The High Life: Sex, Money, and Music Review

 

Book Source: Alonzo Black

Cross- Post Review: Chantie's Goodread Review

Spice Radar: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 6 out of 10 (1 means little to no spice; 10 means expreme spice)

A part of a series: Yes

Genre: Urban Novel 

Starred Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The High Life: Sex, Money, and Music is another ARC read provided by the author himself. The Urban Novel contains a few triggers. Sex, violence, profanity, death, drugs, and unexpected pregnancy are included. Okay, if you are interesting, let's get to it. 

The High Life: Sex, Money, and Music

The High Life: Sex, Money, and Music is an Urban Novel written by Alonzo Black. The novel written in the third person followed the life of Alonzo Black 111. Fresh out of prison, the protagonist Alonzo had a goal and aim which he went for. Prospering in the entertainment industry is not an easy feat, and it was shown throughout Alonzo’s journey. Regardless, he never gave up. Determination and persistence were two qualities shown throughout the novel.

This was my first time reading an Urban Novel. I never even knew such a genre existed until I stumbled on The High Life. Thank you, Alonzo, for this enlightenment. The High Life had everything expected from an Urban Novel. Money. Sex. Drugs. Violence. How could I forget colloquialism. Alonzo did a great job in representing the genre well. The characters had their own struggles that tied them to the story. As the novel progressed, so did they. Feelings developed. Friends lost. Relationships ruined. Betrayal and dishonesty hid beneath the words, revealing themselves at the most unexpected times.

For those who are clueless as I was on what an Urban Novel is, its American Urban Fiction. This genre is also called street lit or street fiction. The contents focus on the dark side of city living. It tackles the socio-economic realities and culture of the characters.

Nevertheless, there was an excessive use of adverbs. Many of them could have been avoided. I also spotted a few grammatical errors. Another wave of proofreading could have fixed those. In some cases, there was more telling than showing. The scene and emotions would have been more impactful if the showing technique had been used.

I was a bit startled to see there was going to be a book two. I went in the story thinking that it was a standalone. It wasn't. Even so, the novel covered the theme opened in chapter one. The protagonist's goal was well on its way. Most loose ends were tied up. The ending did get me curious, though. Lyric texted Alonzo when he wasn't the last person she had sex with. Why? It had me wondering. Something about that twist got me wondering about when book two would be out.

The novel was interesting. The first thing that came to mind while reading chapter one was the series ‘Empire’. I enjoyed that show, so it pushed me to read more into Alonzo’s story. I have to confess that I was not the biggest fan of the protagonist. In my eyes, he broke the ‘bro code’ and played it off as something innocent. Yet, when the tables were turned, his reaction was not so ‘chill’. He was not the type of ‘book boyfriend’ I had hoped for. 

Either way, I was happy with the person he ended up with. A bit pissed at the circumstances but liked it, nonetheless. I rated The High Life: Sex, Money, and Music 3 out of 5 stars. I recommend this to readers who know what it’s like to go after a farfetched dream. Those who are determined to chase their goal no matter the challenges.