Review of Man Mission

[azza lia]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Man Mission" by Eytan Uliel.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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What if one day, you and your best friends committed to going on one week adventure to an exotic place as an annual event? Get an opportunity to do outdoor stuff in the wilderness to escape busy office work. To be free like a child again, laugh, play, and hang out in challenging or sometimes unexpectedly become dangerous activities. You can find that incredible journey in Man Mission, a fiction-memoir book by Eytan Uliel.

Man Mission is about four Australian men who traveled a long way to a different country as an annual getaway from daily life to do something distinct outside their comfort zone. They have a different individual life with up and down marriage, parenting, and finances. The story centered on a man's life who remains unnamed with his best friends: Sam, Daniel, and Alec. It starts with the man's friend, Sam, having an idea of doing a sort of food adventure. Along their journey, they encounter various people, cultures, challenges-sometimes serious injuries (the man himself doesn't have experience in outdoor activities), and the doozy of nature. Over the year, they would add more activities or stupid things that assured confidence and manly enough for their mature freedom of joy. From hiking on a mountain trail in New Zealand, kayaking in the open sea in Fiji, catamaran sailing in Thailand, biking in the pouring rain in Korea, and even having a close encounter with a leopard in Africa. And one of them will get an award to wear a 'Pink Bracelet' for being a wimp during the mission. About the food, if lucky enough, they could have national-signature dishes or even a new and unfamiliar menu at the end of their trip. Some of their adventures are crazy and terrifying. Drunk by kava, almost eat dog soup, or even get in a short incident while biking on the busy highway. The mission trip allowed them to learn more than just having a good time with friends but also leading them to redefine their manhood, family, and friendship.

The author delivered the book in a structured storyline, back and forth between the mission trip and daily life drama. The story is well-written from the first-person point of view. The unnamed narrator as the main character gives a real-time and fast-paced experience throughout the book. The author also put classical family issues familiar in adulthood that the characters performed as outlined in their 'Relationship Playbook.' The author's background in traveling around the globe gives the readers an astounding description of the exotic of each country, the outdoor adventures, and the physical challenges from men's perspective-or say it as his own experiences. He also extensively emphasizes the conflict between wisdom and philosophy. The epic story could give the readers a motivational lesson from what the man and his three mates going through in their life for the past fifteen years.

There is nothing to dislike about this book. The storyline and the descriptions of everything the characters encountered on their trip flow joyfully. The dialogues among characters and monolog of the main character's thoughts are natural and flawless, making this book page-turning. But the book is published in a fixed format making the typeface's size not adjustable. I can say that this book was professionally edited. There is some time when the characters throw an f-bomb, curse, and some adult jokes. I also found some sex and drug-related content but not intense.

I highly recommend this book to young adults and adult readers, especially adventure lovers. The story is also equally fascinating for both men and women. Therefore, I rate this book four out of four stars.

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Man Mission
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[Valeria Riveraa]

One thing I've come to realize over the years is that life always happen and people are growing. A lot of people will grow out of friendships and even activities that they once engaged in. But I'm glad that these men stuck around for each other, even when their each have their different lives to live. Thank you for the review.

[Chinedum Chijioke]

Relationships are important and while in them with people, you learn a lot that you never did know. It's a great review.