Review of The Story Of...

[ThankGod Onyishi]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Story Of..." by Shirley B Novack.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Jacob Kalinsky was born in December 1904. As a child, he received no love or attention from his father, Max. His mother showered him and his brother, Heschel, with so much love so as to make up for the absence of a father's love. He was happy and content with this until his mother passed away when he was twelve years old.

Three months later, Max left both Jacob and Heschel in the care of Jordanna, a brothel owner. He left them with a promise to send for them when he made money and settled in America. Jacob and Heschel learned how to survive in the brothel. One night, Jacob experienced a hurtful and shameful thing. He kept quiet about it to protect Heschel. Several years later, Jacob and Heschel were successful crafters in America. They were both living well and were even married with children. They were happy and content with their lives until Jacob's worst nightmare resurfaced again.

The Story Of… by Shirley B Novack is an interesting and engaging fiction novel that has a lot of positive aspects. The characters were well developed. There were many characters in this book, and the author made sure to develop each and every one of them. This book took me on a journey with Jacob. It was as if I was present in the story. The originality of the author is top-notch. She did a lot of research in order to write this beautiful book. I admire how she inserted some historical/chronological sources in this book to make it more realistic. At first, I thought most of it was fiction until I browsed about it on the internet. For instance, the market crash of September 1929, which was included in this story, actually happened. There were a lot of themes that were defined in this book, but the two dominant ones were friendship and love. Wherever Jacob went, he made a lot of friends. He was loved and cherished by all the people he encountered. They always had Jacob's back no matter what. I learned what a real friendship should be like. If everyone in this world could behave like Jacob's friends, this world would actually be a better place. Also, I felt connected to the characters in this book; this way, I was able to understand most of the decisions they made. For instance, I don’t blame Jacob and Heschel for doing what they did to their father, Max, because he never treated them like his children.

In chapter 8 of this book, the author made me know what was to happen later on in the book. This was the only thing I didn’t like about this book. The element of suspense was a little bit but not completely ruined by this chapter. This is because I got to know that Jacob and Heschel would go to America even before they went, but I didn’t get to know what would happen at the end until I finished the book.

I didn’t come across a single grammatical error in this book. This shows that it was exceptionally well edited. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I gave it a full star rating because of the positive aspects I stated above, and I didn’t deduct a star from my rating because the negative aspect didn’t lessen the overall satisfaction I got from this book. I learned a lot about the Jewish tradition and their religion. This book contains a lot of it, but I don’t consider this harmful to people practicing other religions. I recommend this book to lovers of historical and romance fiction. Generally, lovers of fiction would find this an exciting read.

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The Story Of...
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Paully_]

Max is indeed a poor excuse of a father. I'm glad Jacob and Heschel turned out okay. It would be great to read about the Jewish tradition.

[Wildflowertheorist]

You've nicely mentioned what you like about the book and how the story connected with you. Great review!

[Waliyat_24]

I wonder how far that trauma dealt with Jacob. I’m happy to know they turned out well even without their father.

[Yasmine M]

I am glad the two brothers stayed together while growing up, it gave them strength to overcome the challenges they encountered. They became loving and caring people despite everything. This is a good story, thank you for the review.

[Lawrence+2]

Nice storyline. But the spoiler that was available in the early chapters if the book would make it uninteresting to read.

[Fearnia Laurel]

This book sounds like it would be an emotional roller coaster, but one which one could relate. Thank you for the review.

[Chiwendu Ikechukwu]

from this review, i believe this is a powerful book. will be adding it to my chelf for letter reading.

[Amy Luman]

A parent’s love is critical and surely Jacob would have benefited from some from his father.

[Kendal Low]

This looks like a great story. I’d be interested to see how Heschel and Jacob’s story.

[tarafarah7]

Today's BOTD is a historical fiction novel that follows brothers, Jacob and Herchel, after their mother dies. Readers interested in learning more about Jewish tradition and religion will also enjoy this book, as it is well-written and researched. This sounds like a great read! I've added it to my WTR list. Thank you!!

[Wilkister Inzai Avagalwa]

The Story Of... by Shirley B Novack sounds like an interesting and emotional book to read. I can't help but feel for Jacob. Having lost his mother at such an early age was a terrible situation to go through. I can't wait to read and explore this book. Congratulations on the BOTD.

[Bisola Adeleke]

I can imagine how much Jacob suffered from the hands of his father. Thanks for this review.

[Grace Elkana]

It feels like there's a dark mystery surrounding this narrative. Secrets are kept to protect. However, for how long before the dark past comes haunting?

[Amprye]

I don’t think this is a book that I would be interested in reading. However I am sure it is informative as it is historical fiction. Congratulations on book of the day!