Allesandra's Bequest: Book Review

When I joined GoodReads, I had no idea that I'd be able to reach out to authors and have them contact me. When the chance came though, I took it. I left my contact information on a forum post and ended up hearing back from an author, specifically R.M. Fraser, within hours. His book, Allesandra's Bequest, is a short story fiction.

According to Barnes & Noble:

Do you believe in soul mates? Can the demons that haunt Allesandra's past be overcome with the love and support of her newlywed husband, Izz? Perhaps suicide is the solution? There are lessons to be learned by both in this epic short of a couple who fall for each other, and what they must do to stay together forever.




My Review:

I was instantly hooked upon opening the ebook. I usually don't like reading books on my phone, because I love the feel of an actual paperback, but this was a short story, so I figured I could manage.

Allesandra's Bequest is written extremely well - the story tells of the present first, of Allesandra and Izz's life, and then flashbacks to the years prior, something I enjoyed. What I didn't like was the limited description of the characters. I was only able to see their shadows forming in my head, their outlines, but nothing specific. Maybe the author wanted readers to conjure up their own images, but I had trouble.

The song titles representing the chapters are incredible, especially the inclusion of the actual songs at the end of the chapters, extremely powerful, yet totally understandable and fitting. I feel like, as a reader, I was able to figure out what the characters were feeling.

I'm against suicide, so I was hesitant about reading this book. While I still don't think suicide is the way to go in any situation, especially Allesandra's - in which she and her sister were abused by their father, the demons of the past never escaping - I feel like I was able to understand what she was feeling at that point in time.

The end was my favorite, but I was left wishing the book was longer, wanting to find out more about how Allesandra and Izz met and what became of Izz in the years following...

From R.M Fraser:

Allessandra's Bequest is "unique in that it was originally a concept album I had been working on in my musician/poetry days. The album was never recorded, though everything is still in my head. What it translates to is that each chapter of the book represents a track from the album. The narrative wraps around these lyrics in each chapter to tell the story, which is about abuse, PTSD, grief and loss, suicide, and soul mates. The two main characters are 20 somethings."

It's available at B&N, iTunes, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, Baker & Taylor, and Smashwords.

My Rating: 5 Stars