Review of Share the Dream

[Standor5865]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Share the Dream" by Michael Eugene Hall.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Share the Dream by Michael Eugene Hall tells a story of passion, sacrifice, following your heart's desire, and determination to succeed, even in the face of the worst odds.

Share the Dream revolves around Shannon Collins, a shy, talented teenage boy who already has his career path decided by his father, who wanted him in the military just like his grandfather. Nevertheless, he would have other dreams of becoming a mountain biker. The perfect opportunity presents itself to Shannon when he is recruited to join "Team Powell" on a biking tour to compete in the "World Cup Circuit." He would grab this opportunity with both hands, but the challenges along the road would be tougher than he could imagine. Firstly, besides not having his father's approval, his team was under pressure from its sponsors, having lost in previous years and experiencing declining sales. Also, there was the major issue of the three-time undefeated world champion to scale through on the quest for glory. How would Shannon and his team handle these problems?

The story is told mostly by Shannon in the first-person perspective but switches to the third person when we follow other characters. I particularly found Shannon's character intriguing, as he displayed wisdom beyond his years at certain points, especially with handling the grief that consumed his family due to the passing of his mother a couple of years before. There were a few vital things I also picked up from following Shannon's story, especially about following your heart and believing in yourself.

Nevertheless, that is where the positives end in this book. Besides the lessons conveyed, what could have been an enjoyable and thrilling dive into the world of mountain biking severely lacked in overall execution. I would like to start with the plethora of grammatical and punctuation errors that made reading this book a tedious task. Right from the start of the book, these errors welcome you and are a mainstay until the end of the book. Also, the characters included in the story are poorly developed and lack depth. Besides Shannon, I could not point to any aspect of the other characters that made them stand out. It also didn't help that they all sounded like teenagers, including the adults who seemed to only be fascinated by upgrading their skills in wooing women.

The author also attempts to infuse elements of romance in the story, but instead of spicing things up, it just falls flat. No effort at all was put into Shannon getting to know more about his love interest, "Miss Kamikaze." They spend short periods catching up on a few things, and "Miss Kamikaze" would disappear to the point that I would forget her existence until she made another sudden appearance. Furthermore, I was very concerned about how Shannon, who had no experience with mountain biking, would cope with going professional seemingly overnight. He seemed to make the transition quickly without even practicing.

I appreciate the underlying themes explored here, but I was disappointed in almost every aspect I could think of. The book's description highlighted that the book would explore musical elements, but I was left disappointed in that regard as well. In its current state, I cannot recommend this book to any target audience. I rate this novel one out of four stars.

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Share the Dream
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[Kingsley Emodi]

Looks like this is going to be quite an inspirational read. We all need to be fired up to chase our dreams at every point of our lives and this book looks like it will provide that. Well done on a great review.

[Pearl Thomas]

The lack in character development of supporting characters can sometimes make the story feel pretentious. I think that is the case here as well. Wonderful review.

[Edit_or]

Choice of career paths by parents should be discouraged. Nevertheless I love that Collins took up the opportunity. That’s courage! Good book. Thank you for the review.

[Fernando Masete]

Good parental guidance is critical in a Family structure. I'm impressed the author managed to give an insight on such circumstances

[Erin Dydek]

So sad! I love mountain biking and the premise of this book sounds awesome. Maybe with further revision and development it’ll be a great book. Thanks for the review!

[Sou Hi]

Thanks for your honesty. The concept of mountain biking sounds interesting, but it's a shame that the book can't fully incorporate this element in the plot.

[NancyDrew12]

This story could be very inspirational to those who need more convincing to follow their dreams and believe in themselves. Its a shame to see that there was so many errors in the book. Nice review.

[kirthana_shivakumar]

This review is quite well-written. The concept definitely seems interesting but often such books fall flat due to execution. I suppose it can't be helped.

[Shivansh_007]

After reading the review I think the story is quite nice but the reviewer's comments tell me not to go for it. Thanks for the thorough review.

[Amelia A 1]

I'm impressed with the courage the reviewer has displayed in this review. being brutally honest about a piece of work isn't an easy pill to swallow. I really hope that the author was able to take the comments and really create a masterpiece. the initial plot looks like it has plenty of potential.

[Yulisa Sanchez]

The premise of the story does sound very promising especially as most of us can relate to the struggle of chasing our dreams, even against all odds. Unfortunately, the negative aspects does outweigh the positives in this book particularly the grammar errors. Thanks for the honest review!

[Caroline807]

The review is outstanding, relating to the issue of our present lives, the struggles to meet our needs.