G629 Book Review of Welcome, Reluctant Stranger! by E Journey
Author: E Journey
ISBN: 978-0-9962474-3-6
Publisher: Sojourner Books
Part of a Series: Between Two Worlds
Type of book: interracial relationship, white male/interracial female (possibly Polynesian or Pinoy ancestry), mystery, forgiveness, past versus present, kill one to save thousands, romance, happily ever after
Year it was published: 2015
Summary:
A Riveting Tale of Love, Loss, and Finding Your Own Way.
Can a family bury its secret past?
Like her long-lost father, Leilani heals people. But can she heal herself? Accept the awful truth about her father―left behind when her family fled the troubled country of Costa Mora eighteen years ago?
Brokenhearted, Justin just wants to drown his sorrows. But he finds more trouble than he’s looking for when thugs assault him and a mysterious woman with a dead aim rescues him.
A young woman’s inner journey accepting her past spun within a tale of love and past political intrigue.
Characters:
I have to say that Elise isn't exactly a favorite character of mine, thus I was a bit disappointed that she played a substantial role in the book. I had hoped that the author would update on the other brother's condition and how he is doing, but that didn't happen either. Leilani Torres has a mysterious past that she is not willing to share it with anyone, and she is a psychologist who is struggling with past and present and how to reconcile the two. Justin is a bit on a rebound from a previous relationship, but then madly falls in love with Leilani and he is doing his best to convince her to give their relationship a chance. Of course Elise and Greg are also in the book, but most of the story is from Leilani's and Justin's point of view.
Theme:
No idea what the theme should have been
Plot:
The story is in third person narrative from Leilani's and Justin's points of view. I wanted to like the story because I really liked Hello, Agnieszka! but alas I ended up disappointed with the story. I was confused about how long they have known each other because the author either kept going forward but then pulled back, I also couldn't really sense how Leilani feels out of place in the world and how Costa Mora is different culturally. Yes, I get it, its a corrupt country, but beyond that, what kind of holidays do they celebrate? How do people think and feel in Costa Mora? How are they different than Americans? What are their values? Are children raised to study all the time, or is there more focus on individual freedom?
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'm sorry but I really didn't like the book, and the characters and their situations seemed a little too perfect for mine tastes. (Guess this proves that I have strong preference for more pessimistic stories than optimistic stories.) I guess some issues I had is that Leilani and her past aren't really strongly fleshed out, and the fact that she feels different and doesn't really like it, is something else that's said and not explored in depth. I don't know the culture of Costa Mora, but I feel as if the attention that is paid to it is precursory instead of something that should be a bit more occupying for Leilani. I also had trouble with telling how much time has passed in the book because at one point I thought six weeks has passed when in fact only a few weeks has passed? And how did some other characters from Costa Mora get to America and how did Leilani manage to keep in touch with them? Also, I googled the name of the country, Costa Mora, but it doesn't seem to exist? Could anyone pinpoint me to it?
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
3 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.)
Thank you for reviewing the books in my series. I'm sorry they're not your cup of tea so I hope you didn't feel like you wasted your time reading them.
ReplyDeleteI can't show you where Costa Mora is because it is a fictitious country based on others in the Pacific (as mentioned in the book and based on some research I did for the book). And Leilani wouldn't know much about it because she was young when she left. The book does deal with issues of fitting in a strange culture in several scenes, not so much in Leilani's experience because she didn't have much trouble fitting in, having arrived in her new country at a rather young impressionable age.