Review of NADEEM'S JOURNEY

[Ann Ogochukwu]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "NADEEM'S JOURNEY" by Sherine Anniruth.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Writing about a personal experience, especially a sad one, is emotionally draining—this I say from experience. So I admire Sherine Anniruth for writing this truly heart-wrenching book in memory of her beloved son. NADEEM’S JOURNEY: A Heart Wrenching Story of a Loving Mother Losing Her Son to Cancer is a biography of Nadeem Rajah’s short but inspirational life.

As with every living thing, Nadeem’s story started with his birth. Nadeem was born in 1990 in South Africa. He spent his first eight years as an only child, and when his younger siblings came, he took up his “big brother” role quite easily, dispelling his mother’s fear. He was also academically sound and maintained good grades even after his family migrated from South Africa to Perth, Australia. Nadeem showed his independent nature from a young age; he did after-school jobs and weekend jobs to save up for his first car. Right after graduating from the university as a civil engineer, Nadeem got his desired job. His family was proud of him. At twenty-five, Nadeem was finally starting his life—a seemingly promising life—and then he fell ill.

For the next five months, Nadeem fought cancer, and he put up a good fight. From the rush to the emergency unit to the countless hospital visits and the chemotherapy treatments, Nadeem put up a brave fight. I couldn’t help but admire his good nature, even in difficult times. His worry was more about his mother than about himself, and before departing this world, he made sure his family and friends knew that he loved them. Sherine took numerous pictures of her son during his illness; she intended to attach the pictures in the journal she would give him after he regained his health. However, with the turn of events, she then included the pictures in this book, and they did a beautiful job of giving life to the book. After reading this book, I came to the realization that writing about a loved one is a great way to remember them and preserve our feelings for them.

I got several important reminders from this book. The first is that life is short. The reality of this truth hits harder when one witnesses “the sharp knife of a short life.” So the message here is for us to make the best of our lives while we still have it. The second reminder from this book is that I should learn to always trust my instincts about my body and seek answers on time. Nadeem knew something was wrong with him one month before he was confirmed ill, but he wasn’t diagnosed on time. The third—but not the least—reminder is that life is not fair. It broke my heart to see Sherine repeatedly wish that she could take her son’s place. Then I wondered why such a handsome and promising young man had to go through so much pain, only to be taken from his mother. The only forthcoming answer was, “… life will always throw us stumbling blocks but we can always find a way to overcome.”

My only complaint about this book is that the sentence structure at its beginning was not as polished as it was in the latter part. For instance, this sentence, “When he was eight years old, I fell pregnant with my second child…”, could have been written better. It could have been “became pregnant” or “got pregnant” instead of “fell pregnant.” This is my subjective opinion. Besides that, the most obvious error in this book was in its title. The words “Heart Wrenching” should have been joined by a hyphen because they form a compound word. I noticed only two other errors in this book, so I believe the book was professionally edited. In the absence of any disturbing shortcoming, I’m rating NADEEM’S JOURNEY 4 out of 4 stars. This book can be of help to anyone taking care of an ill loved one. Honestly, I believe every adult reader will appreciate this book on some level.

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NADEEM'S JOURNEY
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[Pauls_]

It's not easy to lose a love one especially a child. It commendable that she was able to put together the experiences she had with her son during his illness. It would serve as a guide to other people who find themselves in the same condition.

[Mildred Echesa]

It's an interesting article and the lessons you learn are quite amazing. Great review

[Sarah Sonbol]

It's really hard to lose a son. The book looks really touching. Thanks for the informative review.

[MsH2k]

Indeed, life is short. It is good to be reminded of that periodically. I hope Sherine found a touch of healing in writing this book. Thank you for your thoughtful review.

[Simeon Amana]

Such a sad story. Just reading this review leaves me heartbroken. Such a promising young man dying just when his life was about to start. I pray Sherine and Nadeem’s loved ones heal from the hurt of his loss.
Thanks for this beautiful review.

[Aisha Yakub]

Authors who write about a painful personal experience are brave for gathering the strength to share their story. Great review

[Ann Ogochukwu]

Such a sad story. Just reading this review leaves me heartbroken. Such a promising young man dying just when his life was about to start. I pray Sherine and Nadeem’s loved ones heal from the hurt of his loss.
Thanks for this beautiful review.

I said the same prayer for his family while reading the book. I hope time has been healing them; his death happened in 2015.

[Mbenma Esther 080]

I enjoyed reading every bit of this review. This is a work well done by the author. Thanks for the review.

[Brienna Cooper]

Wonderful review!

His worry was more about his mother than about himself, and before departing this world, he made sure his family and friends knew that he loved them.

There’s a lot I could say about an emotional, heart-wrenching narrative such as this one. However, this statement alone tells me everything I need to know about how I personally would respond to it and that is with the heaviest of hearts (for multiple reasons). Reading this would definitely take some mental preparation before diving in!

My only complaint about this book is that the sentence structure at its beginning was not as polished as it was in the latter part. For instance, this sentence, “When he was eight years old, I fell pregnant with my second child…”, could have been written better. It could have been “became pregnant” or “got pregnant” instead of “fell pregnant.” This is my subjective opinion. Besides that, the most obvious error in this book was in its title. The words “Heart Wrenching” should have been joined by a hyphen because they form a compound word.

I know rating the editing is a necessity for these reviews, but this admittedly made me smile. As a grammar girl myself (who’s actively working to become more efficient at it), the attention to detail here couldn’t help but stand out to me. LOL