4 out of 4 stars
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My Trip to Adele, a fiction novel written by sibling duo Ahmad and Rana Alyaseer, focuses on a trio of characters who each face a different challenge, but all of whom rely on Adele's music to aide them in their struggles. When Adele goes on tour for the first time in years, each of them purchases tickets for her concert in the hope that it will help them address the issues that they're facing.
You're first introduced to Elias, a Moroccan living in Rome who discovers that someone created a black magic spell, causing the break up between him and his long lost love eight years ago. He journeys back to Marrakesh in search of Malika which will eventually lead him to Adele's concert in Verona. Nadia is a single mother living in Amman, Jordan who struggles against her abusive ex-husband to maintain freedom for herself and her son. She wants to take him to see Adele, his favorite singer, live. Yaser, who lives in Las Vegas, is drowning in a crumbling marriage and is trying to figure out how it went wrong. He believes that attending Adele's concert will help him and his wife find their love again.
Each of them struggles to break free of what holds them back while learning difficult lessons that reach them via Adele's music.
I was interested in this book, not because I've ever listened to Adele, but because I'm familiar with the concept that an artist's songs can speak personally to you about your life and the situations you find yourself facing. After the first paragraph I started reading for the sake of the characters. The emotional depth and the struggles they faced were touching and incredibly realistic. I felt terrible for Elias, Nadia, and Yaser in equal measure and felt empathy for their struggles. I also found the descriptive details of their cultures enlightening and felt that I learned a lot simply reading from their perspectives.
Of course, the book focuses on the character's love of Adele and a concert that seems to hold such promise for each of them. Every chapter was named for one of Adele's songs and was perfectly tailored to the chapter's subject matter and the issue that the specific character was facing. The authors also included additional Adele songs, with specific lyrics being heard in a variety of ways, but always with the words tailored to the specific event.
Although there were a few grammatical errors, probably on account of the book being translated, I give this book the rate of 4 out of 4 stars. It's an interesting look into different cultures that finds common ground for all in a famous singer's music.
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My Trip to Adele
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