2 out of 4 stars
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Being a world traveler, I jumped at the chance to read “The Ultimate Island” by Amit Offir, as my wife and I have had Malta in our sights for some time. The author’s depiction of his adventures and tours while on the island inspired me to move Malta up on our list of destinations. As a travel guide, this book has an inspiring effect for those wishing to visit Malta.
Mr. Offir begins “The Ultimate Island” with a self-reflective look into his own life and philosophical ideals. You immediately sense the passion he has for travel, and his day-to-day journaling style makes it easy to follow his travels throughout the island of Malta. The author took the liberty of sprinkling in a variety of historical tidbits throughout, further guiding the reader through the adventures that Malta can offer travelers. This one lacks the formality of the typical travel guide, so if this is what you are seeking you may not enjoy his account.
I loved the conversational tone of the book, and thought the author did a great job of drawing his readers into the world he experienced in Malta. He included a variety of photos that added a nice element of visual representation to the already descriptive nature of his writing. He dove into some key elements of travel, such as engaging in discussions with fellow travelers or locals, which proved to give the book a freshness that many travel guides lack. The island of Malta that he creates through his strong writing compelled me to push Malta up my list of places to visit.
There were some downsides to this book, in particular the mechanics. The large number of grammatical errors indicates that the book was not edited, or at least professionally edited. A litany of missing commas, along with an endless stream of sentences ending in prepositions, was distracting from the book content at times. Mr. Offir’s afore mentioned glimpse into his personal ideals and philosophies could have been a bit shorter; at times it felt like he was more interested in telling his story than diving into Malta. If you are looking for a traditional travel guide, you may be disappointed with this book.
While I thoroughly enjoyed Amit Offir’s descriptive account of his travels around Malta, the grammatical errors suffocated this account in a variety of ways. I could only give The Ultimate Island 2 out of 4-stars due to these errors. I feel that if Mr. Offir were to have this book professionally edited, this would easily become a 4 out of 4-star rating. He has mastered the art of descriptive writing, and I do hope he heeds this advice to take this book, and his writing, to the next level.
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The Ultimate Island
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