Review by Rebecca Henderson -- Followed my Star

[Rebecca Henderson]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Followed my Star" by AR Annahita.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Followed my Star is a book that discusses many things at once, and at the same time, nothing new at all. Ruminations on a variety of subjects occur in this text, including topics like abortion, religion, politics, capitalism, the role of women, healthcare, Hitler, and many more. The author utilizes each chapter to discuss their take on each of these subjects mentioned, and provides some proof for their opinions. Overall, the text is rather personal in nature and vast in its scope.

Throughout the text I found many memorable phrases. Ideas such as, “It is time that we recognize each person and see them as part of this world,” struck me as agreeable. I also liked the phrase: “We are all children of this world.” However, such statements as, “Monopoly the game got invented to show you the corruption and wrongness about capitalism, but we all got hooked and loved this game,” left me pondering the author’s intent behind this piece. The novel itself is written in a very conversational tone and the author addresses the audience directly, but it felt very much to me that the conversation was one-sided, even to the point of bordering on preachy. Little else but arguments on hot-button topics is presented.

I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. I found numerous errors in the text and a few instances of word usage that led me to believe the author might have had the text (poorly) translated or English may not be their first language. Please understand, I am a lover of language and enjoy works by foreign authors, but when the errors in your text interrupt my reading, most readers will agree that this lends itself to a bad reading experience and a tendency not to continue reading. The text I received also began with “Chapter 1” and did not include a title page or any markers of a physical book (copyright page, ISBN number, etc.). I saw this as a blow to the legitimacy of the work.

Due to the nature of the structure of the text, this read much more like a diary than a novel. For this reason, and for the content and opinions contained within this work, I would caution readers to consider the following before picking up this book. The author presents strong opinions on many of the most controversial topics discussable. These topics include those that I have mentioned above, as well as comments on the rich vs. the poor, homosexuality, arranged marriages and rape killings, class hierarchy, America vs. Europe, homeless people, and many more. To be fair, I have my own opinions on these subjects, and though I strove to keep them aside as I read the text, I could not help but want to reject and refute the statements presented. I consider myself to be someone who can listen to most anyone’s opinions and see where they’re coming from, without having to agree or disagree necessarily, but the strong nature of the opinions present in this text—along with the lack of any real unity to the work itself—leave readers little choice in responding one way or another.

I respect other people’s opinions and their right to express them. However, in this case, I believe that the text presented no unifying message and appears to me to be very controversial in its combined stances on hot topics. There are ways to express one’s feelings, but the execution and structure of this particular novel proved to be detrimental to the author’s cause. Readers: lay your eyes upon Followed my Star at your own risk.

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Followed my Star
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Like Rebecca Henderson's review? Post a comment saying so!

[juliusotinyo]

Nice review, being one of my first books to review on this site I tried to be accommodating. I was lost in between and almost gave up. Its good to see many agree. Though, I strongly believe this is a case of poor translation.

[WestIndie001]

Great review, Rebecca. I agree, it gets too preachy. I also gave it 1 out of 4 stars.

"You want to get up on a soapbox and preach? Fine. Get one and try your local park." -Stephen King

[Jeremie Mondejar]

Thanks for that review. At first glance, the title seems interesting and I wanted to read it but reading your review made me decline for doing so.

[Naval Aulakh]

Thanks for a genuine review. I would not like to read such a book with poor editing.

[Izesicle]

I was like how you described yourself in the second to the last paragraph. I thought i was open minded but then the text was so preachy and opinionated without providing balance, which is ironic given the theme of the book. Feel free to check out my review. I rated it 1 out of 4 stars.

-- 19 Aug 2017, 02:12 --

I was like how you described yourself in the second to the last paragraph. I thought i was open minded but then the text was so preachy and opinionated without providing balance, which is ironic given the theme of the book. Feel free to check out my review. I rated it 1 out of 4 stars.

[Izesicle]

I was like how you described yourself in the second to the last paragraph. I thought i was open minded but then the text was so preachy and opinionated without providing balance, which is ironic given the theme of the book. Feel free to check out my review. I rated it 1 out of 4 stars.

[Izesicle]

I was like how you described yourself in the second to the last paragraph. I thought i was open minded but then the text was so preachy and opinionated without providing balance, which is ironic given the theme of the book. Feel free to check out my review. I rated it 1 out of 4 stars.