Official Review: The Questionable Blood by Daniel Ekine

[S dot Lennon]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Questionable Blood" by Daniel Ekine.]

Here is the story of Stanley Gavin, a young man being raised in a religious family in Africa, who knows that his life should be dedicated to pleasing his family and the church. He has entered high school, aware that he will not pursue any higher education because his parents have decided that he, along with his three older siblings, will enter into the service of the church after graduation. While in high school he meets Nathan, a young man whose attraction he can’t deny. Stanley’s religious upbringing goes against everything he is feeling, everything he knows in his heart is right. He fears disappointing his family and going against God’s will but the emotion he feels toward Nathan, he simply can not deny.

The Questionable Blood is a coming of age fiction that follows the life of a young man who has many questions about how his emotions and sexuality conflicts with his religious upbringing. The strict demanding life projected onto Stanley by his parents, and the perfect lifestyle they portray, weighs heavy on his heart and all the decisions he makes throughout the novel. Stanley constantly compares his own decisions to that of his older siblings and tries to resolve his inner conflict because of his love for his family. The story follows Stanley from his freshmen year of high school into early adulthood and showcases his conflicting emotions and paths through life.

I didn’t care for this novel for a number of reasons. The writing was extremely stagnant. Conversations were so rushed and emotionless that I never felt any true connections between any of the characters. The story was told in first person by Stanley but there were moments when the thoughts of other characters were expressed, when the story abruptly changed to third person, without any cause for the change. None of the characters were very well developed and some characters who were introduced early in the story were dismissed without any explanation.

Another problematic area for this novel involved the surroundings and lifestyle of the character. The only information regarding the location was given when Stanley mentions that he was born in West Africa. No information was given to where in West Africa or what the culture was like where he lived. The only information given about his life was his parent’s involvement in the church. Vague references to his parents view on those not involved in the church were mentioned but there was never a moment that defined the area where he lived and how that culture was defined. I never had a framework to put the story in and he never attempted to create one.

After finishing this novel I have to give it 1 out of 4 stars. I wouldn’t recommend it because the story failed and the writing wasn’t executed well. The story about a young man weighing his beliefs against his heart could have been very successful but this was not that story.

***
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[BNIQU321]

The novel Questionable Blood follows the life of a High school male named Stanley Gavin. He is born and raised in a strict Religious family in West Africa. His world revolves around pleasing his family and the church. While in school he befriends a homosexual couple after having a wet dream that is similar to a homosexual relationship. He now fears that what he finds normal of comfortable will disappoint his family and his church, and to him that is unacceptable.
The Questionable Blood is a story of a boy entering into a stage of his life where he must choose between what he believes is right and what his church says is right. His mental secrets and the secrets of his new found friends weigh on him heavily. He must now choose what type of man he will become. This young man has no backbone of his own though. Everything that he does is based on what he feels his older siblings would do, though this is done to keep his family’s love.
I would not recommend this book. This book jumps from too many points of view. The book is told from the First person point of view, but you will occasionally see another character’s thoughts. Its grammatical errors are very pronounced from misspellings to language translations to Ebonics. It at times seems that they are using Spanish formatted words but at other times it seems to be using Basic English. You will come across sentences that start in the middle of a thought, confusing the reader. The transitions were not smooth they were choppy and very sloppy.
Another problematic error that occurs is the lack of detail. The book seems rushed unemotional. It tells us that the setting is West Africa but not where in West Africa. It does not tell us what type of community he lives in, what his house looks like, or what his siblings are like. The most detail we get is in the ethos that is put in place based on his willingness to have his parent’s type of love and his parent’s involvement in church along with the church views. We get no characteristics of Stanley and we get nothing to create an emotional connection to or with Stanley. There were no explanations for Stanley’s parents view on people who were not from the church, or the culture that surrounded them.
I feel that this story could have been better; I give it a 1.5 out of four stars. In a day and age where homosexuality is widely recognized but not accepted this story could have helped set the record straight. It could have told the story of the life of a homosexual and how they are human just like everybody else but it failed in every aspect of a book and vaguely, in a moment of random point of view interruptions, touched on the facts of acceptance in the world.

[doccaroline123]

I didn't particularly enjoy this excerpt. I felt that the conversations were very stilted and almost seemed like reports of what was said, rather than two or more people conversing with one another. A also felt that, whilst Stanley's family had a strong faith and were trying to bring their children up to follow their lead, the parent's views were blinkered. Not encouraging Stanley and his siblings to make friends with non-church goers, to my mind, is a form of discrimination. This excerpt, whilst fairly interesting, didn't grab my attention for long enough to make me want to read more, or to buy the book. I prefer a writing style that flows more easily and draws the reader into the story.