Review of Insufferable

[Emmanuella C Arumeze]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Insufferable" by Standifer.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Insufferable by Standifer is a beautiful book which I consider an eye-opener on the pain and abuse people go through and the consequences and scars left in the wake of such pain and abuse. We are taken on a journey of naivety, pain, abuse, love and new beginnings through the lives of Annie and Bea, two sisters who were scarred and broken at the hand of manipulative, promiscuous and dangerously jealous men.

We get to see how the choices they made from a place of naivety due to their very young ages affected them throughout the courses of their lives and how they were able to rise above it, ready for new beginnings with a strong faith in God and the help of their loving, supportive and non-judgemental family. Through this book, we also get to understand what pain and trauma left unchecked could do to people. This is depicted through the life of Ellis, who bore witness to his mother's adultery from a very young age and, as a result of it, had a narrow-minded view of every other woman, and this cost him dearly in his later years.

There are many positive aspects to this book, but first, I must commend the author's creativity in structuring and chaptering the book in a non-conventional way of writing. I also think it is remarkable how she captured the themes of love and support using Annie's family. She also pictured sisterhood through Bea and Annie's relationship and the immortality of friendship through the lives of Mother G and Mattie Prince.

Another thing that stood out to me was how she used Bible verses as subheaders to tell her story. It was a perfect blend of two parallel lines that probably never had the chance of meeting. Even though the book was not written in chronological order, there was no disconnection. It felt as if it was being recounted from someone's memory. I also loved how she gave detailed descriptions of every event that happened in the story. You couldn't help but live it with the characters. I would also like to chip in that Marlowe's ending screamed poetic justice.

The negative aspects of this book are not much. I found the book overly dramatic, especially in the scenes involving Marlowe and his love interests. I also felt that the author was being a bit unfair as the women were burdened with high expectations on how to be virtuous, pure and chaste for marriage but not the men too.

This book is mentally and emotionally educative. Through it, we get to learn the consequences of our actions and how they affect the people around us and us. We also get to understand the importance of love and support. The book was also professionally edited with a few minute and subtle errors. Therefore, I give it 4 out of 4 stars. The negative aspects of the book did not stop me from enjoying it, so I could not give the book a lower rating.

This book is an exposé. Therefore, I highly recommend it to everyone wishing to be enlightened. However, if I were to be more specific, I am strongly of the opinion that every teenage girl should get to read this in order to understand the importance of the choices we make and their effects in the long run and also to understand that when it comes to love, things are not always all that they seem especially when you are still new to the scene.

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Insufferable
View: on Bookshelves

[expansive writer]

I checked the meaning of this novel's title in dictionary and well the review has the same flow of it has been defined in the dictionary.

[Opara Jerry]

I don’t know if this book is fiction or nonfiction but I suspect it to be full of drama, lies, betrayal, and so on. Maybe affairs too, but who knows! It seems like something I’d enjoy reading.