Review of My Trip To Adele

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Arij Chmeis
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Latest Review: My Trip To Adele by R.I.Alyaseer and A. I Alyaseer

Review of My Trip To Adele

Post by Arij Chmeis »

[Following is a volunteer review of "My Trip To Adele" by R.I.Alyaseer and A. I Alyaseer.]
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4 out of 5 stars
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My Trip to Adele is a touching book that fell into my path unexpectedly. Elias, Nadia, and Yaser are three seemingly unrelated people living on different continents.

With a strong and captivating start, the book’s first chapter hooks the reader instantly, pulling us into a story filled with suspense. Elias is living in Rome after leaving his love back home in Morocco eight years ago. Who is this girl still tugging at the strings of his heart? What was the real reason behind their breakup? Can he find out the truth after all these years?

In chapter two, we meet Yaser in Las Vegas, desperate to save what seems to be a lost marriage. The authors excel in describing the feeling of being trapped in a futile relationship. With impressive talent, they convey the despair of nonsensical fights and the bitterness of exaggerated conflicts.

Nadia greets us in chapter three, full of defiance and determination. Life in Amman as a single mother is riddled with difficulties, especially for a woman who stands up against patriarchal tyranny. Refusing to let her society dictate her choices, Nadia believes she must be in charge of giving her son the best gift for his tenth birthday.

Three characters, from three Middle Eastern countries, share a common love for an amazing artist and a struggle to find balance between their respective cultures and their hearts’ desires.

I enjoyed reading this book immensely. The inclusion of lyrics throughout the chapters provided a nice, intimate touch, almost as if we had an accompanying soundtrack. Although the characters are entirely separate, the authors weave their stories seamlessly together, keeping the reader enticed and the narrative dynamic. Another interesting element of this book is its candid investigation of cultural themes in relatable contexts, such as pretense and sexism.

One drawback that I personally disliked was Elias’s character development, especially in the second part of the book. Despite his attempts to appear open-minded and educated, his views and remarks of Kanza and Elizabeth come across as sexist and misogynistic. While this stereotypical portrayal of a Middle Eastern man might be intentionally critical, I still found it quite off-putting. The ending was also somewhat unsatisfying, with explicit lessons for the reader that felt amateurish and did not match the flow of the rest of the book. Nonetheless, although I had hoped for a less preachy and more engaging ending, the book’s exploration of societal depth and complexity is well worth the read, and I will definitely recommend it.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars rating due to some grammatical errors, the confusing use of past participle tense, and a couple of sequence inconsistencies (for example, Yaser is described as walking ahead in one scene and then stepping out of the car in the next).

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My Trip To Adele
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