Review by Claire_Lopez -- My Trip to Adele

[Claire_Lopez]

[Following is a volunteer review of "My Trip to Adele" by A.I.Alyaseer, R.I.Alyaseer.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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My Trip to Adele is the moving account of three characters from different countries and backgrounds, all searching for freedom from their current situation and all drawn towards a much anticipated Adele concert in Verona, Italy.

The first character to be introduced is Elias, a Moroccan man living in Rome. Elias cannot forget his past in Marrakesh, particularly Malika, the girl he loved and lost. He travels back to Morocco in order to try find out what became of her and try to reconnect. The second character is Yaser, a successful doctor living in Las Vegas. Yaser and his wife, Mariam, are trying to save their dying marriage by attending counselling. While Mariam's pious religiosity is what first drew Yaser to her, he now finds himself losing his faith and subsequently, his marriage. Lastly, we meet Nadia, a divorced woman living in Amman, Jordan. Nadia has fought a tough battle to separate herself from her abusive ex-husband and now her greatest goal is to provide the best for her son, no matter what obstacles stand in her way.

The characters are written very realistically and are easy to feel connected to as one follows their individual searches for freedom. The authors have used rich, detailed descriptions of the various settings, leaving the reader immersed in different worlds. The clarity and detail with which each setting and character is written makes it easy to follow the three concurrent story lines without becoming confused.

The characters are all drawn to the Adele concert for different reasons, and this is the golden thread that pulls the three story lines into one novel. This is certainly not a shallow, superficial story about a pop concert, as one might mistakenly think when reading the title. Rather, the book deals with love and death, faith, religion and the nature of both sin and atonement. The authors do reference Adele throughout the book: the chapters are each titled with one of her song names and sections of her lyrics are worked into the ends of the chapters. At first I thought that this might feel a bit forced, but they have really done an excellent job in using the lyrics to enhance the mood and feel of their own prose.

I was thoroughly captivated by this book and I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. While I'm sure the book will be particularly enjoyed by Adele fans, I feel confident recommending it to anybody looking for a well-written, thought provoking novel.

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My Trip to Adele
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[Kelebogile Mbangi]

Your review is clear and well written. It shows that you enjoyed reading My Trip to Adele. I'm all for "thought provoking" books. Thank you for your review.