Official Review: All The Jewels In Our Path

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Ejgard91
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Official Review: All The Jewels In Our Path

Post by Ejgard91 »

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "All The Jewels In Our Path" by H Alden Slate.]
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1 out of 4 stars
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All the Jewels in Our Path by H. Alden Slate is a story about a young man learning to be an adult. The main character, Roy Chase, graduates college as an orphan and inherits a business empire. His mother passed away when he was in high school and his father passed away a few months prior to his graduation. Upon completing school, Roy returns home to tend to the empire that had been left to run on its own until he is able to attend to it. This book is his experience as he learns who he wants to be in the world, and how he wants to impact it. The meaning of the title is made clear throughout the book--how we should embrace the "jewels" that come into our lives and not discount them.

From the start, I could tell this book was not the kind I would normally gravitate toward but I wanted to give it a try and broaden my reading. The book is placed in our current time and deals with many things that happen in everyday life. It is also clear that this book was written by a man and geared more toward male readers, as there were quite a few specific car references and aviation details throughout the story. I tried to have a positive perspective on this book, but there was not much to this writing that helped me.

The premise of the book has a lot of potential. There are a lot of struggles and challenges when you first live on your own, and I can only imagine it is even more complicated when you have a huge business to run as well. This was what originally drew me to this book. I relate with the becoming an adult challenge in life. However, the potential of the book was about the only good thing I could find. The first half of the book is about a do-good, rich boy and his very specifically-narrated life. Unfortunately, Roy Chase is not very believable as a character. No real-life person talks the way that he talks, or thinks the way he thinks.

While there were many details in the book, none were helpful. The details mentioned were about the type of watch that he wears, or the car that he drives, even down to the toothbrush he uses. And of course, everything is what you would imagine a rich person using. Details are supposed to build the character's world and bring you into the character's life, but instead these made me feel like I was wading through a thousand things which did not carry weight, all while trying to find the point of the book.

I was confused by all the religious undertones throughout the book as well. They did not make sense, unless that is part of the culture of the South the author was trying to get across. It makes the characters seem hypocritical when Scripture is quoted in one sentence, then cursing is in the next. These quotes did not add anything good to the storyline, just more cheesiness.

Finally, I was disappointed in how unrealistic this book seemed. For a book set in this day and age, there is a lot of unbelievable going-on's. Trying to portray this college kid as a responsible adult, then seeing him spend a ton of money in the next chapter does not really add up. I also am unsure how half of the happenings in this book could have possibly transpired so quickly.

In conclusion, I would rate this 1 out of 4 stars. I do not recommend it because of the lack of relatability of the characters, the lack of a plot or antagonist, the overwhelming amount of detail that does not enrich the overall plot, and the inconsistencies with how life actually works in this day and age. This book is one "jewel" readers will have to work hard to embrace.

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All The Jewels In Our Path
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Tanaya
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Post by Tanaya »

While there were many details in the book, none were helpful. The details mentioned were about the type of watch that he wears, or the car that he drives, even down to the toothbrush he uses. And of course, everything is what you would imagine a rich person using. Details are supposed to build the character's world and bring you into the character's life, but instead these made me feel like I was wading through a thousand things which did not carry weight, all while trying to find the point of the book.
This is well put. You highlight a very important point. I really enjoyed this review!
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