What do readers think of Lola by Melissa Scrivner Love? Write your own review.

As someone who enjoys mysteries, police procedurals and crime fiction, I found Lola very enjoyable. The main character is a Hispanic woman in LA who, in spite of a very difficult childhood, has grown into a caring realist. In spite of her involvement with a criminal gang she has developed a strong conscience which she uses in making the terrible decisions sometimes necessary. The author has used to great advantage her insight into poor immigrant communities with not much to offer the individual except a life facing low-pay, high labor jobs or a life in crime.
Even when in terrible circumstances, Lola holds herself to high, although atypical standards to do what for her and her community seems to be 'the right thing'.

I highly recommend this novel.

This is a fast read that gave me a glimpse into a life style that is completely alien to me. I enjoyed reading it as it has a good plot and very interesting characters.

Lola tries to help people but some do not want help. She sees herself in five-year-old Lucy and goes far out of her way to help save Lucy from life with Lucy's addicted mother.

Early in this book I wasn't sure I wanted to continue reading about drugs, gangs and hard living in the banger neighborhoods of Los Angeles. However, something about Lola's character kept me going. And gradually I fell in love with Lola--the good, the bad, and the cold brutality of her. Once Lucy was introduced there was no going back. No 5-year-old should be exposed to the darkness and the horrors that were Lucy's life before Lola.

Not completely believable, this story was so compelling that I wanted to keep reading and wanted the best for Lola and Lucy--whatever that means. It feels like this could be the beginning of a series and I welcome more from these characters. Funny, but I somehow hold out hope for better things to come.

I'll try to avoid any spoilers in this review. The story of Lola has lots of action and suspense, and will keep your interest to the end. Lola is definitely not your typical drug lord (or should I say lady). Author Melissa Scrivner Love describes vividly the scenes within Los Angeles County where the action occurs. She nails the cultural treatment of women in the Chicano society beginning with the initial scene, where the Chicanas of the neighborhood take over Lola's kitchen to prepare food for the BBQ. Food, relationship, cultural clashes, maternal love interweave with the world of drug dealing.

Thank you to BookBrowse and the publisher for the ARC of Lola. Not knowing anything at all about LA street gangs, I have no idea if this story rings true at all, but I did appreciate Lola and the other strong female characters in Love's book, especially Lucy and Lorraine.

Also, having been very close to an addict in my family, I found Love's portrayal of her mother Maria to hold true, especially in the description: "They're addicts are just at the top or bottom of their respective lifelong roller-coaster ride, waiting to drop, or waiting to climb up from rock bottom."

Although there were lines of eloquence here and there, I felt the author was afraid her reader wasn't getting the point of Lola's place in life, so she kept repeating what I felt was the obvious. This book may appeal more to a younger generation than mine. That being said, I look forward to Love's future, maybe more mature works.

I guess my expectations were a little high. Lola being compared to Lisabeth Sanders in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a bit of a stretch for me. It was an okay read. I really enjoyed the LA setting. The characters fell a little flat for me. It wasn't the page turner I was hoping for.

I had a hard time getting through this book - I kept putting it down and going back hoping it would get better but I felt the storyline kept bogging down. This is a book for the new millennial generation...not my cup of tea. I read mostly thrillers however this book simply did not have what it takes to keep me interested. Lola was a great character and very believable in our world today, however the story felt empty and lacking in substance.