Platinum Dreams

Jacki Kash
Platinum Dreams Publishing (2006)
ISBN 0977931706
Reviewed by Tammy Petty Conrad for Reader Views (1/07)

This novel opens with an intense scene of Kayla, the main character, trying to escape death. She solicits God’s help and an angel whisks her away just in the nick of time as her husband wakes her from the nightmare. Or is it?

After the first chapter, it is slow going as we learn about Kayla’s desire to become a recording artist. Actually she wants to be “…rich and famous like the hip-hop version of Anita Baker or Aretha Franklin.” Kayla is certainly full of herself and how unsupportive her mother is of her plans. I found it hard to like this character because she goes on and on about how great she is and how much she deserves to get what she wants. To use the author’s own words, “It was as frustrating as discovering halfway through a novel that the most important pages were missing.…”

But once the author gets off Kayla, the story moves quicker and the plot provides plenty of twists and turns, including a very evil villain.  K.D. is twisted and devilish and has a horrible upbringing. He keeps turning up and his behavior is worse every time. I don’t want to give anything away, but his story comes to a satisfying conclusion! Each time there was a new development, I smiled, thinking, I didn’t see that coming.

Kayla does have good men in her life too, but falls into the trap of getting pregnant and marrying very young. This main character turns to God for strength when life becomes difficult. Dr. Dollar, a charismatic TV preacher, is her savior. I kept expecting her to start writing checks to him based on his name! She continues to rely on men to help her make it, but I would have liked for her to show she could make it without a man in her life. This is an important message for young women to hear.

We learn about the music industry and the young, urban scene of Detroit is vibrantly depicted through the use of dialogue. That’s why we read, to visit places we might never see in real life. The author also demonstrates her prowess with words in phrases such as “I tucked her smile away in my chest of memories….”

Young women mesmerized by the music industry will enjoy “Platinum Dreams.” I hope they will learn the lesson that we can’t handle everything on our own, that we do need to give some things up to God. But I also hope they learn that having a man in their life is not always the answer.

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