Review by nisushah -- Gates to Tangier by Mois Benarroch

[nisushah]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Gates to Tangier" by Mois Benarroch.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Gates to Tangier is a story about a family, stricken with grief and greed at the demise of their father. They are scattered by Geography and ideologies, and united by the common greed for their fathers wealth. A surprise in their fathers will makes them all come together and travel in search of someone, they never knew existed.

The story starts with a potential promise of an interesting plot and enough twists possible, but it does neither. What could have been a possible potboiler, popcorn cruncher of a novel, fizzles out to be nothing but idle ramblings of the author. There is a character who is an author in the book and he says something like " I don’t think, you don’t think. I write. Logic comes later. The only logic is that everything has a word, everything that happens is one word and another." The book kind of lives on this philosophy. It is extremely sluggish in the middle. Till you reach the middle part of the book, you feel you are craving for a story to take shape.

The story has a twist in the plot in the middle and though it might surprise some, it’s not something that one wouldn’t expect. The plot is given away at some point before the story begins. The author picks up pace towards the end, where you feel the story is on steroids and is moving at a decent pace. There is another paragraph in the book, which is an indicator of how the book is moving, "words go on, words explain everything or nothing, what does it matter, what is important is to document." It feels precisely that. The words go on, as if documenting whatever the author was thinking, without a filter or a creative blend. A large chunk of the book is devoted to ramblings from the perspective of each of the children. However, they are just that, ramblings.

The focus on the Geo-Political struggle in the region of Morocco and Israel also fails to invoke curiosity, intrigue or sympathy. There is a lack of an insight in these discussions. They only seem superficial. The author manages to provide a historical perspective at best, but that too isn't as thorough as one might expect. To summarise the book

I rate the book 1 out of 4 stars. It makes for a strictly ok rating. Read it only if you have nothing better to do.

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Gates to Tangier
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Like nisushah's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Sindhu Srinath]

I read this book and agree with you. I appreciate the honest review. Hopefully the author can improve the otherwise 'choppy' flow. The twist was alright but one couldn't appreciate it with all the confused writing.

[nisushah]

I read this book and agree with you. I appreciate the honest review. Hopefully the author can improve the otherwise 'choppy' flow. The twist was alright but one couldn't appreciate it with all the confused writing.

Thanks for your comment. I read the Ravens peak after this. Have reviewed it too. Do have a look. You and I have very different takes. BTW do you think Abi and Haatim would continue as a couple?

[Sindhu Srinath]

I read this book and agree with you. I appreciate the honest review. Hopefully the author can improve the otherwise 'choppy' flow. The twist was alright but one couldn't appreciate it with all the confused writing.

Thanks for your comment. I read the Ravens peak after this. Have reviewed it too. Do have a look. You and I have very different takes. BTW do you think Abi and Haatim would continue as a couple?

I read Raven's Peak too!!! It was not my favourite genre, but I appreciated the detailing and the gripping story. I'm not sure about thinking them as a couple as I appreciated the fact that their romance wasn't a major highlight. Their combination sounds like a great friendship though!

[nisushah]

I read Raven's Peak too!!! It was not my favourite genre, but I appreciated the detailing and the gripping story. I'm not sure about thinking them as a couple as I appreciated the fact that their romance wasn't a major highlight. Their combination sounds like a great friendship though![/quote]

I agree, they are not that compatible as such for lovers. Lets see how ti unfolds. However I might not read the second installment. The first one was enough. I dont mind this genre, I actually loved Dan Brown novels, but this one was too narrow in its outlook I feel, plus these themes have been explored to death. There has to be a newer element in the writing.