Cold World: Audaciously Belle is a fast paced story surrounding Venus Rose, a gullible teenager who lives in the projects. Venus has been exposed to the gangster life as a result of living with her uncles from time to time. For the most part, her growing up years have been very unstable. She grew up without the presence of a caring father. She often saw her mum and dad fighting and quarreling, hurling indecent language at each other. Her mum worked irregular hours and many times Venus and her sister were left alone unsupervised. Unfortunately, Venus got pregnant at fifteen years of age. She had the baby and her mother and other relatives chipped in to provide financial support. Her boyfriend assisted as well, but he was a gangster and not very reliable. Venus regretted that she had turned her boyfriend away the same night that he died, gunned down in the street. Venus was grief stricken.

Cold World: Audaciously Belle is an interesting novel. It is written in the first person. I like the fact that author Shanitra Gardner included portions of poetry in the entire book. This gives the story a realistic feel. You can get a deeper understanding of the anguish and pain that the main character feels. She is really crying out for help. I appreciate that the author divulges the intimate details of the character’s life. This is important because you can clearly see how the events shaped her personality and future decisions. The reader can relate to this because our initial experiences in the home environment affect us all on an emotional level. If, for example, a child grows up with the loving attention of its parents, that child might not need to seek that love outside of the home. The language used is simple and punctuated with curse words to reflect the type of environment being showcased. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is a warning to parents to be more responsible in the upbringing of their children.

Cold World: Audaciously Belle is a fast paced story surrounding Venus Rose, a gullible teenager who lives in the projects. Venus has been exposed to the gangster life as a result of living with her uncles from time to time. For the most part, her growing up years have been very unstable. She grew up without the presence of a caring father. She often saw her mum and dad fighting and quarreling, hurling indecent language at each other. Her mum worked irregular hours and many times Venus and her sister were left alone unsupervised. Unfortunately, Venus got pregnant at fifteen years of age. She had the baby and her mother and other relatives chipped in to provide financial support. Her boyfriend assisted as well, but he was a gangster and not very reliable. Venus regretted that she had turned her boyfriend away the same night that he died, gunned down in the street. Venus was grief stricken.

Cold World: Audaciously Belle is an interesting novel. It is written in the first person. I like the fact that author Shanitra Gardner included portions of poetry in the entire book. This gives the story a realistic feel. You can get a deeper understanding of the anguish and pain that the main character feels. She is really crying out for help. I appreciate that the author divulges the intimate details of the character’s life. This is important because you can clearly see how the events shaped her personality and future decisions. The reader can relate to this because our initial experiences in the home environment affect us all on an emotional level. If, for example, a child grows up with the loving attention of its parents, that child might not need to seek that love outside of the home. The language used is simple and punctuated with curse words to reflect the type of environment being showcased. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is a warning to parents to be more responsible in the upbringing of their children.