Just to recap , “A Novice’s First Take” is a series created by me to highlight “new to me” authors. It includes my raw feelings, thoughts, and the opinions that I have while reading these authors’ stories for the first time. It will consist of three sections; my pre-reading thoughts, my raw thoughts, and thoughts in hindsight. Of course the Pre-Reading Thoughts section briefly describes my thoughts from reading the synopsis alone. My Raw Thoughts section features the unstructured immediate thoughts that I have while reading. Lastly, the Hindsight section highlights my overall reading experience and my big takeaways. If you haven’t read it already, there will be some spoilers in the Raw Thoughts section.
So far I’ve checked out Kema B., Ashleynicole, Shae Sanders, Kimberly Brown, and Rae Lyse. If you haven’t already, make sure you go check those blog posts out! Now for the month of June I am reading an author that is LONG overdue for me, and that is Ladii Nesha. To introduce myself to her catalogue I have chosen to start with her book, Bambi. Bambi is a story about family, friendship, love, and the impact of childhood on adulthood. What happens when you can’t stay away from the person that you should be repelled from? A whole bunch of fuck shit! Let’s take this wild ride with the Carter clan!
Pre-Reading Thoughts
Like many of the other authors that I have focused on in this blog series, Ladii Nesha is held in high regard by her readers, especially with the humor, so I am interested to see how I feel about it. Like I said, reading Ladii Nesha is long overdue for me. As an urban fiction lover I keep asking myself, “Girl wtf are you doing and why tf haven’t you read this yet?!” Now I am about to right my wrongs and get into it! I’m tryna see what these other Carter Brothers are giving.
Raw Thoughts
The way that King speaks, me and him would have been enemies for sure. He is disrespectful as hell. Tristan appears to be the good brother, but they both are just two different kinds of bad lol. The sad part is that they get their behavior honestly. I think that the chaos of their childhood goes deeper than what I’ve seen so far.
Yo, Henny is on it with these nicknames for Bambi! Ms. Syphilis and Burn em’ up B is taking me out! They just keep going back and forth but Henry is eating her up lmfao!
Watch Lena is Lia. I’m telling you right now. WATCH!
They swearrrrr they don’t love these hoes. Nigga you got a bitch laid up in the bed counting her freckles! STOP IT. Bambi and Shayla are going to shake up their world.
Nah, this movie theater scene is killing me! Bambi was better than me because I would have left before the movie even started. You gotta be proactive when you are dealing with Mfs with screws loose lmfao. The fact that this book actually is funny! That’s rare for me.
All I can say is I FREAKING KNEW IT! Ever since they said how Bambi’s parents met! I’m telling yall ain’t nothing getting past me!
See this book is right up my alley. THIS is what I’m talking about. Come to me with the DRAMA. Give me something that is going to entertain me. I’m on the edge of my fucking seat right now. First Bambi and now Tristan?! I’m shook!
This situation with Bambi is going to change King’s perspective forever. It’s good to see him break out of those bad habits and thoughts that were forced on him as a child. He needed to break away from his grandad and fully become his own man with his own mind.
Hindsight
Damn, I loved it! When I say that this was the type of story that I live for, I mean it. The secrets, the betrayal, the drama?! Ladii Nesha penned a wild ride. At no point when I was reading this story did I ever feel bored, or like I didn’t want to read anymore. The plot of Bambi is very entertaining in my opinion. This book had me laughing, screaming, and whispering to myself. Ladii Nesha honestly did really well with the first installment of this series. I can honestly say that for once the hype wasn’t just hype with this book, all the positive responses were true. The only thing I could say is that the very end felt easy, but that didn’t necessarily bother me. All of the strengths of this story overpowered that for me.
One thing that I loved about this book was the depiction of family. The Carter Clan was built on an unconventional foundation and they were toxic AF at times, but they had real love for each other. It was good to be able to see them grow and work through the issues that they had. At the end of the day, they all just wanted to get along and be together and I admired that. The only one that really rubbed me the wrong way, outside of Spade and Check, was Kimmy. She watched King and Tristan grow up and the shit she was saying to them had me side eyeing her HARD. Then I loved Bambi and her family and how close knit they were. Bambi and Henry jr. name calling war had me dying. It was sweet that he valued her opinion and considered her his best friend. The sisterhood between Shayla and Bambi was strong. I loved that they had each other's backs and that they could be real with each other without falling out. These families had real love for each other!
Now for the main question: Would I read Ladii Nesha’s work again?
Is this even a question?! Of course I would read her work again. Ladii Nesha ate when she wrote this. In fact I know that I will be recommending this book to others. Shoot I’m about to read book two and three right tf now!
On that note, shout out to Ladii Nesha! Let me find out she’s about to become one of my faves 👀 I’m excited to read more of her work in the very near future. Like always, don’t forget to like, comment, and let me know what you think! I would love to hear you guy’s thoughts on Bambi. Until next time, Happy Readinggg 💕
Ciao,
J. Lynae 💋
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