Review of The Power of Love
Posted: 12 Sep 2021, 16:09
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Power of Love" by Dorma Hunter-Mattis.]
Dorma Hunter-Mattis, a Jamaican who has been teaching for over 20 years, is the author of this inspiring, feel-good novel titled, The Power of Love. This book is about a girl named Pela, who faced many hardships and losses in her life, but with the strong faith she has in God, she has managed to pull through them and has made something better with her life. This book is short and fine.
The book opens up with a prologue where we are introduced to a woman named Pela. She is in a workshop, and she gets attracted to this man called Pete while he is giving his presentation. She doesn’t tell him, though, about her feelings for him until it is too late as his tenure at the institution ends.
The first chapter is titled “Love is Kind.” It opens up with a Bible quote of John 3: 16-17. Here, we are taken back in time when Pela was still a teenager in her school days. We are introduced to her grandmother Fastina, who is an avid churchgoer, and a devout Christian. She instils a lot of Christian values in Pela, and she makes sure that Pela reads her bible and makes it her friend. The second chapter is titled “Love Endures,” and it also opens up with a Bible quote, but of Philippians 4:8. In this chapter, Pela is now in College. She meets Bernard, a youth pastor, whom most girls want, but he wants her. They fall in love, and he proposes to her. While she asked for time to think things through, Bernard breaks up with her, breaking her heart.
The third chapter is titled “Love hopes in All Things,” and the Bible quote it opens up with is the one of Isaiah 54:17. Pela is now in university, studying languages. She meets and falls in love with a man called Studdart. Not long after they have been dating, he proposes, and she says yes. They get married, and all seems to be well until something bad happens that tears her life apart. The rest of the book details how Pela moves on from this heartbreak and how she pieces her life together. She moves to the States and starts a new life there. From nearly getting entangled in a life triangle to having a family of her own, this book will surely keep you on your toes.
I didn’t enjoy reading this book. It was filled with narration more than dialogue. The story was told, not shown. Everything was revealed prematurely before I could even try to make sense of it all, and as a result, the book lacked suspense. I wasn’t journeying with Pela in everything she did. I felt detached from her as a character.
The speed the book was moving in was unsatisfying fast. As you must have noticed in my summary above, the first chapter is when Pela is in high school, then the second one is when she is in college, and the third one is when she is in university and is about to get married. There was no build-up whatsoever that could make lookout for certain things.
And, although the book is categorised as romance, to me, it felt like fiction disguised as nonfiction about one’s love with her faith in God. It was all about God’s love most of the pages that I couldn’t tell if I was reading a religious book or a romance.
Another thing that made me furrow my brow was how the book was disorganised. The prologue came first, then next, when it was supposed to be followed by the first chapter, the table of content followed instead. This was unusual as it is usually a table of content, prologue, chapters, epilogue, then the author’s bio.
There is nothing I could say I liked about reading this book. Although it is 133-paged, I couldn’t finish it in one sitting because of how badly it was written.
I came across more than ten errors, so the book could definitely do with another round of editing. There are no explicit sexual contents or usage of profane language. And although the book can be enjoyed by Christian mostly, it doesn’t discriminate against any religion or any group of people. So, with all things considered, I have no choice but to rate it 1 out of 4 stars. I wouldn’t, at all, recommend this book to anyone, as I didn’t enjoy it myself.
******
The Power of Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Dorma Hunter-Mattis, a Jamaican who has been teaching for over 20 years, is the author of this inspiring, feel-good novel titled, The Power of Love. This book is about a girl named Pela, who faced many hardships and losses in her life, but with the strong faith she has in God, she has managed to pull through them and has made something better with her life. This book is short and fine.
The book opens up with a prologue where we are introduced to a woman named Pela. She is in a workshop, and she gets attracted to this man called Pete while he is giving his presentation. She doesn’t tell him, though, about her feelings for him until it is too late as his tenure at the institution ends.
The first chapter is titled “Love is Kind.” It opens up with a Bible quote of John 3: 16-17. Here, we are taken back in time when Pela was still a teenager in her school days. We are introduced to her grandmother Fastina, who is an avid churchgoer, and a devout Christian. She instils a lot of Christian values in Pela, and she makes sure that Pela reads her bible and makes it her friend. The second chapter is titled “Love Endures,” and it also opens up with a Bible quote, but of Philippians 4:8. In this chapter, Pela is now in College. She meets Bernard, a youth pastor, whom most girls want, but he wants her. They fall in love, and he proposes to her. While she asked for time to think things through, Bernard breaks up with her, breaking her heart.
The third chapter is titled “Love hopes in All Things,” and the Bible quote it opens up with is the one of Isaiah 54:17. Pela is now in university, studying languages. She meets and falls in love with a man called Studdart. Not long after they have been dating, he proposes, and she says yes. They get married, and all seems to be well until something bad happens that tears her life apart. The rest of the book details how Pela moves on from this heartbreak and how she pieces her life together. She moves to the States and starts a new life there. From nearly getting entangled in a life triangle to having a family of her own, this book will surely keep you on your toes.
I didn’t enjoy reading this book. It was filled with narration more than dialogue. The story was told, not shown. Everything was revealed prematurely before I could even try to make sense of it all, and as a result, the book lacked suspense. I wasn’t journeying with Pela in everything she did. I felt detached from her as a character.
The speed the book was moving in was unsatisfying fast. As you must have noticed in my summary above, the first chapter is when Pela is in high school, then the second one is when she is in college, and the third one is when she is in university and is about to get married. There was no build-up whatsoever that could make lookout for certain things.
And, although the book is categorised as romance, to me, it felt like fiction disguised as nonfiction about one’s love with her faith in God. It was all about God’s love most of the pages that I couldn’t tell if I was reading a religious book or a romance.
Another thing that made me furrow my brow was how the book was disorganised. The prologue came first, then next, when it was supposed to be followed by the first chapter, the table of content followed instead. This was unusual as it is usually a table of content, prologue, chapters, epilogue, then the author’s bio.
There is nothing I could say I liked about reading this book. Although it is 133-paged, I couldn’t finish it in one sitting because of how badly it was written.
I came across more than ten errors, so the book could definitely do with another round of editing. There are no explicit sexual contents or usage of profane language. And although the book can be enjoyed by Christian mostly, it doesn’t discriminate against any religion or any group of people. So, with all things considered, I have no choice but to rate it 1 out of 4 stars. I wouldn’t, at all, recommend this book to anyone, as I didn’t enjoy it myself.
******
The Power of Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
thank you for coming though, I appreciate your time and kind words. 