Review| Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Genre: Christian Paranormal, Adult
Summary:
Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving is an adult novel set in both Mexico and the Philippines. It is about a man named Juan Diego who goes on a trip to the Philippines in the present time yet can’t seem to stay out of Mexico and the past. He tells the story of his childhood as the only child who works at the dump who can read and also of his mind-reading younger sister. He tells of their adventures and how he came to be the man he is in the Philippines.
My thoughts:
This book had an interesting topic and a story unlike other books I have read. Combining topics of the Christian faith with aspects of the paranormal world also with topics of sex it was quite unlike books I normally read. It was not at all what I had expected when reading the synopsis. It was a well told story that I did enjoy reading yet I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Not because I was curious how it would end but because I was looking forward to not be reading it any longer. I give this book three stars for the originality of the story and how well it was written and also for how easy it was to read. The two stars I keep from giving are for the lack of excitement the book possessed and how there was no mystery for me while reading even thought the characters seemed to be confused and didn’t have a clue. There were no scenes that I was terribly invested in nor characters that I really enjoyed but still I couldn’t give up on reading about them for some reason. Even for how slow the story seemed I read the book fairly fast. It was easy to read, very relaxing. For as well as John Irving writes his stories they are not exactly my favourite. He favors a way of writing that repeats passages he has already written to make a point. The way that they are exactly the same words as if he was copying and pasting I found more annoying than as a helpful recollection. All in all, the book was decent. Unfortunately it was a good story that was told in a way that was less than exciting.