At its core, Colored Sugar Water is supposed to be about faith. The novel’s biggest pitfall is that this theme fails to subtly reveal itself throughout the story; instead it is slightly force-fed to us at various points as if we have no concept of faith. Still, Berry’s tale is a good narrative on friendship. It’s not very deep, but is a decent mental palette cleanser – you will not learn much, but you can be entertained.

Lucy and Adel are in their mid to late thirties, live in Houston, are dissatisfied with their men and some aspect of their jobs. Lucy, as a regional manager of a gym chain, has to deal with racism and sexism, which escalates to a life or death situation. Adding to her problems are her boredom with her live-in boyfriend Spencer and the complete intrigue that has developed for Kuba, the owner of the hot voice on the other end of the psychic hotline Lucy has recently been calling. Adel’s position as a senior vice president of an oil company has become shaky, as she grows tired of playing the boys’ games. Home life is increasingly challenging, as well, as she discovers that she is pregnant and then learns that her barely employed husband, Thad, is less than thrilled.

The friendship is tested on several levels as individually and jointly the ladies try to determine what they believe in and from where their strength comes. As friends often do, Adel and Lucy dip in and out of each other’s lives offering unsolicited and sometimes very upsetting advice. Their friendship and their other relationships are pushed to the limit and Berry engages the reader just enough to continue turning the pages in hope of a joyful ending.