Book Review : Judge’s Girls by Sharina Harris @sharinaR @KensingtonBooks

Title : Judge’s Girls

Author : Sharina Harris

Genre : Multicultural Interest ; Women’s Fiction ; Romance

Pages : 320

Publication Date : 27 October 2020

I received this Advance Review Copy from Netgalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, Kensington Books!!

Blurb

Three very different women. Only one thing in common. But when their family patriarch dies and they must share his estate, the truths they discover will test them–and everything they think they know about each other.

Beloved Georgia judge Joseph Donaldson was known for his unshakable fairness, his hard-won fortune–and a scandalous second marriage to his much-younger white secretary. Now he’s left a will with a stunning provision. In order to collect their inheritance, his lawyer daughter Maya, her stepmother Jeanie, and Jeanie’s teen daughter, Ryder, must live together at the family lake house. Maya and Jeanie don’t exactly get along, but they reluctantly agree to try an uneasy peace for as long as it takes…

But fragile ex-beauty queen Jeanie doesn’t know who she is beyond being a judge’s wife–and drinking away her insecurities has her in a dangerous downward spiral. Fed up with her mother’s humiliating behavior, Ryder tries to become popular at school in all the wrong ways. And when Maya attempts to help, she puts her successful career and her shaky love life at risk. Now with trouble they didn’t see coming–and secrets they can no longer hide–these women must somehow find the courage to admit their mistakes, see each other for who they really are–and slowly, perhaps even joyfully, discover everything they could be.

Review

Judge’s Girls by Sharina Harris is an upcoming novel which will be releasing next month (27 October 2020) Judge’s Girls is the story of three girls (technically two girls and a women) who grieves over the death of the patriarch of the family Judge Joseph Donaldson. Each of them grieve in their very own way, which isn’t doing them any good. This book has so much information and point of views to share to the readers. It talks about grief, problems in broken families, multicultural interests, racism, inequality, the struggles and obstacles faced by Black Americans, life of women out in the big world, alcoholism and many more. Each of this topic in itself is very vast and big which has the capacity to make a story of their own. But the real talent of the author lies here, she had efficaciously clubbed all these issues together without leaving or saying anything hastily or confusing the readers. And has victoriously came up with this amazing end-product Judge’s Girls

The book is narrated from the perspective of three girls, the Judge Joe’s daughters, Maya and Ryder and his white wife Jeanie. The plot of the story was crystal clear and well planned but what made the book more interesting was the elements added into each pages of the book. Every word in the book had strong and deeper meaning. The writing style of the author was commendable, her writing had the power to grab the attention of the readers and they cannot think of anything other than the book, the plot and the characters. This feeling will persist on the readers minds even after finishing the book. I think Sharina Harris has some magical storytelling power to lock the readers inside the plot-line forever.

The lead character Maya, is an attorney in a corporate firm and the author had successfully brought in the Corporate Law Firm environment into the book. Everything revolving around Law and order, courts and judges felt very real, it gave a legal drama aura. The entire setting of the book was so beautiful and her words had so much power that it easily brought whatever she was saying in front of the readers eyes in a jiffy. That is one of the greatest talents an author can ever have.

The characterization of Maya was extraordinary, she is that kind of a women whom everybody will look up and crave to be like. Each and every single detail of Maya was written down so efficiently. The character development, the way she acted, the words she spoke, the way she carried herself in public was immaculate and quintessential. The readers cannot simply stop admiring her. The character of Jeanie initially felt insensitive and kinda spoiled-brat, the readers tend to hate her for her stupidity. But then she had her reasons and her character development and the steps she took to get her life back together was remarkably good. And Ryder, the teenage daughter of Judge Joe was like a cool breeze of air amidst Maya and Jeanie’s bigger problems. She was the final bridge connecting her mother and her sister. Her love towards poetry, the kind of poem she read and wrote made her very matured and sensible.

