BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'A Body Of Fates' by Kenneth Evren.

Read and reviewed a physical copy for Kenneth Evren, FriesenPress and Literally PR.

Publication date 12th September 2023.

This is Kenneth's debut novel.

This novel consists of a preface, 15 chapters, a postscript and 10 poems/lyrics. The chapters are medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is not my usual choice of genre which is typically crime, comedy and romance but I'm an eclectic reader. I read the synopsis and thought it sounded intriguing so gave it a go. It is definitely a unique and thought provoking book and the fact that this is the authors debut novel does not show which is always a good sign. This story takes us on a journey through the protagonist David Becker's past and present in which the reader discovers the abuse that he suffered in childhood, his struggles when it comes to his own beliefs, his family history and more. There were several occasions where I actually thought I was reading a biography such is the depth Kenneth creates David's character and personality. David is a complex character as well as an intriguing one and I was rooting for him as he struggles with his haunting past and his challenging present. I was captivated by his story which at times did seem to go off on a tangent which did confuse me on several occasions but once I found my bearings again I became more invested. One of the things I did struggle with at times where I wasn't sure which timeline David was speaking of and if what he was telling us was a story if his past, his life as he knew it at present or of the number of times where he seemed to take a more supernatural take on what is going on.

Nevertheless this confusion wasn't enough to make the book unenjoyable but did make it a slower read than that of what I would have liked as I had to take more time to read it to take it completely in. However, I must admit that I did almost stop reading when I read of 'C#n#y the Cat' and the fact that David kicked him out to defend for itself as I am a huge animal lover and run a cat rescue myself so have actually dealt with cats being kicked out on the street and don't take kindly to it being spoken of so light heartedly regardless of the fact the book is fiction. This is the reason I cannot give this book more than a 3.5/5 which I have rounded up to 4/5. Kenneth's writing skills are definitely evocative as there were many times where I became lost in David's world seeing and feeling what he was. I loved the additional pages of poems and lyrics which I really enjoyed reading. In particular my favourite one was 'Chains and Chocolate' which I found to be particularly touching and haunting at the same time. This is a unique, complex and interesting book that will stay with the reader long after they finished the last page. I am looking forward to seeing what Kenneth comes up with for his next novel!!

Overall an intriguing, unique and thought provoking read.

252 pages.

This book is just £7.99 to purchase on kindle and £17.30 in paperback via Amazon (at time of review).

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Roughly 10 pages into this book I began to suspect that I was not the target demographic for this story. Once we got to the oh so precocious 10 year old self asking theological questions amidst narration that jumped between present and past (something I'm rarely sold on), I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to be a fan despite being very interested in the description. The Moirai and the punishments doled through generations? Yes, please. Sadly, it didn't hold up for me. I think this was the exact sentence that sealed it: "Fate, however, believes in killer robots from the future." Couple this with a main character that I couldn't like as a person and there was no chance.