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BOOK REVIEW–STAY WITH ME

Book Reviews 7 Comments

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The major themes in this book are captured in the blurb:

“…this is a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family,the wretchedness of grief, and the all consuming bond of motherhood”

The story opens up in 2008 and we find a seemingly lonely woman, Yejide, and she directs her thoughts to someone. We’re intruders into this baring of her soul.
It’s direct and we’re not ushered into the book carefully. We must follow on to see who she converses with, in her head.
We’re taken back to 1985 to encounter her life with her husband and how their bliss is often punctuated by the offending relatives who proffer solutions to Yejide’s “barreness“. She often stays on her knees, smiling as they speak, after which she observes the routine of offering them food; their choice often being pounded yam.
Akin, her husband, types away on his phone every time they talk  and the illiterate relatives are happy he is paying detailed attention to their words, but what he really does is write his to-do-list for the week.
This scene we’re open to is, however, different. She becomes the first wife, iyale, with hopes that the new wife, Funmi, will give birth and this will usher in the children she needs.

“Our wife, our people say that when a man has a possession and it becomes two, he does not become angry, right?” Baba Lola said.
I nodded and smiled.
“Well our wife, this is your new wife. It is one child that calls another one into this world. Who knows, the king in heaven may answer your prayers because of this wife. Once she gets pregnant and has a child, we are sure you will have one too”

Yejide’s world seems to end.

“I did not feel better. I would not feel better for a very long time. already, I was coming undone, like a hastily tied scarf coming loose, on the ground before the owner is aware of it.”

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We are introduced to Akin’s view of her and we see immense love. Similar to Ifemelu and Obinze’s, if you know what I mean. We’re flattered by his love but we’re soon to find out there are things even love, can’t fix.
Life goes on, and all Funmi does, in spite of herself, is to strengthen the bond between the two. We see an example when armed robbers visit their house and leave. Upon hearing a gunshot, Akin made Yejide lie down and stayed atop her and didn’t shift till day break, not even when Funmi asked if he didn’t care about her too. When she cried, he said nothing but went out to check what had happened.
The armed robbers are ushered in, along with developments in the country. We discover the time when estates had no fences and armed robbers began to send letters of intended attacks, and how ridiculous it had appeared at the first. They followed it up with detailed letters adressed to each home; to one, on family planning; to one, of lovers etc, there is dread.
We move into that era where everyone left the radio in their homes on when they went out, to wade off robbers, giving an impression someone is at home.
We’re also nudged into the happenings in the political sector and we live through each coup d’etat that happens. We also experience the anticipation and doubt that follows the announcement of a change from military rule to democracy, the 1993 election, and the pinning after news.
Funmi, is in effect, not the end of their lives.
The book made me appreciate life some years back and the richness of culture at the time. There are a number of Yoruba proverbs and innuendos.
Yejide and Akin try to cope with the expectation of family life. We find out the impact of hate and acceptance from siblings and parents. We understand sacrifices made for family as we’re lead through yoruba folklore stories told to children.
The plot climaxes and the attrocities man is capable of, begins to get revealed, but it is cloaked with good intentions and we observe the “desperate attempts to save ourselves and the people we love from heartbreak” even when it fails.
The book is written in a 1st person POV alternatively between Yejide and Akin. I could follow the common thread of the book easily.
The style is semi-formal. The language is clear and well defined. I particularly enjoyed the way the author weaved her words.
The author, Ayobami Adebayo, has published stories in magazines and anthologies and this book has been shortlisted for bailey’s prize for women’s fiction.
The publisher is Ouida books. It’s been published in the U.k and came out in Nigeria only a week and two days ago . It has 306 pages. I bought it for 3,000 naira having ordered it through roving heights.
ISBN 978-978-959-320-0.
The main characters are Akinyele, Yejide, Yejide’s stepmothers, Dotun, Moomi, iya Bolu. The characters are credible. The characters run into a million problems. Yejide is my favourite character especially her OAU version. Her reasoning is relatable.
I like the book.
I believe everyone who is exposed to adulthood would appreciate this book. I recommend it to those who value family and I rate it 4.5/5stars.
Other excerpts:
On rejection from family:

