Review of Mango Blood

[Nzube Chizoba Okeke]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mango Blood" by Maryvonne Fent.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Mango Blood by Maryvonne Fent is a typical romance story between two individuals from different backgrounds finding their path through love.

Minouche, a nineteen-year-old French girl, falls in love and marries Stefan, a Polish man. Their plans to start a new life together in Madras, India, sounds perfect to both parties. With plans (and lies) put in place to get them both financially stable and ready to get their degree, they are ready to start their lives together in earnest. It all comes crashing down when Minouche can't keep up with the facade anymore and wants out. She is plagued with the need to gain her husband's approval for anything she has to do, as is the custom in India. Does she find a way out of the situation in which she finds herself? Or does she care less about the customs and traditions in India and go for her desires?

Maryvonne Fent's ability to start the book with a story that came to light later in the book was flawless. The narration began with a young, supposedly Indian girl being bullied by a group of young British boys. Starting the narrative with this scene was brilliant; it would be enough to intrigue any reader. The reader would be left with questions like: "what happened to her next?" "Did the boys get caught?" These and many more would plague their minds and keep them reading to find answers.

The book shows the distinction between two parties about to get married. It exposes orientation and how it differentiates individuals. This makes the reader understand why marriage should not be rushed but should be carefully thought over and, if possible, waited out till one is ready.

The storyline of the book edging forward has some tiny confusing details. An instance is Minouche's anticipation of starting at the dance school. Here, the reader may think that some part of the character's past life has her dancing, and the character in question cannot wait to return to it. It will then confuse them when the story goes into the part Minouche says she has never been a dancer.

Mango Blood was a fairly good read. It wasn't completely exciting for me, as I felt some scenes were irrelevant, and this dragged the storyline on. There were also many grammatical errors in the book. It would benefit from another round of proofreading. Therefore, I'd rate it 3 out of 5 stars. Lovers of romance stories that cut across cultures would enjoy this one.

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Mango Blood
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