G628 Book Review of Hello, Agnieszka! by E Journey
Author: E Journey
ISBN: 978-0-9962474-2-9
Publisher: Sojourner Books
Part of a Series: Between Two Worlds
Type of book: Polish culture, music, immigrants, growing up, determination, success, disease, breaking up, love, courage to begin again
Year it was published:2015
Summary:
A raw tale of early love, rivalry and betrayal.
A 70s love story:
“Can music save your mortal soul?”
—Don McLean, American Pie
Short Synopsis
A passion for music. Her oldest son’s suicide attempt forces Agnieszka to reveal a past she has kept from her children. A young Agnieszka discovers a passion for music upon hearing her grand-aunt Jola, a concert pianist in Poland, give a recital. Jola hones her talent and feeds her dreams of becoming a concert pianist.
Shattered dreams. But real-world problems, thorny relations with a mother tied to her roots and betrayal by lusty Aunt Jola a shatter her dreams.
A 70s love story. Young Agnieszka finds love that renews her hopes for happiness. Sadly, it ends, cut short by forces outside anyone's control. Sustained by music and memories of her first love, Agnieszka grows and gets a second chance at happiness.
Characters:
Some important characters include Agnieszka who is best described as determined, loving, gentle and peaceful. Lenny is her love interest and he is also resourceful and focuses a lot on Agnieszka and on her needs. There is also Aunt Jola who taught Agnieszka the beauty of music and encouraged her to pursue her dreams. Agnieszka's parents love her in different ways, her father more than her mother who is best described as a bit cold and moral for her daughter.
Theme:
I'm not sure what the theme was, love will find you again maybe?
Plot:
The story is in first person narrative, and is a whole lot stronger and likable than her previous book titled Hello, My Love! at least the female character didn't have the same effect on me as Elise had in Hello, My Love! Its a stand-alone novel, which means its not necessary to read the previous book, unless the reader wants to learn about how Elise and Greg met and ended up together. The first romance is given a great deal of attention, while the second one, unfortunately, seems to be rushed in my opinion.
Author Information:
(From iRead Book Tours)
Buy the books here: Amazon
About the Author:
EJourney is a realist who thinks she has little imagination. Credit that to her training (Ph. D., University of Illinois) and work in mental health, writing for academics and bureaucrats, and critiquing the work of others. She’s been striving ever since to think and write like normal people.
She’s a well-traveled flâneuse—a female observer-wanderer—who watches, observes, listens. And writes. A sucker for happy endings, she finds enough that depresses her about real life, but seeks no catharsis by writing about it. For her, writing is escape, entertainment. She doesn’t strive to enlighten. Not deliberately. But the bias of her old profession does carry over into her writing. So, instead of broad shoulders and heaving bosoms, she goes into protagonists' thoughts, emotions, inner conflicts, insecurities, and struggles to reach balance and grow.
Connect with the Author: Website Twitter Facebook
EJourney is a realist who thinks she has little imagination. Credit that to her training (Ph. D., University of Illinois) and work in mental health, writing for academics and bureaucrats, and critiquing the work of others. She’s been striving ever since to think and write like normal people.
She’s a well-traveled flâneuse—a female observer-wanderer—who watches, observes, listens. And writes. A sucker for happy endings, she finds enough that depresses her about real life, but seeks no catharsis by writing about it. For her, writing is escape, entertainment. She doesn’t strive to enlighten. Not deliberately. But the bias of her old profession does carry over into her writing. So, instead of broad shoulders and heaving bosoms, she goes into protagonists' thoughts, emotions, inner conflicts, insecurities, and struggles to reach balance and grow.
Connect with the Author: Website Twitter Facebook
Opinion:
I really feel that in this story, the author is truly in her element. The story is very compelling, the characters are human and memorable, and the pages fly as the reader wants to know what happens next to Agnieszka. While I enjoyed the story a whole lot, there are a few things that I felt needed to be explained and touched upon, such as, for example, why didn't Agnieszka ever teach the children about the culture she came from? Why aren't the children Catholic, and Agnieszka claims that her parents had strong Catholic values. If her parents constantly had her attend Masses or go to Polish or Catholic schools, why didn't Catholicism play a much stronger role in Agnieszka's life? I'm not saying I wanted to read a religious story, but I wanted to see Agnieszka's reasoning for abandoning her culture and faith for another's. Also, an update about some characters would have been nice because there are a lot of unanswered questions about what happened to them in the last thirty plus years.
This is for iRead Book Tours
TOUR SCHEDULE:
Aug 17 - Book Stop Corner - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Aug 17 - Cheryl's Book Nook - books spotlight / giveaway
Aug 17 - T's Stuff - books spotlight / giveaway
Aug 18 - Book Stop Corner - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Aug 18 - Library of Clean Reads - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Aug 19 - Book Stop Corner - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Aug 19 - Confessions of the Perfect Mom - review of Hello, My Love
Aug 20 - The World as I See it - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Aug 20 - 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Aug 20 - A Mama's Corner of the World - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Aug 21 - Book and Ink - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Aug 21 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Aug 24 - The Autistic Gamer - review of Hello, My love
Aug 25 - A Blue Million Books - books spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Aug 26 - The Booksnake Etc. - review of Hello, My Love
Aug 27 - The World as I See it - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Aug 27 - 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Aug 27- A Mama's Corner of the World - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Aug 28 - Book and Ink - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Aug 28 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Aug 31 - Deal Sharing Aunt - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Sept 1 - Heidi's Wanderings - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Sept 2 - 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Sept 2 - Svetlana's reads and views - review of Hello, My Love
Sept 2 - Confessions of the Perfect Mom - review of Hello, Agnieszka!
Sept 3 - A Mama's Corner of the World - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Sept 3 - The Booksnake Etc. - review of Hello, Agnieszka!
Sept 4 - Book and Ink - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Sept 7 - The Autistic Gamer - review of Hello, Agnieszka!
Sept 7 - Olio by Marilyn - review of Hello, My Love
Sept 7 - Readers Muse - review of Hello, My Love / guest post
Sept 8 - Heidi's Wanderings - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Sept 8 - Everything Distils into Reading - review of Hello, My Love
Sept 9 - The World as I See it - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Sept 9 - Library of Clean Reads - review of Hello, Agnieszka / giveaway
Sept 10 - The Booksnake etc. - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger
Sept 11 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Sept 11 - Svetlana's reads and views - review of Hello, Agnieszka!
Sept 14 - Svetlana's reads and views - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger
Sept 14 - Olio by Marilyn - review of Hello, Agnieszka!
Sept 15 - Readers Muse - review of Hello, Agnieszka!
Sept 15 - Library of Clean Reads - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Sept 15 - Everything Distils into Reading - review of Hello, Agnieszka!
Sept 16 - Confessions of the Perfect Mom - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger
Sept 17 - Olio by Marilyn - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger
Sept 17 - Deal Sharing Aunt - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Sept 18 - Heidi's Wanderings - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Sept 18 - Deal Sharing Aunt - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
Sept 21 - The Autistic Gamer - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger
Sept 22 - Readers Muse - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger
Sept 22 - Everything Distils into Reading - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger
Sept 23 - Jessica Cassidy - review of Hello, My Love / giveaway
Sept 24 - Jessica Cassidy - review of Hello, Agnieszka! / giveaway
Sept 25 - Jessica Cassidy - review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger / giveaway
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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