Review of Leaving Dahomey
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Dennise Mentari
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- Latest Review: Leaving Dahomey by Jude Shaw
Review of Leaving Dahomey
[Following is a volunteer review of "Leaving Dahomey" by Jude Shaw.]
Leaving Dahoma by Jude Shaw is a story about Adeoha, the clever and mischievous young woman, and her journey to live the life she had always dreamed of. Adeoha was born in a high-status family that granted her an adequate education and supportive community. When she turned sixteen, she was able to make the first step towards her dream job, becoming a well-known trader across big cities. But her ambition means nothing when she faced her destiny, whispered through a prophecy. She figured that she was involved in an influential role, one that might endanger the well beings of her family and friend.
What bothers me the most is the dialog formatting of the book. The inconsistency of the writing for dialogues made it very hard for me to understand each sentence. Some dialogues start and end with quotation marks, and some are connected with narrative sentences. Although after the sixth chapter, the formatting improved. For this inconsistency, I would not rate the book as professionally edited.
I understand that book is written as a long narrative like an old story passed on from person to person. But I feel that the lack of description takes away the soul of the story. The story is set in an enticing setting, one which I was enthusiastic to find out more about. For such a strong background, I feel like it was such a missed opportunity that the book didn't get to capture the spirit of Africa and the exciting customs of The Language of The Drums community. I was expecting a change when the new characters, Robert and Patricia, yet unfortunately, the author uses the same writing style.
I found it difficult to tell the time from one scene to another. It makes the storyline hard to understand. Other than that, I found some unnecessary scenes were added, with no effect on Adeoha's journey. The chapters are loosely connected, which makes it even harder for me to understand the relevance. The only thing that made me interested and kept me reading through the book was because Adeoha was a strong character that got me curious enough to see the ending.
For the points I mentioned above, I rate the book a 2 out of 4. The only reason why I didn't give the book one star is because I think the book has potential but failed in delivery. It is not every day you come across a tradition-inspired fiction book. With better delivery and writing, I think this book will capture a lot more audience. The main characters are quite interesting, yet the writing style didn't do them justice. I would recommend this book for historical fiction fans, especially those who enjoy a slow-paced, narration-heavy book.
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Leaving Dahomey
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Leaving Dahoma by Jude Shaw is a story about Adeoha, the clever and mischievous young woman, and her journey to live the life she had always dreamed of. Adeoha was born in a high-status family that granted her an adequate education and supportive community. When she turned sixteen, she was able to make the first step towards her dream job, becoming a well-known trader across big cities. But her ambition means nothing when she faced her destiny, whispered through a prophecy. She figured that she was involved in an influential role, one that might endanger the well beings of her family and friend.
What bothers me the most is the dialog formatting of the book. The inconsistency of the writing for dialogues made it very hard for me to understand each sentence. Some dialogues start and end with quotation marks, and some are connected with narrative sentences. Although after the sixth chapter, the formatting improved. For this inconsistency, I would not rate the book as professionally edited.
I understand that book is written as a long narrative like an old story passed on from person to person. But I feel that the lack of description takes away the soul of the story. The story is set in an enticing setting, one which I was enthusiastic to find out more about. For such a strong background, I feel like it was such a missed opportunity that the book didn't get to capture the spirit of Africa and the exciting customs of The Language of The Drums community. I was expecting a change when the new characters, Robert and Patricia, yet unfortunately, the author uses the same writing style.
I found it difficult to tell the time from one scene to another. It makes the storyline hard to understand. Other than that, I found some unnecessary scenes were added, with no effect on Adeoha's journey. The chapters are loosely connected, which makes it even harder for me to understand the relevance. The only thing that made me interested and kept me reading through the book was because Adeoha was a strong character that got me curious enough to see the ending.
For the points I mentioned above, I rate the book a 2 out of 4. The only reason why I didn't give the book one star is because I think the book has potential but failed in delivery. It is not every day you come across a tradition-inspired fiction book. With better delivery and writing, I think this book will capture a lot more audience. The main characters are quite interesting, yet the writing style didn't do them justice. I would recommend this book for historical fiction fans, especially those who enjoy a slow-paced, narration-heavy book.
******
Leaving Dahomey
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Leaving Dahomey by Jude Shaw
