Hey everybody! So this is my first book review and frankly I have been a little scared to do reviews. Then I thought about it and I remembered that my sole purpose of creating this platform was for me to be able to speak openly about my own thoughts and opinions about the books that I have read and potentially open up discussions, so that is what I am going to do. So without further ado let’s get into it!
*Spoiler Alert (even though I’m sure you probably read this)*
Free Game (2021) is an indie romance novel written by Ms. Kema B. The story follows Isis Bennet, a receptionist at a popular tattoo parlor, and Freedom Owens, a semi-retired rapper. Isis has witnessed her family members become the victims of love scars, which prompts her to close her heart to romantic love. She gets what she wants from guys and then dips, but this all changes (somewhat) when she first lays eyes on Freedom Owens. To sum up everything simply, Free wants Ice from the very beginning, they have sex, and later become “friends with benefits”, but that is not enough for Free, so he breaks it off, which forces Ice to come clean about her true feelings. In the end they get their HEA.
With all of the positive reviews of this book, I was very interested in seeing what all of the raving was about, so I made it my first read of the new year. There were mostly five star reviews, so I was definitely intrigued. This is also the first time I’ve read any of Kema B.’s work. It’s a new year, so I wanted to try a new author.
Now let’s start with the positive aspects. The best thing about this book was Mr. Freedom Owens! He was the type of man that women dream of having. Fine, paid, caring, had sense, and he knew how to treat his woman. Free was dominant, hard working, and he wasn’t shy about going after the things that he wanted. Also I just love reading about rappers lol. I also enjoyed the little bit that we learned about Free’s recent past regarding the death of his best friend, Smoke, and the betrayal that he faced by someone who was close to him. This was actually one of the more interesting parts of the story. One thing that I liked about Isis was that she lived her life freely and didn’t feel any shame about it, while still being able to find love on her own terms. Lastly, I just appreciated how well written Free Game was, specifically the scarcity of typos, grammar, and vocabulary. It shows that Kema B. takes her work seriously, which I admire.
Ok, so let’s get into some of the things that I personally did not care for. Some things just did not click for me. First, it was the fact that Free saw Ice for the first time and wanted to love her immediately. I’m fine with reading books that have a love at first sight feel, but with the other things that readers learned about Freedom’s recent serious betrayal by his ex La’tyra, the love at first sight and falling fast did not fit. Then Isis has all of this stuff to say about love and rappers but she folded extremely fast as well, which seems uncharacteristic of how she was portrayed.
I also feel as though maybe Isis wasn’t developed enough. She lacked personality outside of being a “savage” and a receptionist. There was no real depth to her character besides her fear of love and maybe her unique look. It made her uninteresting to me. The fact that she was Free’s love interest hindered the story. The “romance” part of this was the least interesting aspect of the story and this is a romance novel. I was more intrigued by Smoke’s death and the things that led up to it (the gang beef, Tyra), but that was only lightly touched on. I think that if that situation would have been more dedveloped, it would have taken this book to the next level.
Now for the rating… Free Game is a textbook three star based on my own criteria. It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t bad either. The story didn’t make me feel anything. It had the potential to soar, but it fell a little flat for me. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but I would urge you to read it for yourself and formulate your own opinion if you would like to. Something that is a three for me may be a four or five star for you. I think I went into this expecting to be wow’d and that was my first mistake. Maybe if I didn’t let the hype get to me I would have been more satisfied? I don’t know, but I’m not going to give up! I have more of Kema B.’s work in my library and I am going to give it a chance because she actually does write well, so it might just be this story in particular that doesn’t do it for me.
As always, thank you for reading and be on the lookout for more reviews coming soon! Don’t be shy, share your opinion with me! I am open to discussing it with you (hit my DM or click the chat button!). Maybe I’m seeing things wrong and need a new perspective 🤷🏾♀️
Ciao 💋
~J. Lynae
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