“Two weeks later, her father died and I was shocked by how her step mothers went out of their way to ensure Yejide stood without any family member at her side. They all moved from one side of the grave to another so that Yejide and I stood alone like outcasts. When I nudged Yejide and asked that we both follow her siblings and step mothers, she smiled and told me they’d moved because of her and if we went to their side, they would simply all move again”

“We can’t keep fighting over this thing, you know. We are brothers, we are blood. A woman can divorce you, family can’t…brother mii, get this right, you can’t fight with me

“

On love:

“I loved Yejide from the very first moment. No doubt about that. But there are things even love can’t do. Before I got married, I believed love could do anything . I learned soon enough that it couldn’t bear the weight of our years without children. If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends,cracks, comes close to breaking and even sometimes does break. But even when it is a million pieces around your feet, that doesn’t means it’s no longer love”

”

It was not the outrage in Iya Martha’s scream that stopped my words. It was the tender way Akin’s thumb stroked my Palm. I looked away from his eyes”

On family:

“Every time he married a new wife, my father would tell his children that a family was about having people who would look for you if you got kidnapped. It was a bad joke and I was the only one who ever laughed . I laughed at all his jokes. I think he believed in this myth of his large harmonious family. He probably thought i would still visit my stepmothers after his death.”

“I sat by his bed looking, waiting for the faintest signs that he had decided to return to me. There was no sign. I was afraid to touch him,afraid that my touch might stress him and carry him into the unknown, away from me, forever. By the third day I was on my knees praying to him in muttered words only I could hear saanu mi, malo, omo mi, joo nitori olorun. Saanu mi. Duro timi. Have mercy on me,don’t go please. Stay with me. “
“…and your family, which for a misguided period, I thought was mine”
“I was not strong enough to love when I could loose again”

On having children:

“I never began the story with moomi’s olomo lo l’aye saying. I’d believed her once, I’d accepted it- like the tortoise and his wife- that there was no way to be in the world without offspring. And though I told Rotimi the story many times, I no longer believed that having a child was equal to owning the world”

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Debby
What do you think? Have you read this book? Are you interested? The conversation never stops. Don’t forget to share too!

Me before you–BOOK REVIEW

Book Reviews 9 Comments


The title of the book is “Me Before  You”  and the author is Jojo Moyes.
The publisher is the Penguin group. This is the first edition and it has 481 pages. It was published in 2012.
I didn’t ponder on what the title could suggest before reading the book. In hindsight, I believe it implies what extent you’ll go to, in putting the happiness of the person you love before your happiness.
The genre is conntemporary adult fiction.
The book is written in the first person point of view, which is okay. Towards the end of the book, we however get two other points of view for a bit.
I can logically follow the main thread of the book but maybe not emotionally.
This book stirs up mixed feelings for me. It’s disturbing, not in the way ” the girl on the train” was disturbing. It’s disturbing in an okay-easy-to-read-but-i-can’t-accept-this-worldview kind of way.
Will Traynor is disabled, not just a paraplegic but he is a quadriplegic (and the worst case, a c5/6 as we’re informed). He can’t make use of his body from his chest downwards. There is faint movement in his palm but he can’t grasp anything. So he must be fed food, he must be given a drink. He has go to toilet in a catheter attached to his wheel chair, and have it emptied by a carer. He cannot make many decisions on his own. He is liable to having his mother(or anyone which is really my point) walk out on him during a conversation, as she did when he first brought up a topic she considered an outright taboo. This same taboo founds the main conflict in the book.
He is a 35years old man and has to depend on people. This is vastly dissimilar to his old way of life which included bungee jumping, swimming with whales, climbing mountains etc. He was a physical person and that life was ripped right out of reach.
Lou, on the other hand, is content , too content with her life, and it has made her not so smart. At 26years old, she talks and reasons quite slowly. She is the sort of person who counts the footsteps between her house and the bus stop. The kind of person who works at a bakery (butter-bun: her former work place), by just strolling in to the place on the basis of a dare from her younger sister that she couldn’t get employed in a day, and asks if she could work there. She is the kind of person who works there for 6years without a formal employment and without a demand on her part for a raise. All this, not because she is disabled in any way. She is the kind of person who stays in an unstimulating relationship for 7 years with a man who loves keeping his body fit more than he loves her. She has weird fashion sense which causes everyone she meets to raise their eyebrows.
Lou has a strange family too. Strange. Especially her grandpa. Ooh and her father. And her mother. And her sister. And her nephew-Tomotomo. ?
She gets employed as Will Traynor’s carer and inspite of the initial animosity, they ride on smoothly for close to six months.
The changes she is willing to effect in her life are still disturbing because they are as a function of her love for him not because she has seen the folly in her former decisions.
The novels begs the question, “is love sufficient?”
I do not have a favourite character in this book and I wish I could change the beginning and middle of the book to be better paced and gripping.
The style of the book is informal. The language is clear and convincing. It exposes the reader to the life of a disabled person and evokes empathy.
I don’t intend to insert spoilers so I won’t  go on.
I didn’t particularly like the ‘force’ of the book which was low. It wasn’t much of a page-turning, gripping book. It didn’t evoke a plethora of emotions from me, only one emotion. Notwithstanding, there was good humour in a number of scenes.
A novel is always beyond the story it tells, it’s the sum total of the author’s  voice, techniques etc.
I rate it a 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to anyone interested. You should actually get it.
On living with disability:

