story starts with Chapter 11.
My favorite character was Zenith because Amanda Grihm made me feel like I knew her and she made me feel like Zenith’s survival was linked to my own. I wanted to help protect her. I was relieved when the three Smyrna Policemen looked at the rule of law but were still able to see past it to the woman affected by the rules. They were not like the police of the Deep South, they were human beings who went one step farther to help another human being. I felt real relief because they did not overreact to a Black woman carrying a gun. My heart was pounding when they found it. I expected them to jump to their feet and pull their guns. I held my breath long enough to see that they were faced with a dilemma about how to handle it.
My other favorite character was Martha Chapman, an 85-year old White woman, Zenith’s next-door neighbor, who had to have lived through legalized racial segregation that characterized the Deep South. But Martha Chapman was a champion and a friend to Zenith. She supported her and fought for her. She was willing to go toe-to-toe with the three Policeman who brought Zenith home before realizing they were going against the rule for Zenith. Martha was there for Zenith every night as Zenith fought the good fight on her job. Martha was the mother-friend that Zenith needed when she moved to the South. She was a gun-toting, outspoken senior citizen with a warm spot in her heart for Zenith. Her hot buttered cornbread, fruit-filled lemonade, and the refrigerator filled with black and white magnetic cows was the grounding that helped ground Zenith and bring her back to reality.
The amount of corruption, nepotism, and unearned privilege that went on at BIMSTAR Corporation set the stage for Dark Justice. It was a place where certain members of the company openly reigned abuse and threats on Zenith and the people who supported her. Zenith’s talents were quickly recognized and rewarded but her good work also shed light on the failed works of others in the company. Zenith didn’t want to make enemies and was willing to work her way up so she let a great opportunity pass knowing that Kenneth Deorty expected to have the job that was offered to her. On a fluke, Kenneth overhead Zenith mention Dublin, where his family secret was buried, and he became convinced that Zenith was working to find out his secret.
If you want to understand the fight for human rights, read Dark Justice. I am not sure if it was Amanda Grihm’s intention to write a story about civil rights or not but Dark Justice tells the impact of what happens to a person when they are abused to the point that the abuse takes on a life of its own. As I read Dark Justice I saw Zenith as a person whose spirit was stripped from her body and her body was left to react automatically without the benefit of thought or feelings to what was happening to it.
Again, my interpretation of Dark Justice is that the first part expresses the feelings of what happened and the second part is the experience. Dark Justice took me on a journey through the good and the bad South. It is an awakening. It made me feel what things I never experienced.
Brilliant! Truly brilliant is the best description I can use to say how well Dark Justice by Amanda Grihm comes across.
The Wolf (Book) - 10/17/2018 3:29:09 PM
If I have a few days between when I finish a book and write my review, I tend to forget about what I want to say about the book... In fact, the only thing I could remember was that it was extraordinary, fantastic--a book like no other that I've ever read! Getting back into the book was fun! I didn't pick up on the supernatural aspect until I read the first chapter. (See my blog for excerpts and pics.) This is a story about a young woman, Sarissa, who had begun to dream--strange dreams. It frightens her of course, but she finds it intriguing, wondering what was happening.
At Age 13, she had a startling dream of being transformed into a large snake, devouring an old man that had so frightened her and...slithering away. Then she had another transformation...
On my blog I wanted to share more of an excerpt than I normally do, not so much for the story, but to show the fantastic creative writing by the author as she shares her story...To me, it is almost as if the author actually knows how Sarissa is feeling...as she begins to deal with a new part of herself... and to deal with humans who made her feel danger...
She awoke in bed, not sure whether it was all a dream... Was it? It didn't feel like one--it had felt real. But how could she know? As she thought about it, she remembered that she had heard of people who had connections with animals... Sarissa was the owner of a top modeling agency, Panache, or, that is, she had given her husband Jerry, part-ownership and he emceed the shows. One night when she had been on the way home from work, she had encountered two men who she soon sensed presented danger... Soon she was transformed into her wolf persona... After the two men ran away, she went off into the woods, running and enjoying the freedom that she now felt so much. She had once been timid, but now had the strength to face things...
So that when she finally transformed back and went home, she opened the door, instantly smelling, with her extended smelling power, Chanel--Chanel splashed on an unclean body, who smelled "funky..." A strange woman was sitting on their couch with a friend of her husband... Jerry was out of the room, but Sarissa, free from the past, and knowing just what had happened in her home, went on the attack, ultimately chasing them all of the apartment! It was fun seeing Sarissa take control of her life and her marriage. Jerry had been cheating for quite some time, but...no more..Now, Sarissa was in control of her own life...
Even if she really didn't know what her life was going to be like in the future...
And even if Jerry and his new lover wasn't going to give up the money and prestige of being part of Panache...that's all they cared about...
