Official Review: "GalveStorm 1900: A Story of Twin F...
Posted: 30 Jan 2020, 16:51
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of ""GalveStorm 1900: A Story of Twin Flames"" by Ervin Mendlovitz.]
Uri and Peter were devoted brothers who grew up in Russia. At a young age, Peter saved Uri’s life when he fell through some ice while playing on it. The brothers moved to Galveston, Texas, in 1890, to make a better life for themselves than their parents had in Russia. They established a printing business and became a success. However, Uri always felt like something was missing.
A few years after moving to Galveston, he encountered a beautiful young lady named Genevieve, and they instantly fell in love. However, the path to happiness wouldn’t be easy. Prejudice was commonplace in those days toward minorities and immigrants. In fact, Genevieve’s mother told her she would kill Uri before allowing her to be with him. In addition, a huge impending catastrophe could wreak havoc on all of their lives. Would the young lovers ever be together?
GalveStorm 1900: A Story of Twin Flames by Ervin Mendlovitz is listed in the romance genre, but it could have been in the historical fiction area just as easily. The author wonderfully relays the history of Galveston during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It is written from the first-person perspective, from Uri’s point of view, with occasional pages from Genevieve’s diary. The eloquent and descriptive prose generates emotions in the readers. We are delighted when Uri is happy and grieve when he is sad.
The story of the hurricane of 1900, told from Uri’s viewpoint as he was experiencing it, was tense and riveting. I felt I was there, witnessing the monstrous waves and running from the dangers. This was my favorite aspect of the book. However, the storm was later told and retold from articles Uri read and people that he met. This caused the story to bog down as similar things seem to be repeated. Some of these seemed to be actual newspaper articles and could have been put in an epilogue or an appendix at the end of the book. That way, it wouldn’t affect the flow of the story. There were a few other times that the tale dragged as well. The intermittent lagging represented my least favorite aspect of the book.
The love story between Uri and Genevieve is touching and poignant. Uri tells Genevieve that in Russia, “There are anecdotes about the soul that say before we are born, our soul is whole and in unison with the Creator.” “At birth, half of our soul is separated. When we find our twin flame, our soul becomes whole again, restored to the perfection that it once had.” Their attraction to each other is almost palpable.
Quite a bit of the history of Galveston is interwoven in the story. History buffs would likely enjoy this, while others might get bored with it.
The Table of Contents would be more accessible and useful for readers if it was placed at the beginning of the book instead of at the end (where it currently is).
After describing how Uri fell through the ice and was saved by his brother in the prologue, the author commenced the story with Uri in his present-day life, in the 1940s, reminiscing about the past. Because of the way it was written, the readers have a general idea of how it will end. To make it more suspenseful, the story could be composed in a linear fashion; what is presented at the beginning of the book now could be moved to the end. Of course, this is just my personal preference.
There were too many punctuation and grammatical errors in the book. It could use the help of a professional editor.
Although there were things I wished were different in the story, the major part was interesting and immersed me in the tale. I felt it was worth more than a rating of two. Therefore, it achieves a rating of three out of four stars. There were rare minor profanities/vulgarities seen. Readers who enjoy reading books about romance and historical fiction would appreciate this story the most.
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"GalveStorm 1900: A Story of Twin Flames"
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Uri and Peter were devoted brothers who grew up in Russia. At a young age, Peter saved Uri’s life when he fell through some ice while playing on it. The brothers moved to Galveston, Texas, in 1890, to make a better life for themselves than their parents had in Russia. They established a printing business and became a success. However, Uri always felt like something was missing.
A few years after moving to Galveston, he encountered a beautiful young lady named Genevieve, and they instantly fell in love. However, the path to happiness wouldn’t be easy. Prejudice was commonplace in those days toward minorities and immigrants. In fact, Genevieve’s mother told her she would kill Uri before allowing her to be with him. In addition, a huge impending catastrophe could wreak havoc on all of their lives. Would the young lovers ever be together?
GalveStorm 1900: A Story of Twin Flames by Ervin Mendlovitz is listed in the romance genre, but it could have been in the historical fiction area just as easily. The author wonderfully relays the history of Galveston during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It is written from the first-person perspective, from Uri’s point of view, with occasional pages from Genevieve’s diary. The eloquent and descriptive prose generates emotions in the readers. We are delighted when Uri is happy and grieve when he is sad.
The story of the hurricane of 1900, told from Uri’s viewpoint as he was experiencing it, was tense and riveting. I felt I was there, witnessing the monstrous waves and running from the dangers. This was my favorite aspect of the book. However, the storm was later told and retold from articles Uri read and people that he met. This caused the story to bog down as similar things seem to be repeated. Some of these seemed to be actual newspaper articles and could have been put in an epilogue or an appendix at the end of the book. That way, it wouldn’t affect the flow of the story. There were a few other times that the tale dragged as well. The intermittent lagging represented my least favorite aspect of the book.
The love story between Uri and Genevieve is touching and poignant. Uri tells Genevieve that in Russia, “There are anecdotes about the soul that say before we are born, our soul is whole and in unison with the Creator.” “At birth, half of our soul is separated. When we find our twin flame, our soul becomes whole again, restored to the perfection that it once had.” Their attraction to each other is almost palpable.
Quite a bit of the history of Galveston is interwoven in the story. History buffs would likely enjoy this, while others might get bored with it.
The Table of Contents would be more accessible and useful for readers if it was placed at the beginning of the book instead of at the end (where it currently is).
After describing how Uri fell through the ice and was saved by his brother in the prologue, the author commenced the story with Uri in his present-day life, in the 1940s, reminiscing about the past. Because of the way it was written, the readers have a general idea of how it will end. To make it more suspenseful, the story could be composed in a linear fashion; what is presented at the beginning of the book now could be moved to the end. Of course, this is just my personal preference.
There were too many punctuation and grammatical errors in the book. It could use the help of a professional editor.
Although there were things I wished were different in the story, the major part was interesting and immersed me in the tale. I felt it was worth more than a rating of two. Therefore, it achieves a rating of three out of four stars. There were rare minor profanities/vulgarities seen. Readers who enjoy reading books about romance and historical fiction would appreciate this story the most.
******
"GalveStorm 1900: A Story of Twin Flames"
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