“and all I can say to you is that, I wouldn’t be in his shoes for all the money in the world”

On love and choices:

“how is it you have the right to destroy my life ” I wanted to demand of him, “and I am not allowed a say in yours?”

on the gift of quietness and bliss:

“sometimes I stood at the window and watched him, his head tilted back, just enjoying the sun on his face. When I remarked on his ability to be still and just enjoy the moment-something I never mastered- he pointed out that if you can’t move your arms and legs, you haven’t got much of a choice”

On living life:

“there is a hunger in you Clark. A fearlessness. You just buried it, like most people do”
“just live well. Just live”
“I will never ever regret the things that I’ve done because most days, all you have left are places in your memory that you can go to”
“there’s not a lot separating me from anyone you might pass in the street. You probably wouldn’t look at me twice. An ordinary girl leading an ordinary life. Actually it suited me fine”
“”you cut yourself off from all sorts of experiences because you tell yourself you are not that sort of person”. ”
” but I’m not”


I got this book as a gift from someone I do not know personally although I read her blog. It was on instagram, she put up a picture of the book and for the first time in my life I commented with “I want someone to give me this book” and she did! It landed at my doorstep in UI. This is another thank-you note. to Eclectictope.com. :)?

Books, living and choices,
Debby

BOOK REVIEW–The Atonement Child

Book Reviews 8 Comments

Hello again!

Before my two weeks semester break from university began, I was certain I was going to read so many books. I was only yet to draw out the list of fiction, autobiography and Christian literature I would read. I was only yet to.
The break has turned out entirely different but I’m grateful for how it finally turned out. It’s been tough keeping up with certain demands in my fellowship but I’ll probably never build so much strength without it.

A good thing that came out of the break was that I completed a book by Francine Rivers. I did so in no time, really. In this book, Francine pushed forward some strong views. In light of my previous reading of her works, doctrinally, she came on tough.

The title of the book is “The atonement child”, authored by Francine Rivers.

My copy was published by Tyndale house publishers inc, Wheaton Illinois and it has 376 pages.

I was in a Christian library the other day, when I saw a book with a colourful cover page on a shelf.
It’s title – ” Aids is real and it is in our church“.
To be honest, I can imagine most pastors swiftly yet steadily glancing away with sufficient experience, from that book with the colourful cover page. But aids is in our church. Who’s gonna pick up the book? Against that backdrop, “The atonement child” is also a book that hinges on a topic that makes us all avert our gaze to the side. It’s based on a somewhat sensitive issue: Abortion.

In a moment too short to have had the weight and consequence it eventually had, Dynah Carey was raped. Painfully. Brutally.
Beautiful Dynah, sweet Dynah, blonde-hair Dynah, God-adoring Dynah. Her life had been close to perfect. I enjoyed reading how she went down to New Life College in Illinois to school and how she met Ethan who swept her off her feet. However, her life hit rock bottom after the rape and she was forced to reconsider everything she had ever known, and forced to put things in perspective, one day at a time.
The main characters were Dynah; Ethan, her fiancé; Hannah, her mother; Doug, her father; Joe, her friend; Evie, her grand-mother. Quite a circle. The characters are very credible and they has so many emotional decisions. The characters seemed to have been faced with trials they couldn’t bear, they ran into lots of problems.