Though Judge Joe didn’t play much role in the book but the impact he had left behind on his family was very positive and that’s what drove the three of them in the right direction. The men in the book were perfect gentlemen – firstly, Roland Hill was the man of the book, his relationship with Maya and his genuine rapport with Maya’s sister Ryder, all of this made him adorable. And secondly Alston Wolf, his level of maturity and his obligation and desire to do the right thing was beyond amazing. The thing is Sharina Harris had penned down each and every character so beautifully that these characters will stay in your heart and teach you a lot of things you’d never have paid attention to earlier.

There were a handful of supporting characters, notable a couple female characters, Maya’s Aunt Clara-Bella and Jeanie’s friend Vic. These characters brought so much differences in the lives of the lead characters by making them see things clearly when they aren’t in their right mind. I especially loved the conversation between Jeanie and Vic because it brought lot of clarity about the issues the lead characters were dealing with.

The book spoke about grieving and addiction to alcohol at greater depth. The way the author had spoken about it elaborately made it absolutely real. The pain and struggle of getting back your life to normalcy was written with such tenacity and realistically. I appreciate the author for paying so much attention to it instead of telling it expeditiously which is one of the most common mistakes made by many authors while dealing with matters like these. This made the readers understand each character’s behavior, reaction and choices at a deeper level.

I really have to talk about this, the romance in the book was so exquisite. Either it be Maya’s romantic life or Ryder’s, each and every minute detail of it made the book even more interesting and aesthetic. It is one of the best thing about this book. It did not have too many romance sequences but still even that minimalist part was written down so enchantingly. This book had everything, it had a familial touch to it, it had love, it had romance, it had ambitions, it had societal issues. If you ask me it is a complete package and it’s completely worth the read.

My Views

So, there are few books which will stay in your mind and heart for a very long time even after you finish it. This is one such book, I’m very much hungover with this book. I cannot stop myself from thinking about it and I cannot start another book just yet. I just want to rethink it all over again and to live the story once again. This has never happened to me before, at least not at this intensity. And for that I love this book a lot.

Lot of sequences in the book was very strong and deep that I had to stop the book midway to take in whatever has been told and I reread most parts of the book again and again to reminiscent the whole experience. I loved this book so much and I think will be reading it yet again which I don’t usually do. Now you can understand how much I love this book.

So now the most important point about this book is, I found myself another Book Boyfriend with this book and he is none other than Roland Hill. And I’m sure he is going to stick on to my top three Book Boyfriends list. I loved him so much and I wanted to read lot about him, maybe a sequel would quench my thirst I guess ?

And as I told you earlier, Maya is the best character in the book and she is my favorite. I was pretty more interested in reading her side of the story and at times I felt like directly skipping to her parts. I was that impatient. She was very strong and inspiring and I almost felt seeing the younger version of Jessica Pearson from Suits (Am I allowed to say this ? But still Jessica is one of my favorite fictional characters) I also loved the way Ryder connected with everybody, she had this cute teenager energy.

The only difficulty I had while reading this book was, I’m not an American and I haven’t been to The United States ever. So all my knowledge about Racism, inequality are pretty theoretical, that I had either gained from reading books or by watching movies and series. As my knowledge about the issue was bare minimum, it would have been even more akin if the author had elaborated the issue a bit more for the sake of readers like me. For example, I didn’t know how Blacks were treated in Georgia until this book, so if I had the prior knowledge, it would’ve been even more good. But nonetheless I loved the book so very much. I’m gonna do a bit more research and read this book again.

My rating for this book would be 5 out of 5 stars

I recommend this book to everyone irrespective of your gender, nationality or whatever, this book will bring a positive impact on you. If you love women’s fiction, stories based on multicultural background, I’m sure this book will devour your hearts. This is a must read book to all. I’m so glad I read it!! This book will be a prick the heart of all the people who have been conveniently neglecting the issues happening in front of their eyes and it will be an eye-opener to people who haven’t been much aware of these issues. This book will definitely help each and everyone of us become a better versions of ourselves and motivate to do better.

Pre-order your copy here!!!

Isn’t this cover beautiful ?

Please do read this book and believe me you will love it. And don’t forget to tell me how you feel about it on the comment section below!

Happy Reading Folks!!!

~ Meenu

Check out the Book Review of “Judge’s Girls” by Sharina Harris. This book will change you for better!!

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