It was an audition for new models, when Anaghta came... There had been so many great models this time, and Sarissa had decided to expand their name to Panacea International Model Troupe. Anaghia had come in late, but after she auditioned, everybody knew that she would become one of the best in the troup... But Anaghia wanted to audition only for Sarissa, and when she finished, she asked Sarissa if she had seen the wolf in her movements.
Instantly, Sarissa and the others were on guard, Sarissa's friend automatically circling to provide protection... Who was this woman? She was the best of the best and would make a great addition to the group, but what was she all about... Sarissa knew one thing, she was connected to Anaghta, and Anaghta was the dominant force in the room... and then she began to talk to Sarissa telepathically...
I have always loved the mystical, spiritual nature and life of Native Americans. Enjoying the possibility of shape shifting into animals, or having the spirit of one or another animal. Sarissa had much to learn...and, trust me, if any of this review sounds as fascinating to you as it did to me, then I highly recommend your checking it out! You won't be sorry!
GABixlerReviews
The Dark Skinned Sister (Book) - 6/18/2018 10:26:56 AM
Emotional, Inspirational and Quite Satisfying!
By Glenda on June 18, 2018
In the midst of my reading an anthology, How Dare We! Write: A Multicultural Creative Writing Discourse, edited by Sherry Quan Lee, (look for my review) I received The Dark Skinned Sister, by Amanda Grihm. The premise of both books relates to those of different races who decide to write their stories... I stopped to read Amanda's book and found that considering both books at one time provided a greater depth, a growing sense of relationship--a kinship that could develop between and among women of all races that I, as a white woman, would also benefit...
Women hesitate to share their innermost stories... Such was the case with Mindy, who at 10 years, came to intimately know and learn about people who created barriers between who they were with little girls who happen to have dark skin... What was amazing, though, was that many times, the pain was inflicted by those within her own race...
And it especially hurts if it is from a family member. Mindy had been named after her grandmother. In fact, Mindy's grandmother was darker that she was... It was therefore especially hard to understand why her grandmother said such nasty things to Mindy...
Yes, Mindy had similar problems at school and as she grew older. She noticed that African Americans who had lighter skin were better accepted by other students. But her skin was the color it was... Until, she tried to change it, first, by skin lightener...and then by using a cleanser to rub and rub her skin, hoping to lighten it. Instead, her skin was broken and her wounds began to bleed.
Mindy's grandfather had always been special for her and they would ride together and more... But he had a heart attack that summer and that happiness was taken away...
Depression soon arrived from having to deal with her pain--why was her dark skin causing so much turmoil in her life? What could she do about it?
Mindy was part of a single-parent family and her mother had to work hard to keep her two girls and son sheltered and fed. Soon her older brother was called on to help, but he soon realized that his own life was gone as he tried to fill the man's shoes for his family. As they grew older, it became worse before it got better...
This is an emotional, inspirational book about meeting adversity head on... I laughed and cried and certainly empathized with Mindy. I remember when I was about 10 also, I was at my grandmother's along with other family. An uncle looked at me and said "Hey Fatty..." I ignored him. My mother said, "Dale is talking to you." My response was that "No, he wasn't. That is not my name..." I walked off...
Each of us must decide whether or not we will love ourself and others as God made us. I chose to accept the challenge, just like Mindy, when I was hurt and treated cruelly or unjustly. I urge those who have been treated this way, or that has children who are being bullied, to read this book. Highly recommended!
GABixlerReviews
Paperback provided by Authors Den
Dark Justice (Book) - 6/17/2018 12:14:31 PM
How to start! First I need to catch my breath...the first 5 chapters are rough. Somewhat confusing text, severe language and nothing, at that point, to put the story line into context. As a matter of fact, I almost stopped reading 'Dark Justice' (& fear some readers may have done the same), but I continued, so I guess I must say, Amanda Grihm, had gotten my attention, at least. I do, however, believe it was extremely risky of the author to begin the book in this form. I wonder how many readers began the book only to put it down after chapter 2 or 3 deciding they were unable to continue reading, as I almost did, due to the format, language and no background story line to tie it to. I would hate to think that Amanda Grihm had low readership and/or sells of 'Dark Justice' based only on her choice of the book's beginning layout...that would be unfortunate!
The story line took a strange twist again around chapter 7. A little hard to follow, but as the reader you continue because by then a plot for 'Dark Justice' had begun to materialize.
Having said all that, if you continue to read, you find strong characters, such as, Zenith Chagrin, our main character and the people surrounding her. My favorites were the second set of policemen that wanted to help Zenith. Also, her elderly neighbor, Martha Chapman, very strong character's descriptions.
If you decide to stop reading 'Dark Justice' for whatever reason...beginning language, unclear plot at first...it would be your misfortune! Whatever area's of concern I have expressed regarding the book's beginning, Ms. Amanda Grihm, pulls it all together for a very well-written book and a very interesting read! I will most certainly read additional work done by Amanda Grihm.