My favourite character is Dynah. She was able to pull through beautifully (this involved lots of tears and questioning God, running away, quitting school) but it serves to tell how much dignity can still be pulled on, in ugly circumstances. If I told you who my second favourite character is, I’ll probably begin to gush and digress and I will mention my third favourite. You already know I love the book, I don’t need to make it any more obvious.

My favourite part of the book has to do with a certain widows brigade meeting. Some elderly women who were close friends and met together every Sunday for the past four years to share lunch, sorrows and joy. I liked that potrayal because it touches on vulnerability and on the courage to call on the commander of the army, to go to war against the enemy.

This book while focusing on Dynah, was able to efficiently branch out to the lives of people affected by abortion: The doctors who perform it, the families of the doctors and what they felt or didn’t feel, the parents of those who aborted and reasons for supporting or opposing it, the men for whom pregnancies were aborted and their dispositions for the rest of their lives , the pastors from whom counselling was sought, their errors and their excellence, the schools with no tolerance policy for pregnancy and the blind eyes turned to rape circumstances, the government and the position of the law, pro-life support groups and what they really care about.
On the issue of pro-life organizations, this book subtly dealt with why these organizations should focus more on the women thinking of having or who have had abortions and should not only be concerned with ‘saving the child’
This book had exceedingly thrilling points despite it the solemn theme.
I’ll recommend this to all and sundry because we all have a thing or two in perspective about abortion which needs changing.

On having Pastors having no answers :

He looked into her eyes and saw fear and confusion, her anguish. He wanted to weep. He knew the answer to that question in his heart. He knew the answer by all he had studied over the years in the word. But he couldn’t bring himself to give a one word answer to such a loaded question.

 

On Christian zeal:
Douglas had noticed that when they first met Ethan.  “He’s on fire alright but that kind of fire can burn churches down”

 

On grief:

she had thought she had cried to last a lifetime when she was nineteen. Now she realized she’d had no clue what grief was. She hadn’t known how deep it could go or how long it could last and that there were ramifications she hadn’t suspected.
Sometimes when she read her Bible, she envied the Israelite. They could wear sack clothes and ashes. They could wail and scream. They could prostrate themselves before the lord

 

On trials:

anger stirred. Frenetic activities seemed to be Ethan’s forte. And safety valve. When he didn’t want to face something, he served mightily as for the lord. But not really. It was easier to teach God’s word than to live it

 

On people’s justifications for abortion:

“it would seem life could be built upon the foundation of death”.

“besides the supreme court doesn’t agree with you. They seem to think we poor women would fall apart if we knew the facts, so they decided women don’t have the right to know the full truth” she shook her head “they’ve made it legal to withhold vital information, even when a woman asks for it…and do you know the argument they used for withholding information? They say it spares women trauma…”

 

On facing the truth:

“she lifted her shoulders slightly, unable to explain, not sure she wanted to diagnose her feelings. Perhaps it was best not to examine some things too closely. You might find corruption.

 

On compromises made for love:
she hadn’t wanted to think about it too much or look too closely, not when the love of her life was so intimately involved. She couldn’t bear to think he might be wrong

 

On worrying:

He brushed a tear from her cheek. “you’re borrowing trouble, Dynah. You’re worrying about what might happen. Deal with now”

 

On love for Children:

“I remember my son going through a period in the seventies when he said he didn’t want to bring children into such an awful world, ” Evie said” I told him people who cared so much about children should be the ones having them”

Love and books,
Debby.

