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[Following is a volunteer review of "Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected)" by Mois benarroch.]

Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected) by Mois Benarroch

Do you believe in soul mates? Do you dream of someone? Let me quote what I read about soulmate which makes sense. “I told you. You don't love someone because of their looks or their clothes or their car. You love them because they sing a song only your heart can understand.” By L.J. Smith. Until you find the link that completes your very soul, the feeling will never go away”. Does it touch a part of your soul?

Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected) by Mois Benarroch is a short story of love and sacrifice. It only contains 103 pages. The reader can finish this at one sitting. This is the second book of Benarroch that I enjoyed. Once again, the unique style of Benarroch activated billions of my brain cells. Benarroch used prose and poetry which made this story more interesting.

The author provided preliminary pages to recount the background about Mois and Raquel. How they came to know each other and what kind of relationship they have. These preliminary pages prepare the readers to grasp the issues in this complicated love story.

It has only two main characters, Mois and Raquel. Mois is a writer who is also referred to as Moisito and Moshe. Raquel who is also called Esther is also a writer. Mois describe her having brown hair and large deep eyes. Both Mois and Raquel are in their forty years of existence. They are both married but are not happy in their married life. I like how Benarroch portrayed the two characters. They seem fragile but strong. They depict characters who give high respect to the vow of marriage. In a real life situation, people facing this challenge can give up and follow the dictate of their hearts.

What I like about this piece of art is its touch of expressionism. It is not a typical love story which is a “happy ever after” or “the death of one is the death of two” ending. It is not like the story of Romeo and Juliet which is full of anguish. It has its own unique theme which holds readers until they finish the last page. What puzzles me in this story is the author's decision of using his name instead of other names.

I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. I cannot give 4 stars even if I enjoyed the story because of grammatical errors. I recommend this book to those who love prose and poetry and those who want to read unique love stories. Those are not a fan of poetry and classical style may find this story plain.

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Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected)
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Like Donnavila Marie01's review? Post a comment saying so!

Its unique theme makes me want to read the story. It fits perfectly for me too since I don't have the luxury of time to read a lengthy book. A wonderful story in few pages is great! Thank you for your review.

I love the fact that the main character is a writer. I don't know why but I always instantly feel a connection if a character reads or writes. I'm a fan of poetry too. So it seems interesting.

Great Review!?

hailvilla18 wrote:Its unique theme makes me want to read the story. It fits perfectly for me too since I don't have the luxury of time to read a lengthy book. A wonderful story in few pages is great! Thank you for your review.

Thanks hail. This is indeed a comprehensive love story for a life time.

-- 17 Apr 2017, 09:54 --

Amagine wrote:I love the fact that the main character is a writer. I don't know why but I always instantly feel a connection if a character reads or writes. I'm a fan of poetry too. So it seems interesting.

Great Review!?

The poets and writers are great lovers because they understand the language of the heart.

This sounds like a thought provoking short read, I don't mind a bit of romance in small doses and this also sounds quite poetic.

Gingerbo0ks wrote:This sounds like a thought provoking short read, I don't mind a bit of romance in small doses and this also sounds quite poetic.

Thanks. This romance is not the typical romance story of winning or losing.

The love story of Raquel and Mois is very inspirational because they proved that love is not made. Maybe this book will be excellent if there are no grammatical errors. Congrats on a well-written review!

I have just read The Expelled by Mois Benarroch, an Israeli who writes in Spanish, French and Hebrew and who uses a challenging writing style which I found difficult to follow. (I am not sure, though, if the English translation was faithful to the original work.) I was initially hesitant to read another of his books as I usually enjoy the lighter reads more. After reading this review of Raquel Says by the same author, I am tempted to read the book and give Mr. Benarroch another chance to woo me as a fan.

-- 06 May 2017, 11:05 --

Seems Mois Benarroch is now in my system. Let's see what his book Raquel Says says to me. I just got a free copy.

Great review. Benarroch's work is always so thought provocative but always seems to be riddled with grammatical and editorial flaws. So sad.

michelonline29 wrote:The love story of Raquel and Mois is very inspirational because they proved that love is not made. Maybe this book will be excellent if there are no grammatical errors. Congrats on a well-written review!

Thanks for the comment.This story is indeed great! It gives us a different face of love.

I also enjoyed this book. There may be a lot of confusing parts but I still found the uniqueness of Mois and Raquel's story beautiful. Moreover, the writing style of the author really needs some getting used to but I might still try reading another work of his. Thank you for this insightful review!

Miriam Molina wrote:I have just read The Expelled by Mois Benarroch, an Israeli who writes in Spanish, French and Hebrew and who uses a challenging writing style which I found difficult to follow. (I am not sure, though, if the English translation was faithful to the original work.) I was initially hesitant to read another of his books as I usually enjoy the lighter reads more. After reading this review of Raquel Says by the same author, I am tempted to read the book and give Mr. Benarroch another chance to woo me as a fan.

-- 06 May 2017, 11:05 --

Seems Mois Benarroch is now in my system. Let's see what his book Raquel Says says to me. I just got a free copy.

Thanks for your comment. You will surely love the book if you love poetry. Though, I admit that I also have doubts on the translation of the book.

-- 11 Jun 2017, 19:25 --

Miriam Molina wrote:I have just read The Expelled by Mois Benarroch, an Israeli who writes in Spanish, French and Hebrew and who uses a challenging writing style which I found difficult to follow. (I am not sure, though, if the English translation was faithful to the original work.) I was initially hesitant to read another of his books as I usually enjoy the lighter reads more. After reading this review of Raquel Says by the same author, I am tempted to read the book and give Mr. Benarroch another chance to woo me as a fan.

-- 06 May 2017, 11:05 --

Seems Mois Benarroch is now in my system. Let's see what his book Raquel Says says to me. I just got a free copy.

Thanks for your comment. You will surely love the book if you love poetry. Though, I admit that I also have doubts on the translation of the book.

This is indeed a very beautiful review of the book. When I read this book, it seemed really annoying to me because of the grammatical errors and I couldn't really follow up with most of the thoughts. I was a bit confused if Raquel was even a real person or someone he created inside his mind. I believed the latter.
Your review honestly makes me want to read it again because I think I didn't give it the respect in the first few pages that it actually deserved.

Review is good of 'Raquel Says (Something En'