Nikki Turner

Nikki Turner's second novel, A Project Chick, shows the tragic realities for some people especially in today's economy. Tressa is a woman who is accustomed to getting everything that she wants. Yet, when circumstances beyond her control take that life away from her, she is forced to move into the projects. Tressa's sudden lifestyle change forces her to turn her hustle game upside down. Written while she was under contract to Triple Crown, the book is riddled with many grammatical and show more spelling errors. Yet, the power of the story comes alive through Ms. Turner's powerful words. A Project Chick is a five star book given one star treatment. Hence, the 4 1/2 star rating. show less

The Vulture King is a dystopian fantasy thriller, having a eleven year old boy named Aram as its protagonist. Aram isn't an ordinary boy but a veldera, a magical being with special powers. But as he is orphaned at the age of 6 because of the vulture-like cechua birds of the Vulture King, he goes undercover and alone, moving from village to village to stay alive. In one such village he meets the brave human, Bayre, who changes the course of his life. There is also a brave little girl named show more Bina who plays an important part in the story.

The Vulture King is quite thrilling and would be a good option for children interested in fantastical stories with novel creatures. The eponymous vulture king, as the villain, has an indirect role for most of the story. It is mainly Aram, Bina and Bayre who drive the narrative ahead.

While it is quite a unique story to read for children, somehow it didn't make much of an impact on me. Some part of the writing such as the arguments between Tai and Aram was very abrupt and sometimes repetitive. Even the final battle seemed quite sudden and ended almost immediately. I do think Nikki Turner has a lot of potential and with experience, she'll create a much greater impact with her book. Full marks to her for a unique storyline.

My rating: 3.25

I received a free copy of the book from BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

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A pretty engaging and thrilling story, but not quite 4 stars. The character’s ages don’t really match up with how they act (I had to constantly remind myself that they’re 11, not young adults), and I was confused on how the paired birds worked.

But there was engaging world building and I found myself itching to go back to it once I had put it down.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Title: Always Unique
Author: Nikki Turner
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: 4
Review:

"Always Unique" by Nikki Turner

Book Description....

"I: With only two hundred dollars, Unique packed her suitcase and headed to New York City for a brand new start. It’s there that Unique meets big time boxing promoter, Kennard, and it is love at first sight. After nine months of living in the lap of luxury with Kennard, skeletons from Unique’s past show up and it will cost her a show more cool million dollars to not only keep her relationship but her life. Unique isn’t about to lose it all. With the help of her best friend, she devises a major heist, to pull it off all she has to do is stay alive. II: Living the life she has always dreamed of, Unique isn't about to let her past ruin her future with her fiancé, Kennard. But the tables are turned on her and Unique is fighting for her very life. As for Kennard, he is stunned to learn about her past, but more importantly he is not about to let anyone get away with hurting his woman. As Unique and her best friend, Teeydah, set out on a path of revenge, a new menace and a new betrayal rises.III: The blade of revenge cuts both ways. However, that is not going to stop Unique from getting those who are out to get her. And she is determined to be the last woman standing . . . Always Unique gathers together three popular Unique novellas from the New York Times bestselling, African-American powerhouse author Nikki Turner."

What I understood about this novel...

First of all this is a urban read that I thought this author has written very well for her readers. Unique has really had a hard life however she makes it through be sold to a cartel in Mexico and being put in prison after she makes her way back to the U.S. This author really knows how to get and keep your attention as you will be found turning the pages quickly to see what is happening next in this read. Unique best friend for life Teeydah and her new boyfriend Kennard who was a boxer promoter seemed to be all she needed until Unique's life is turned around again. Are their old enemies trying to get back at Unique again? The author really gives the reader some read that seems to pop off the script with there being so much action going on. There is so much drama going on, hospital visits and yes a little bit of it all. This was indeed a different kind of read for me. A lots of this read I didn't understand just what all was going on but toward the end I think it all comes together for me. No, I am not from the streets but being the avid reader that I am I try to read a little bit of it all and this is one that I did have to re read many parts of it over to try to truly understand this author's reasoning to that particular situation. The boyfriend/fiancé Kennard did seem very concerned with not knowing of Unique's past but he still seemed to show her love. All I can say is that I would not want to be one that messed with Unique, Teeydah, their prison buddies or Kennard. The characters in the novel are all off the chart...being well portrayed, some are strong and definitely believable in a weird sort of way. I did find a few of the characters very dark and down right scary. Will revenge be enough for Unique or does she have something else planned for her old enemies? I am only left thinking that maybe this could happen in a real world, yes our world! Oh well, I guess we will have to wait for this author's next series to see what she has planned for Unique. show less