BOOK REVIEW-Redeeming Love

Book Reviews 19 Comments

Hello there beautiful people of the internet! how have you been? If you’re in Nigeria, how are you dealing with this premium motor spirit(until now, petrol was known as petrol for me o) at 145naira? I trust you’re standing tall in spite. Hope you still eat stew? Tomatoes are the worst hit. The price of it!
I was thinking it’s great to have a journal; it reminds you of your potentials. When you see some of your write-ups in the past, you just want to ride on.Having read previous reviews of movies and books in my journal, I thought ‘what have you been waiting for, Deborah?’. Book review it is.
Two weeks ago I completed “redeeming love”, for the second time. And then I felt like a walking contented-sigh, if you get what I mean.
Now the first time I read “redeeming love” was either in 2007 or 2008, I was in secondary school. I loved-loved it. It was the secret telepathy of we skinny teenage girls. We understood it, we understood ourselves also(well, sort of). Something precious was shared. It was my eye-opener to Francine Rivers’ books which I’ve not been doing justice to. It was pure. For a while, every time I filled a slam book I would write “redeeming love” as my best novel.
Having this book again is a delight. This time, I got other books I’ve never read along side “redeeming love”. Old love always wins out. It’s a feeling you can always bank on. Something familiar. You don’t know about the others but you know the direction in which this one is headed.
The book proved me wrong. I started it and thought ‘oh yes, I remember this scene’. Then I became confused. I thought, ‘was it always like this?’. That was the begining of a roller coaster ride.
I was open to this book, I let it read me.
The title suggests just another love story. No, it’s unique.
This book is a Christian romance. It is written from the third person point of view and its written in a semi-formal style.
As I’ve already laid, Francine Rivers is the author. The publisher is Water Brook Multnomah publishing group. Here is something remarked before the story “here at Water Brook Multnomah, we measure the success of our books by whether or not they deliver real life-change to our readers”. My copy of the e-book has 399 pages.
The story is about the blows life deals to a young woman, its effect on her, it’s effect on the people she meets and how she channels it eventually.
Life is hitting Sarah hard in the face, she’s trying to get up, it’s kicking her right in the stomach again, knocking the wind out of her.
Sarah, Michael Hosea, the Altman family and Duke were the major characters. The characters are credible, each is the perfect picture of something specific.
At the beginning we were led into little Sarah’s life. The world seemed too cruel a place for tender vulnerable Sarah. When we’re let back into her life at 18 years, she’s ruthless, branding some other people’s world.
My favourite character in the book has to be Michael. I consider him very strong. So strong. The patience he has in times of anger and frustration baffles me.
Under the mask Sarah wears, she is brutally honest and accepting of herself.
I respect Michael’s resolute determination in certain things. I admire his faith which propels him to love.
The book deals with so many themes; trust or the lack of it, man’s first experience with the church, unconditional friendship, rejection etc
My favourite part of the book will give the book away so I’m reserving it. I enjoyed the way a stranger to love slowly discovered love. I don’t think I have a least favourite part of this book neither would I change any part. Every part makes up the metamorphosis in the characters’ life.
I would recommend this book to everyone. I think just about everyone would love It, it touches on something core in our lives. Just how much of our burdens are we ready to strip off? Just how much of our lives are we ready to lay down in love?
Now I wasn’t very diligent to highlighting and getting excerpts but I got some:
A glimpse into Sarah’s life at 7:

“Sarah followed, too afraid to be left behind”
“when the other children mocked Sarah and called her mother names, she looked at them and said nothing. What they said was true; you couldn’t argue with what was true”

Other excerpts:

“they scrambled, grappled, gambled and grabbed- and everything they had was spent without thought or consideration. They paid to become enslaved”

 

“someone who will get dirt beneath her nails but doesn’t already have it in her blood”

 

“I go up to that room in hope and come out defeated”

 

“she almost laughed but she knew if she did she would give in completely to hysteria”

 

“the night sky was so clear, stars everywhere and a moon so big it seemed to be a single silver eye staring down. Her mind and emotions still boiled. She tried to call up her defenses, but they had dispersed”

 

“she just sat, wordless, back straight, head up, hands clenched in her laps as though she were going into battle instead of going home”

 

She closed her eyes tightly ” ‘you want what I don’t have. I can’t love you. Even if I was able, I wouldn’t.’
he hunkered down, took the damp blanket from her and covered her with the dry quilt ‘why not?’
‘because I spent the first eight years of my life watching my mother do penance for loving a man’ “

 

“I did it to myself . I did it to myself. mea culpa, mea culpa”

 

“God doesn’t condemn he forgives”

 

“She looked at him bleakly: ‘your kind of love can’t feel good’
‘Does your kind feel any better?’ she looked away.
He unlooped the reins. ‘right now love doesn’t have an awful lot to do with feelings‘ he said grimly
‘don’t misunderstand I’m as human as the next man. I feel alright. I feel plenty right now, a lot I wished I didn’t’ “

 

” he[Jesus] was a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised and we did not care is53:3″

 
Feel free to read my previous book reviews here and here.
What do you think? Does the book intrigue you in the slightest? Will you get it? What book are you currently reading? Your experience is not over here until you comment.
See you in a bit.
Cheap tomatoes, books, God’s love,
Debby.
 

