2 out of 4 stars
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Gates of Tangier is about a family forced to go back to their roots due to the loss of their father. As each of the adult children deals with the grief and shock of discovering their father’s long kept secret, the reader is taken along on a journey back home. The children are not allowed to receive their inheritance until they complete a task required in their father’s will. As they struggle to understand their father’s motives, they begin to look at their own motives as well.
Other than technical errors (detailed below), the story itself is a unique one. As the siblings find their way back to their home country, they have to get along with one another and face the choices that they have made up to this point. As they reevaluate their choices, specifically as they relate to their family, they each begin to understand their father’s secret a little better and heal from the grief and shock.
I believe that readers looking for an adventure that explores the complexity of family relationships and choices made as one grows into adulthood will find what they are looking for. Each sibling and character brings a unique aspect out of each other, revealing more and more of the secret that their father kept. This story explores the complexity of grieving the loss of a parent, finding out that your parent had another life beyond the one you knew, and consequences that everyone faces because of choices that they make.
I rate Gates of Tangier 2 out of 4 stars. The story is unique and, at times, compelling. However, there were a few instances where phrases were “lost in translation.” Since the book was originally written in a different language (it is stated that someone translated it in the first few pages of the book), there are a few phrases that I can only assume are colloquialisms that don’t quite make sense in English. This takes away from the reader’s ability to fully dive into the story.
Another reason why I rated it 2 out of 4 stars is that there were several typos that I noticed as I read through the book. A few examples would be missing punctuations, such as quotation marks, commas, and periods. Those were the most common. I cannot give the book a higher rating due to the fact that the book needs a professional edit before readers can fully appreciate the story.
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Gates to Tangier
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