4 out of 4 stars
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After reading her memoir, I concluded, Tina Dreffin is a natural travel writer. I enjoyed reading the short stories. They are fascinating, breathtaking, and educational.
Tina is a survivor of sexual assault. She meets Peter, who becomes the love of her life. Their relationship with Peter contributes a lot to her recovery from her past nightmares. They are blessed with a child, but unfortunately, something bad happens to the child. This devastates Tina and causes her to prefer dwelling in lone places. You can imagine the impact this condition has on their relationship with Peter. They later adopted Adam and Warren. Touring Africa brought excitement, fear, and anxiety to Tina’s family. They not only enjoyed the adventure, but also learned a couple of traits about animals in Africa. Their trip overseas aroused a tremendous experience to the family. They endured various challenges overseas. Ultimately, they made new friends and lost some.
Bluewater Walkabout: Into Africa by Tina Dreffin is a collection of 23 short stories that revolve around the author’s life journey. The stories relate to the author’s critical moments and her endurance. Additionally, there are invaluable geographical and historical features incorporated into the narrative. Furthermore, the state of security in Africa is highlighted in the story. This information can be useful, especially to travel gurus. Moreover, what are some of the myths you’ve heard about HIV/AIDS? Are they hilarious? Funny? Tina points out a common myth that was believed by some African leaders to be an effective way to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS infection that I find funny and hilarious. Finally, the story highlights traits like parenting, adventure, family, motherhood, insecurity, healthcare, sexual assault, and relationships.
The story is written in the first-person point of view. The plot development is swift and grips the reader’s attention. The author took the liberty to incorporate meaningful picture illustrations at the beginning of every Chapter to prepare the reader’s mind on what to expect. The book is professionally edited, though, there is a slight error that needs to be adjusted (chapter 22 should start on a new page).
What I like about the book is the author’s honesty. She includes her mistakes in the story, something that only a few can do. She also chose to learn from her mistakes and do better whenever an opportunity to improve presented itself. Additionally, she relied on divine help to find solutions for her troubles. Like in many relationships, Tina and Peter’s relationship had a couple of mishaps, but notice how they handled them (during your reading of the book). Remarkably, both Tina and Peter developed incredible parenting skills, and this helped them raise their children to become better in life. Moreover, Tina has an amazing ability to read the mind of animals and sense danger from a distance.
There's a certain beliefs about the dead highlighted in the story that I didn’t like. To me, it sounds like God takes people’s lives, an idea that I strongly disagree. Personally, I believe that we die because of the sin that we inherited from Adam and Eve.
There is a lot to learn from the story. For instance, animals react differently when provoked or when they sense danger. For one to succeed in a mission, they will need people to support them ideally or morally. Finally, “One poor decision can ruin a lifetime dream.”
I rate the book at 4 out of 4 stars. The book is professionally edited, adventurous, and fascinating. Notably, there is a lot to learn from the story.
Readers who love reading memoirs or love adventure in their stories will enjoy reading this book.
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Bluewater Walkabout
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