The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian

Challenge #4 ~ “A book with an interracial relationship.”

chandlerlegacies

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

My opinion in three sentences:

I really liked the bold premise of this book and you could certainly feel the personal connection powering through, however, I was ultimately left a little disappointed. The book started strongly with interesting, complex, and fleshed-out characters, but this depth seemed to get lost as the book went on, with some questionable actions and motivations. The pacing/action balance also proved a little off with the main plot introduced late, meaning it received less attention than it needed, and that momentum was sluggish after the initial introductions.

(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:

Lots of the topics addressed in this novel and serious and heavy, but Nazemian treats it with realism, respect and clear research. Furthermore, it came across in a way that demonstrated all these traits without proving a difficult of weighty read. On content-handling alone, this would have been five stars (or maybe four because it needed more focus, but that was mainly caused by pacing issues).

A warning for the book:

The literary presentation let this down, and in particular the pacing. After the necessary establishment of characters and context (which was perhaps a little drawn out in and of itself), things don’t really get going for a while, and then consequently there’s not enough time left to do them complete justice. As a result, it translates as merely a mediocre book, but all the potential for greatness is there – a real shame.

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