This book was, unfortunately, not at all what I expected from the description. I had to DNF it at about a quarter of the way through. The flow of the writing was very disjointed and odd. There was so much extra and unnecessary stuff, just too many words essentially. Did it have to be pointed out that Adele sat at the table after a full paragraph of John looking over a menu? It feels like a bad translation or just bad editing overall. I did look up the author and found that it was a combination of three people who wrote the book together. For me, that explains the oddness of the writing flow.

However, the book did have a strange, whismy feeling to it, like a fairytale almost. It felt like it was almost a self help book. I was definitely intrigued by the concept of the random house and people the couple found that offered to help them. I assume that kind of random magical events carried through the rest of the book. That whimsical feeling was choked by the writing and that's too bad. I'm sure there are people that can read the overly deep introspection of the main characters' every thought, but it was not for me.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For those who like happy endings and wish fulfillment stories. This is a great one. A couple who has had enough of each other run out of gas on the side of a mountain road and go to the nearest home for help. The couple there act like they expected them and even have a woman on video chat letting her know they had arrived. What happened with a couple and the three strangers is a very innovative and imaginative story and one I found so interesting. I was so curious to find out who was the Irish woman and why was she important to the story and I just enjoyed the whole thing. It isn’t a long book but it is a good one. I want to thank the author and Net Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This book takes you into a whimsical journey of self discovery of a couple who are on that well known brink where the relationship could falter or succeed. The magical journey they impart on is as reflective for them as it is for the reader as they embark on rekindling their romance.

Although I think this book takes many things that can be learnt in couples counselling and applies them in an interesting overlay to this fictional plot that it ultimately fell short for me in a few different ways.

1. The dialogue: although some of the dialogue between our main couple is brutally realistic, a lot of the other discussions between themselves and with other characters felt blocky and it broke the immersion of the story a few times.

2. The degree of whimsy: partly my dislike of this may be due to my regular reading habits, however I found the facade of whimsy and almost lucid dreamlike state to be hard to follow. The journey our main characters go on is certainly magical without a breadth of fantasy, and knowing how hard as a reader to fall into the whimsy was inconsistent and unclear which made it harder to stay engrossed during the story.

Overall this book was enjoyable to read but it felt extremely jumpy and discombobulated at times which made it difficult to really enjoy watching John and Adele on their journey. I’d say this book is a good bridging gap for people who find it difficult to read non-fiction and want to bridge themselves over while using fiction with realistic elements within.

The Magical Journey of John and Adele is truly one of the most unique books I have ever read. Technically, I really enjoyed the short chapters as the writing style was a litle staccato for my tase, but, the content is exceptional so I would absolutely recommend sticking with it. It began to flow more for me in Chapter 5 and this is just a personal preference

The story centres around John and Adele, a couple who have been married for many years and are parents ro a son. Sadly, like many relationships of this ilk, John and Adeles marriage seems to be on a downward spiral, a very slippery slope with no handraiil

The premise of the book is interesting and well thought out; The couple emberk on their annual holiday, but run out of fuel. Of course, the blame game ensues. Here come three strangers, who are more than benevolent in exchange for the couple completing a challenge which turns their perspectives, and relationship upside down

This book is a great read if you can adapt to the writing style. It is concise, intuitive and insightful while creating an engaging and thought-provoking story

Thank you to NetGalley for the free eArc. My review is left voluntarily