Review of Bacchanalist

[topdan30]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Bacchanalist" by Helena Peach.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Bacchanalist is a non-fiction book by Helena Peach. The book is a memoir of Jacqueline Ann Rosemin. The book is just 17 pages, which made it a short read. I will recommend this book to lovers of short memoirs.

Jacqueline is the oldest of seven siblings, who love to adore one another. She is an insecure, sexy and independent black individual, who would do just about anything to survive in this world. Jacqueline is a truthful person, and her facial expressions reveal whether she is being dishonest. She does not say one thing and means another. She wanted to do what she had to do to change the negative remarks from other people’s beliefs about her.

The memoir about Jacqueline was written under four subheadings which are; “my mother”, “my daddy”, “life” and “things I enjoy”. The author provided details about Jacqueline’s mother, stating clearly the love, care and attention she got from her mother. She also stated how Jacqueline enjoyed her mother’s various delicacies, which her mother never allowed them to join her to prepare. The author also narrated a little of her mother’s love life. She talked about Jacqueline’s dad and how he was disliked by all due to his drinking and bad habits. The author also shed light on his personal life and what she enjoyed doing.

The author used pictures in this book to appeal to the emotions of the readers and made sure that they also have a view of who and things she is describing. Some pictures provided were that of Jacqueline, Jacqueline’s mother, the sky changes that she admired, the verandah where she enjoyed her childhood and a lot more. The author also made sure that the story flows well by moving through the past and the present seamlessly. She also used simple sentences to allow readers to enjoy the book with ease. All these made the book interesting to read.

The author’s name written in the book was different from that provided by the review platform. The title written inside the book stated: “In My Life” while the review platform and even the book file were named “Bacchanalist”. All these made me confused. At first, I thought I downloaded the wrong book, but when I read through, I noticed that the content and the description of the book were the same. These discrepancies made the book confusing. The author also used just capital letters to differentiate the subheading from the body of the text. These affected the readability of the book. The author also switched between the second-person narrative to the first-person narrative without any indication or notice. All these were what I dislike in this book.

This book needs another round of editing to correct all these discrepancies and make it a perfect one. Due to the above points, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The book is not professionally edited. The memoir was still interesting to read. But the confusion can be eliminated with perfect editing.

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Bacchanalist
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[Khushboo Barwar]

I love short memoirs but I don't think these discrepancies will allow to enjoy it. I hope the author takes another round at editing. Thanks for your honest review.