2 out of 4 stars
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I wouldn’t call guardian of deceit a masterpiece, but it can’t be considered as the regular stuff either, I knew I liked the book after reading the first paragraph. The protagonist of the novel is Darwin Hasting, a 17-year-old orphan, who had left his sick aunt to go and live with his cousin Luther, a famous football player who’s going to become his legal guardian. Things take a sudden turn for Darwin as he realizes that life in Luther’s mansion isn’t what he or anyone had expected. He had to work for Luther as a driver and an errand boy to earn money, he slept in a utility room, and Luther wasn’t willing to pay his school fees for him to attend private school, not caring that his parents had left him a fortune. This was the new life Darwin was faced with, and he had to find a way to achieve his dream of becoming a doctor.
We see Darwin evolve from a young timid boy into a more confident man who would even fight off armed men to protect someone he loved. In Guardian of Deceit, Darwin’s life is laid bare before us, as he faces life’s obstacles and challenges in all the forms it came to him, be it his drug using guardian or Sweeney, Luther’s insecure wife who has an interesting relationship with Darwin or Carol, Darwin’s free-spirited sister-in-law who believes she’s God’s gift to men. Darwin also learned that love could be found in the most unexpected of places as he is taken in by the household help and Granny rather than Luther.
Finding true love and happiness was one of the major themes of the book. I think this was the idea Cole tried to pass across to his audience. We see almost every character in this book make a silly or an unreasonable decision at one point or the other, all in hopes that it would lead to love and happiness. They got to see how reality differed from what they expected. The story line was clear and simple, with a bit of mystery and pretty interesting as well. I think the author’s style was and catchy and he engages his readers within the first few pages, he does a great job showing how decisions people make affect them and those around them.
I believe we should have seen a little more of Luther and Sweeney towards the end of the book as they were important characters that helped shape Darwin’s life, asides this I couldn’t find any weaknesses in this story, there were no typos and the grammar was good.
As much as I enjoyed the book I think the originality and simplicity in which the author started with, wasn’t seen at the end of the book. I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The story would appeal to a broad spectrum of readers, especially those that like to connect with their characters.
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Guardian of Deceit
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