Friday, August 18, 2017

Review: Southwest on the A303 by Adam Gary

Genre: Coming of Age

Description:

“Arguably one of England's most cherished and notorious roads, the A303 is filled with history, wonder, and magic. Adam takes us on a journey of adventure, self-discovery, and touching family bonds in this moving coming of age tale.
Alex is a young man in his early twenties who has fallen into a miserable state of mind, losing his motivation and love for life. When he receives the heartbreaking news that his beloved uncle has passed away, leaving Alex with all of his belongings - including his renowned VW Campervan - he sets out to Cornwall for the funeral, rediscovering his love for life along the way.”

Author:

The son of a professional dancer and painter, Adam Gary is a British actor and writer for TV. This novella, Southwest on the A303, is his first book.

For more, visit Mr. Gary’s website.

Appraisal:

From a big picture perspective, Southwest on the A303 is a decent enough coming-of-age tale with a unique story as its foundation. However, I thought the writing could stand a bit of tightening up, at times feeling a bit verbose. There were also bits of the story that didn’t ring true. They were little things like an extravagant parking charge at Stonehenge or Alex, the protagonist, jumping out of his camper van naked while parked by the side of the road without registering that he was doing that. But those little things add up, planting the seed in the back of the reader’s mind that the credible sounding parts of the story might not be believable either.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

The copy I received was an advance reviewer copy. I assume the book went through additional proofreading after it was sent to reviewers and can't judge the final product in this area.

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words

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