4 out of 4 stars
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My Trip to Adele by A.I. Alyaseer and R.I. Alyaseer is a fictional novel circling around the lives of three people in three different cities, all destined to visit one attraction. Published in September of 2016, My Trip to Adele is the first novel written by the Alyaseer duo, and is unlike anything I have ever read. Following the struggles of three completely different people who seem to have two things in common; their search for happiness and their love of Adele.
The book opens up with an introduction to Elias. Elias, now living in Rome, visits his hometown in Morocco determined to break a spell that he believes was cast upon him to separate him from the Malika, the one he fell in love with eight years before. Using music and lyrics of Adele, Malika desperately wants to learn to speak English and escape from the trapped life she is enduring. After years of desperately missing the one that got away, Elias travels around in hopes of finding Malika. The second of the three characters is Nadia from Jordan, a single mother who is doing all that she can to maintain security and happiness in her young son’s life. Divorced from her abusive ex-husband, Nadia has her mind set on taking her son to see his idol, Adele, in concert. As obstacles continue to stand in her way, Nadia only wants the best for her son, and feels as if everyone is against her. The final addition to the story was Yaser, a doctor living in Las Vegas who is suffocating in his marriage and drowning in guilt. While trying to revive his relationship, Yaser decides to plan a vacation with his wife to see Adele, as a way to reignite the spark they once shared. To give an idea of Yaser’s emotional disconnection from his wife he says, “I hadn’t known then whether fate really played such an influential role in people’s lives or whether it was merely a scapegoat we used to blame our failures.” (Ch. 5)
While reading My Trip to Adele, I felt an immediate connection to Nadia. Her character was displayed as such a strong personality, going against the beliefs of her family and friends in order to stand up for her freedom and the safety of her child. Her character developed into such a strong personality, and her unyielding persistence was evident of a mother’s love.
The pace of the novel flowed smoothly, with enough hesitation to keep me wanting more, but not too much to drag the storyline out unnecessarily. The theme of the story followed the security of love and belonging and following one’s own faith and desires. I was also pleased with how smooth the dialogue flowed throughout the character’s communication. All the conversation felt natural, and I could feel the sincere emotion the authors intended to portray.
The main addition to this book that won me over was the quotes from different singles of Adele’s which seemed to fit so perfectly with each situation. The perspective of character was changed with each chapter, and each chapter ending with a quote that felt as though coming from the character. It seemed to be such a wise choice to add the verses into the story because of how deep and thoughtful Adele’s lyrics already are. It is my pleasure to rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The writing duo has raised the bar high, and I hope to see more from the two of them.
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My Trip to Adele
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