Review of ByTheWay

[Amanda-Leigh Bell]

[Following is a volunteer review of "ByTheWay" by Dennis Santos.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Life has its ups and downs; Everyone, including me, have experienced these times that no one can stop or control. The loss of someone you cherish is a great pain that not everyone can handle, blaming either life or God in the process. Dalan Owens, the protagonist of ByTheWay by Dennis Santos, is someone who experienced his bad times in the form of the loss of his parents at a young age. Even though he was haunted by his parent’s accident, it didn’t stop him finding new happiness in Jennifer, his lover and wife. Unfortunately, Dalan gave up on finding happiness the moment his wife died a week after his marriage, but his meeting with a man named Buddy McNair changed Dalan’s character forever.

Dennis Santos is a great author who should get an award for this book because I love the overall message of the story. The book itself feels so real and relatable where my heart is sailing through the ocean of my emotions. Dennis Santos showed off Dalan’s life from the beginning to the end where the character development of Dalan was something that the author was expressing to his readers. The author’s overall message touched my heart when he described, in great detail, the journey that Buddy and Dalan went through. Their journey went through different themes of emotions from happiness to sadness to hardship and finally hope.

Even though there was one typos, the book itself is professionally edited. The misspelled word, “laugher” found on Chapter 3 at page 25 didn’t stop me from reading this book. To be honest, it also didn’t stop me from finding anything negative about this book. It is a lovely story and Buddy is my favorite character in the story where his charismatic personality brightens up the dark elements of the story. In my opinion, everyone needs a friend like Buddy in their lives to bring a smile on your face and put his wise words of wisdom in our lives.

I would rate ByTheWay by Dennis Santos a 4 out of 4 stars. I’m not saying that because the book has little to no typos or grammatical errors, but I can’t get over my love of the message this book holds. The character development of Dalan was seen throughout the book from the sadness he faced in the beginning to the bits of happiness shown in his interaction with Buddy. Dalan went from a man who lost his will to live to suddenly realize that his life has more meaning that’s first thought. The overall message itself made me think about my own life and the choices I made only to make me cherish the things that I’m blessed to have.

This book would be great for an audience that needs a pick-me-up. Some people would feel that they hit a dead-end in their life, this book is a great way to show that we all can overcome anything. Due to the book having some swear words and mentions of sexual content, I wouldn’t suggest this book to elementary school level readers. Despite this, it would be a freak book for middle and high school students to read and even be used as a English class lesson plan. This book is the type that I would read over and over again because the overall message itself is what truly remind us that live is worth living.

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ByTheWay
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[NancyDrew12]

Dalan losing his parents is very heartbreaking. And then the loss of his wife must have been even more devastating. I wonder how Buddy helps him. Great review!