Official Review: Diggin' The Dancing Queen

stoppoppingtheP · Post by **stoppoppingtheP** » 20 Jun 2016, 03:18

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Diggin' The Dancing Queen" by Paul Richardson.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Sometimes it seems like fate is against you. No matter how hard you try things never seem to work your way. This is what it feels like for Ingrid and Michael, the main characters of the story. Diggin’ the Dancing Queen by Paul Richardson is a story of perseverance, in the face of many hardships, for true love. It is classified as other fiction, but has many elements including that of romance, adventure, crime and even some humor.

It all starts when Ingrid and Michael meet one night in London. They spend the night together but are then separated by circumstances. Ingrid has to move back to Sweden. They promise to keep in contact, exchanging phone numbers and details, however their phone numbers don’t work across countries so their relationship comes to an abrupt halt. Although they both try to go on with their own lives there seems to be a connection that is tying them together and does not want to be broken. After several weeks Michael tries to contact Ingrid once again, through Facebook. He succeeds. They start a relationship, slowly building up their friendship and reconnecting.

They plan to meet, but once again their plans go awry. Michael has to go to Australia so Ingrid lands herself a job in Papua New Guinea so that she can save enough money to follow Michael. However, she gets kidnapped and Michael goes to Papua New Guinea to try and save her.

In Papua New Guinea Michael’s eyes are opened to a whole new world. The author paints Papua New Guinea as an unexplored land of wanders, and calls it the ‘Land of the Unexpected’. He also describes the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea as always being friendly and welcoming. There are many interesting and comical characters that we meet throughout the book.

One aspect of the book, is that most of the conversations of the locals are done in Tok Pisin otherwise known as Pidgin. this is a language that the inhabitants have adopted which is a mixture of English and the local language. the author has included a list of Pidgin words at the beginning of the book, and once you begin reading the book it is not too difficult to decipher what is being said.

The title of the story comes from the fact that Ingrid is always being compared to Agnetha Fältskog one of the members of the band ABBA, to which she has a strange likeness. ABBA and their songs are known even deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.

I really enjoyed the adventure aspect of this book. I generally love books that are set in different countries which gives one the ability to transport themselves there. I never knew much about Papua New Guinea before, but this book makes it sound like a beautiful place. It was both interesting and informative. I would love to go there one day. I also enjoyed that a lot of the conversation was in Pidgin because I felt that it added to the authenticity of the story. I am rating this book three out of four stars. I would recommend it to people who love reading about different places, adventure, and even those who like romance. However, one thing I must note is that some readers might not prefer the sexual inferences that are in the book.

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Diggin' The Dancing Queen
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Post by **bookowlie** » 28 Jun 2016, 11:33

I enjoyed reading your thorough review. The author certainly has an attention-grabbing title since I can't get that Abba song out of my head now.

The plot sounds great!

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 05 Jul 2016, 07:20

The story reminds me a little of the movie 'Serendipity'

. Sounds like a very interesting book. I would love to read about Papua, New Guinea. Good job on the review.

stoppoppingtheP · Post by **stoppoppingtheP** » 05 Jul 2016, 13:40

Thank you

ashnance · Post by **ashnance** » 02 Aug 2016, 08:22

Great review! I also love stories that are set in another country - being transported to another world through a book is the best. I look forward to reading this one!