On the role-mentoring statement 'you'll be fine sha'

Life Diary

Or they say it’ll be well o. Personally I’m wary of overly eager and ready-to-warn people. Let me present it better, those People who have stepped in your shoes before.
Case senario: student A. B is now in 200l.student A. B is fully beginning in the faculty.  Student A. B goes to study gently.  Student C. D goes through a general exchange of can you lend me? …can I put on d fan?… Do you have a spare pen?… (choose a small talk) . Student C. D then feels familiar enough with and obliged to student A. B and goes ahead to prepare student A. B for the days ahead. In this scenario, Student C. D being a 300L student. You get the point. Now I get caring student C. D has good intentions. Student A. B, you should however note, is not the all in one example of the timid, anxious, fearful, overly excited student. Student A. B could be the give me this mountain and it will be leveled, I’ve  got faith person. Student A. B might not even be considering the academic year. When student C. D comes eagerly to help, student A. B gets exhausted.
Just now a not so typical student A. B IN 200L  made a statement in the reading room. She is not so typical because it turns out she is close friends with student C. D who in this case is in 500level. A. B said oh this course is not that boring  and C. D re-emphasizes why the Course is boring. SHE JUST SAID IT’S NOT SO BORING. I think a student viewing a course as not so boring is a good thing. Yes? And truth  be told contrary to popular belief, I don’t think the course is boring either, having taken the course myself. So see my student C. D, don’t be so awash in the excitement of the previous year that you stand in A. B’S way. This goes for my case scenario. However dear friends in the reading room, go on ahead with your friendship and course tales. I think it’s pretty cool the kind of relationship that exists between you two 😙
This is me feeling neutral about the matter tbh😁😁
And in need of a break from studying.
Love from DEBBY, Happy Easter
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Debby Adebayo

BOOK REVIEW–BLINK OF AN EYE

Book Reviews

Heyy guys. This post is a review of “Blink of an eye”.

This book is categorized as mystery.

I read the Paperback format . The book opens in a very enthralling manner. I’d admit what made me choose to read it and not drop it back on the shelf was the review by Karen Kingsbury on the front cover. Karen was quoted to have said:

   “His(Ted Dekker’s) use of suspense and intrigue caught me at the first page”

So I thought to myself, well let me see that intrigue in the first page. Intrigue and suspense did I indeed see. The setting didn’t open in America which I would’ve been tired of. It was Saudi Arabia; a place I’m not well abreast of. I got a slight insight into the social condition of Saudi Arabia. Ted Dekker right on the first page made me giggle. The book is about a super-intelligent guy( which I never get tired of),Seth and a slightly rebellious Saudi princess, Miriam. Both become fugitive and have to weave through life’s experiences on a fun (to the reader) yet scary roller coaster.
I’d say Miriam is my favourite character due to something of a loyalty to her faith. She also has an intelligent perspective. Her friend Sultana also rubs off on me in a good way; we don’t have enough encounters with Sultana but I still Love her person.

It’s written in a 3rd person POV. I can relate to the characters in a contextual manner.
The characters feel real to me although uh I don’t think I’m ever going to meet a clairvoyant person, so that’s out the window.

While I read, the story gripped me and kept me turning the pages, it was largely unpredictable. The title used to be “Blink” when it was published initially but was altered based on the need to make a movie out of it. Not all the ideas are well developed, the author leaves you to imagine some part.

I particularly love the interview with the author at the end of the book. He brings out salient points which he might have presented slightly earlier on. He is a little unabash about his stance too. The book covers the themes of acceptance, love, hope, betrayal and more.

