Review by princess-bookworm -- The Banned Book about Love

[princess-bookworm]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Banned Book about Love" by Scott Hughes.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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This morning, I read The Banned Book About Love by Scott Hughes. I love reading books that make strong points about controversial topics and this book definitely met those guidelines. This book was about Brock Turner and how the author believes that loving all people regardless of their crimes and faults is more important than hatred and letting it cause uproars. It was a strong subject with obvious careful thought behind the story.

Having the brief introduction in the description about how the book was banned and some of the hatred that was received by the author was vital in understanding this book. It is very important that the introduction remains included at the beginning as it really paints a picture of the book the reader is about to comprehend. I believe that starting this book out any other way would deem it unsuccessful. I also really appreciated the direct questions to the reader in the first chapter; They were powerful and smartly placed.

Overall, I would rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I say that because I do understand the point of the book, it’s a strong point to make, it’s challenging the norm, it has great subject matter and power behind the punch, so to speak, however it’s just not quite there yet. The intent of it breaking these walls down isn’t quite earth shattering, and I think that it all comes down to the execution. The author is telling me that they love this individual that committed this awful crime, but I’m still having a hard time understanding why. This book was banned and removed because hundreds of other people are having this same problem. I understood the point, but only because I read that introduction. Take away the introduction, and I’m lost again.

As the reader, I need to really feel the emotion leaping off of the pages, i.e. explain to me why this terrible human being deserves my love, explain to me the power of what love can do, explain to me what the result of loving this person is, etc. That quote from MLK was great! Smartly placed, and helped me understand exactly what the author was trying to get across. Mainly, as the reader, I want to know more about why hatred is the problem and not the solution. Overall, the bone structure is there, but I think what’s lacking is the passion behind the words.

Additionally, I think that waiting until the very end to reiterate that the author isn’t defending Turner’s actions was poor placement. When you’re dealing with such a touchy subject that so many readers are going to have strong opinions about, especially a story in which the outcome was an assaulted female, it’s so important to voice where you stand as early as possible. A good place to bring that up would be that second chapter as the first chapter was really setting the stage for that controversial subject matter and did so perfectly. Overall, the book was well written and I loved the idea of the donations going towards a great cause. Good read and definitely keep up the great work! You will touch millions with your voice and opinion.

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The Banned Book about Love
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[geoffrey ngoima]

How come there's no comment here, it's Scott Hughes for Pete's sake Or is it not THE Scott Hughes of this place?
And there are my glasses on your face!
It seems you have experience in this, I love your casual confidence and how you wield words and your thought pattern, I am convinced/persuaded by this review, I'd have to read it someday to see how it goes for me.
Good work.