The Blackbirds by Eric Jerome Dickey

Shoni, Richelle, Adrian, and I joined Dossi at The Cheesecake Factory to discuss Eric Jerome Dickey's latest release, The Blackbirds.

The book's premise followed the romantic interests of four friends - single women living in Los Angeles - and their relationships with their men and each other. In true EJD style, there was drama, sex, and more drama.

Here's our outtakes and ratings:

Phyllis: 3.5 - She was expecting more from the book than a recap of relationships with men and the elongated details of their birthday parties/celebrations. Structurally, it was a well-written novel that read like a chick flick screenplay. Could have had better character development because she wanted to know more about the character's backstories/backgrounds.

Adrian: 1 - The dialogue was horrible - who talks like this?!?!. References to Black Lives Matter movement were lazy and haphazardly done. It seemed like he was just throwing the issue out there, without delving into the issue. Did not like the Indigo character as she seemed pretentious and self-righteous. Had issues with Indigo referencing “slave name, etc. are out of line."

Richelle: 2.5 - Beginning of the book was not good (too much of a slow start), but got better after Kwanzaa's birthday party. Very slow plot development with one-dimensional characters.

Dossi: 3: Long book, slow in beginning. Got deeper into the book as it goes along and addressed everyone’s issues.

Shoni was a first time visitor and had not read the book; however, the discussion prompted her to keep it on her reading list.

Group Rating: 2.5

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