I’d recommend this book to inquisitive people and lovers of intrigue(which you most likely are among, right?). The book has left me panting after other books by the author which I’m a little ashamed to admit I haven’t read before. Ted Dekker Ted Dekker Ted Dekker. I’d rate the book four out of five stars.

On acceptance of other people’s culture:

“but all of these practices advanced Saudi culture in a way the west did not see. Saudis understood the value of strong families for example. of loyalty to God and his word. Of respect for an order that supported both families and God”

On Conflict:

“the world’s religion had engaged themselves in a great struggle. A struggle between those who wanted to fix the world with the sword and those who wanted to fix it with love”
“yes, God was great, but those who swung the sword on his behalf were not, Samir thought”
On a sense of self-preservation/struggle for survival:
“he still didn’t know how they were going to survive, but he did believe that they were meant to survive, and that was enough”
“the sheik had not only been spared but commended for his reversal of loyalty in the eleventh hour. Though he’d been one of the plotters he was still more valuable to the king as a friend than an enemy. It was the way of the desert”

On conviction:

“prayer may just be the most powerful tool mankind has”

On Love:

“bright red petals from two hundred roses flown in from Holland blanketed the water. Evidently the groom, Hatam bin Hazat had heard that his young bride liked red roses. Upon seeing the extravagant display two days earlier, Sita vowed never to look upon another red rose in her life”
“one day, if he would be so fortunate, he would find another woman to love…she would be free, and if she was not, he would set her free. Like a bird”
“love changes everything”
“love your neighbour as yourself”

On female subjugation:

“Miriam could not decide. Most women she knew had a hard enough time getting out of the house, much less out of the country. Who was she to think she could run?”
“she dipped her head, replaced her veil and left the tent without another word”

ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID by Lindsey Kelk

Book Reviews


This is my first book review. Yaay. This has been lying low in draft for months. Not that anything I post doesn’t wait either. Well, I review:
The genre is Chicklit.
It’s in the 1st person pov
The author’s style is informal. The book is written in form of a bridesmaid journal entry.
It’s about a lady, Maddie, and the manner in which she jostles life events. She is a klutz, who works as an event planner. Its disastrous how that turns out for people’s events.
This book deals with the maintainance of relationships – with family( however difficult this may be), with friends, with ex-es, with co-workers.
The language is clear and easy to follow.
The events are quite dramatic for a person’s life but still very believable.
Themes covered include friendship, family, loyalty, marriage, and maintaining balance in life overload.
The author’s concluding chapter is convincing and perhaps my most favourite aspect of the book. I particularly liked her style of conveying what happened afterwards without the use of narration.
When I completed my reading I didn’t think anything was lacking except information on one character. I haven’t read other books by Lindsey Kelk so I can’t make a comparison but with this that i’ve read I’m interested in reading her other books. Next I want to read is “what a girl wants”.
I can’t relate on a personal level with the characters but they are people who exist in my head, they felt real.
I like the book. However the story didn’t keep me guessing, not much suspense. My favourite part of the book turns out to be the anti-climax which I daren’t tell you. In all, it is a very witty and humorous book
I recommend this book for young readers, those looking for comedy and in general chicklit genre fans . I rate it a 4 out of 5 stars. I have quotes for you:
On being a bridesmaid:
“you might be surprised to learn what an accomplished and powerful and wonderful young woman you already are. remember there is a reason your bride chose you”
On getting over grief:
”’these things happen’ he rationalized wiping out three months of my being played for a fool with three words”
Useful tips like:
”never try to smother a laugh if there’s a risk of it coming out of your nose. Cackling is more attractive than snorting”
”I didn’t even ask him a question! How is he supposed to reply if I didn’t ask him a question? That’s messaging 101”
And others:
”it’s so strange how something can affect someone in such a huge way and only have a rippling effect on others”
”Exciting? I asked. I know they say the pen is mightier than the sword but what I wouldn’t have given for a machete at that exact moment”
”wedding dress salons are such strange places. Blindingly white, eye-wateringly expensive and full of women screaming. I wondered if the government had ever considered bringing terrorists here for questioning.”
”don’t overreach Maddie. when you shoot for the moon, you end up with your face In the mud”
”I looked at my best friend, it was a startling thing when someone you thought you knew inside out could still shock you. And not just because I realized her hair was in a chignon instead of a topknot”