Gain Access Song Engineered By Michelle Jana Chan In Manuscript
is a brilliant read, utterly gripping! Song is such a compelling character, I couldn't stop turning the pages to see what happened to him next.
Devoured the whole book in a weekend, It's both haunting and inspiring, a story of survival and hope, I didn't know anything about Guiana before picking this up, but the descriptions are so vivid that I felt like I was there.
Such a powerful book. I highly recommend!
Firstly I have to say how much I love that cover, the bold colours and unusual picture really works.
I know you shouldnt judge a book by its cover but I think there is no denying that a great cover definetly helps.
This was a surprising emotional read for me, The hardships that Songs family endure at the start of the novel was just heartbreaking and I have no idea how Id cope in a similar situation.
The strength and resilience the children show in this situation made me cry and i just wanted to give them a hug.
I ran upstairs to hug my kids after reading some parts of this book,
Song was a character its hard not to fall in love with, Hes so brave setting off to try and help his family, even more so when you realise hes only, All the hardships and awful things he experiences on the way was very sad and I kept hoping hed find someone to take him under his wing.
This isnt a particularly fast moving book but what makes it is the beautiful descriptions and attention to detail that is included.
The author has clearly done her research and I found it fascinating to learn more about the history of this part of the world.
The reader wants to continue reading to find out what happens to Song and if he makes his fortune to help his family.
The story is ultimately uplifting and it was wonderful to see how far Song had come,
This is the authors debut novel and I look forward to reading more from her in the future,
Huge thanks to Anne Cater and Unbound publishers for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.
Beautiful, descriptive, authentic. Makes you connect with and root for all the characters, however fleeting their time in Song's life, I did not like the shape of the novel in the last few chapters the themes of discrimination, family in Lishui and Song's middleage all kept open till the end, sincerely hoping there's a sequel.
Thank you a Unbound and Netgalley for an ARC in return for my review,
This
was a wonderful book, it was beautifully written and completely drew me in, This is one of my favourite books I have read this year, Set aside uninterrupted time, bring a box of tissues and a pot of tea amd be ready to be mesmerised, The following review will be posted to my blog and social media during publication week
The plot in a spoilerfree nutshell: After his father's death,year old song leaves his village in China in order to find work to support his starving family.
After a long and perilous journey by boat he arrives in British Guiana, Song faces horrific racism and prejudice, but has a determined spirit, and the ability to make friends in unexpected places, in a story that is both inspirational and heartbreaking.
The author: Michelle Jana Chan, an accomplished travel writer the sense of place throughout the novel makes it come alive.
It's a bit like, . . an echo of modern day stories of migrants,
You should read it if, . . you are a keen bird watcher, Feel free to do a shot of something each time a new species is mentioned, and have a merry old time,
You shouldn't read it if, . . you are out of tissues,
The best bit: The wonderfully crafted writing, never leaving you without a sense of hope even in the bleakest of times.
Book hangover severity: Song's story plants itself deep within and refuses to let go, . .
Rating/
Final thoughts: Few books that are entirely set in the past can resonate so much with issues of the modern day.
Slavery has long been officially abolished but that's about the only difference between those exploited by the British Empire in the time that Song takes place and the current day.
A deeply thought provoking and beautiful novel,
Song is published onth Juneby Unbound, Thank you to Michelle Jana Chan, Unbound and NetGalley for the ARC Note: I received a copy of this work courtesy of NetGalley
Michelle Jana Chans Song begins with the titles namesake journeying from his impoverished village in rural China to British Guyana, where he arrives in the British colony with literally little more than the shirt on his back.
What proceeds from there is his saga of working to build a life worth living for himself while jumping back and forth between potentially the dangerous yet mineralrich lands upriver in the jungles, the rough frontier streets of Bartica, and everpretentious, prejudiceridden Georgetown.
Song and its setting in lushthcentury British Guyana literally took me to a world that I literally have never been to before.
Meanwhile, the title characters successes and hardships that he encounters as an immigrant outsider also showed me a new lens for a world that I have already encountered all too many times before.
And between this mix of the new and also the unexpectedly familiar, I was more than happy to get completely and utterly lost in this beautiful and gutwrenching tale.
I very much enjoyed this story about a young boy who leaves China by boat to journey to Guiana in search of a better life.
Song begins his adventure as a naive child but soon realizes this is no fairytale, Songs character is forged by his experiences, both good and bad, to turn him into the person he becomes warts and all.
I enjoyed that Song really develops before our eyes, He is not and angel nor is he jaded by his experiences to become bitter and angry, He is believable.
I knew little to nothing about the time period or Guiana and found this a nice introduction and wet my appetite to learn more.
I would love to read a story featuring Flo as the MC,
Thanks to Unbound for providing the venue for publishing this book, Song blew my mind. I LOVED this book! Such vivid historical pictures of different places in the world! Song's determination to make it and save his family is heart wrenching.
I've taken a moment or two out of my funpacked evening schedule to write this review for sitelinkSong, not only because I feel I need to get this review out of my system due to being at breaking point, and also being totally disappointed with myself for purchasing this, and finally, because I feel I have a solid duty to warn fellow readers on just how mindnumbingly boring and poorly written this book actually is.
Get ready, because I've been ready to write this since page twenty,
This is a very simple story of an individual called Song ironically and his unbelievably bland life, Song is on a quest for a better life, which begins as soon as I open the book, There is a lack of background of Song, and before I knew it, I was being dragged along by my ankle on his puny travels.
What baffles the mind is the seventeen or more positive reviews written about this book, It is described as a painfully realistic and vividly descriptive, which has me wondering, were we reading from the same pages
The writing style was intelligible, but it was terribly monotonous, and the majority of the book read like this Song went on the boat and met a boy there.
Song was upset when the boy died, Song went for a walk, Song was sleepy. Song met a woman. Catch my drift
It was exasperating and repetitive, and it turns out, Song never really did anything memorable at all.
The very best part, which made me laugh out loud, was when the reader was supposed to feel pity for Song, but while his Wife was expecting a child, he tootled off and dipped his bread with another woman, but his wife was totally cool with that, it appears.
It's okay though, because Song was out the next day trying to make his fortune! Good ol'Song!
When I read a book, I expect to be able to pull at least one positive aspect out of it, even if it is a feeble one, but unfortunately in the case of Song, the best aspect of it, was getting to the last page.
A weak plot, mixed with totally forgettable characters, makes one take a deep sigh of relief that it's over, .