Review of Otherside

[beckischrader71]

[i][Following is a volunteer review of "Otherside" by Aaron Dennis.][/i]

[rbc=4]id228282-125[/rbc]The only thing that I did not like about the book, [i] The Otherside[/i] by [b] Aaron Dennis[/b] was the length of the chapters. Each chapter was written more as a stand alone short story. I would have preferred the book to be divided into parts that had well defined chapters within each part. This would make it much easier on a reader who cannot read the book during a single sitting. This would create a natural stopping point for those with a limited amount of reading time.



Despite this dislike, I would highly recommend the book [i]The Otherside[/i] by [b]Aaron Dennis[/b]. I would give this book [b]3 out of 4 stars[/b]. If the chapters were shorter, I would have given this book 4 stars. I really enjoyed the subject matter which is the Voodoo religion and how it affects one man, Adja, who stumbled across it while on vacation in New Orleans. This once regular man who was simply on his way to buy more beer when he was inexplicably drawn into an alleyway and witnessed the magic of Voodoo first-hand. This encounter left him a changed man forever. He was no longer just a man anymore but now he was a Shadowman. A man who could cross over to the otherside, which is the spirit realm, with just a thought. Adja's spirit animal is Bear. Bear asked certain things of him in exchange for his protection. The quests that Adja was sent on as a Shadowman kept me spellbound and I could not put the book down.



The author has an amazing ability of being able to pull the reader into the plot making him/her feel as if he/she is a Shadowman or a Shadowfemme. His descriptions of the surrounding scenery made it easy to visualize what the character was not only seeing but hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling as well. What amazed me was how Aaron Dennis was able to capture the Creole accent that is so prominent in New Orleans. At first this dialect confused me because of the poor English spoken by Creoles but after a couple of paragraphs, the accent grew on me and made my experience of being within the Voodoo community of New Orleans more believable.



This book was both extremely well written and edited. It is obvious the level of intellect the author has simply based on his choice of words. These choices made reading difficult in a few areas. For this reason, I would not recommend this book to teenagers or even some less educated adults. However, a well versed adult would find this book mentally stimulating. This book would make a excellent addition to anyone's library who enjoys reading and learning about other cultures and belief systems and has an open mind. Despite this book being a work of fiction, the accurate portrayal of the Voodoo religion created a sense of realism.



Having said that, I believe a strong Christian activist would not enjoy this book. He/she may even find this book quite offensive. This would call into question his/her belief system and I am afraid many closed minded individuals would find this book to be nothing short of blasphemy.

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[i]Otherside [/i]
View: [url=http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelves/book.php?id=228282]on Bookshelves[/url] | [bn=9781537621906]on Barnes and Noble[/bn] | [smashwords=669503]on Smashwords[/smashwords]