Official Review: Oli's elephant journey by Moosh Dams
Posted: 21 Apr 2020, 15:36
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Oli's elephant journey" by Moosh Dams.]
After ending an emotionally-taxing relationship that she believed was doomed from the beginning, 36-year-old Olive (Oli) Hartmann feels like she’s a shell of the woman that she used to be. She stayed in the relationship with Niko for all the wrong reasons, and now that it is over, she is overwrought with guilt. In attempts to mend her broken spirit, she makes an impulsive decision to embark on a solo-adventure in Sri Lanka.
Upon her arrival in Colombo, Sri Lanka, she meets Chris at the airport, and they indulge in some flirtatious banter. While Oli feels an undeniable attraction, the baggage from her previous relationship closes her off to any new prospects. They part ways, and Oli heads off to the Ananda Retreat for meditation. At first, she is hesitant to embrace the strange methods used at Ananda fully, but once she gives in, a new woman begins to emerge. Her walls start to come down, and the secrets and guilt that have been holding her back seem to be dissipating. Will Oli be able to open her heart to a new relationship, or will the fear of past experiences repeating themselves hold her back?
Oli’s Elephant Journey by Moosh Dams is a delightful read about one woman’s quest to rejuvenate her life and unthaw her frigid heart. It’s the journey to self-discovery and forgiveness through enduring the memories of past traumas. The book is written from the third-person perspective and follows Oli as she is forced to come to terms with past failures.
The thing that I liked most about this book was the emphasis that the author put on the importance of doing inner work. Although Oli had ended her abusive relationship, the trauma that her ex had inflicted on her had left a gaping hole in her heart. Breaking up with Niko was just the beginning of Oli’s arduous journey back to peace. Oli needed to stop trying to seek refuge from these feelings and face them head-on if she was ever going to move on with her life. I think too often in life, when we endure a painful experience, we are quick to push our negative feelings aside and move to the next chapter. The author did a fantastic job of highlighting the need to allow ourselves time to grieve when something traumatic has happened. Oli knew that by avoiding the past, she was holding herself back from potentially thriving in a new relationship.
While Oli was a worthy protagonist, my favorite character in Oli’s Elephant Journey was Chris. He was everything a love interest should be from his intoxicating good looks to his kind heart. He had an impressive ability to relate to Oli’s situation. Chris was smitten with her but knew that she needed time to heal before she could even entertain the possibility of starting something new. Throughout her journey, Chris was patient and gave her the space she needed, but was quite willing to remind her that she was desired.
While I was captivated by the storyline and characters, I wasn’t thrilled with the caliber of writing. The book was riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, which, at times, interfered with my reading experience. The author was quite heavy-handed with both question marks and exclamation points, making the writing come off as juvenile. It wasn’t uncommon for a trio of exclamation points to follow a sentence. Also, there were many careless errors such as “wait” instead of “weight” and “therefor” instead of “therefore.” These errors could have been easily avoided with thorough editing. For that reason, I deducted a star and chose to give the book a rating of three out of four stars. With another round of editing, I believe the book could secure a perfect score.
For readers who are fans of books like Eat Pray Love, this book will quench your thirst. For mature readers who find themselves questioning the meaning of life, Oli’s Elephant Journey will guide you. It has romance, adventure, and spirituality and will surely keep you engaged. On the flip side, I would not recommend this book to younger readers due to profanity and sexual situations.
******
Oli's elephant journey
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
After ending an emotionally-taxing relationship that she believed was doomed from the beginning, 36-year-old Olive (Oli) Hartmann feels like she’s a shell of the woman that she used to be. She stayed in the relationship with Niko for all the wrong reasons, and now that it is over, she is overwrought with guilt. In attempts to mend her broken spirit, she makes an impulsive decision to embark on a solo-adventure in Sri Lanka.
Upon her arrival in Colombo, Sri Lanka, she meets Chris at the airport, and they indulge in some flirtatious banter. While Oli feels an undeniable attraction, the baggage from her previous relationship closes her off to any new prospects. They part ways, and Oli heads off to the Ananda Retreat for meditation. At first, she is hesitant to embrace the strange methods used at Ananda fully, but once she gives in, a new woman begins to emerge. Her walls start to come down, and the secrets and guilt that have been holding her back seem to be dissipating. Will Oli be able to open her heart to a new relationship, or will the fear of past experiences repeating themselves hold her back?
Oli’s Elephant Journey by Moosh Dams is a delightful read about one woman’s quest to rejuvenate her life and unthaw her frigid heart. It’s the journey to self-discovery and forgiveness through enduring the memories of past traumas. The book is written from the third-person perspective and follows Oli as she is forced to come to terms with past failures.
The thing that I liked most about this book was the emphasis that the author put on the importance of doing inner work. Although Oli had ended her abusive relationship, the trauma that her ex had inflicted on her had left a gaping hole in her heart. Breaking up with Niko was just the beginning of Oli’s arduous journey back to peace. Oli needed to stop trying to seek refuge from these feelings and face them head-on if she was ever going to move on with her life. I think too often in life, when we endure a painful experience, we are quick to push our negative feelings aside and move to the next chapter. The author did a fantastic job of highlighting the need to allow ourselves time to grieve when something traumatic has happened. Oli knew that by avoiding the past, she was holding herself back from potentially thriving in a new relationship.
While Oli was a worthy protagonist, my favorite character in Oli’s Elephant Journey was Chris. He was everything a love interest should be from his intoxicating good looks to his kind heart. He had an impressive ability to relate to Oli’s situation. Chris was smitten with her but knew that she needed time to heal before she could even entertain the possibility of starting something new. Throughout her journey, Chris was patient and gave her the space she needed, but was quite willing to remind her that she was desired.
While I was captivated by the storyline and characters, I wasn’t thrilled with the caliber of writing. The book was riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, which, at times, interfered with my reading experience. The author was quite heavy-handed with both question marks and exclamation points, making the writing come off as juvenile. It wasn’t uncommon for a trio of exclamation points to follow a sentence. Also, there were many careless errors such as “wait” instead of “weight” and “therefor” instead of “therefore.” These errors could have been easily avoided with thorough editing. For that reason, I deducted a star and chose to give the book a rating of three out of four stars. With another round of editing, I believe the book could secure a perfect score.
For readers who are fans of books like Eat Pray Love, this book will quench your thirst. For mature readers who find themselves questioning the meaning of life, Oli’s Elephant Journey will guide you. It has romance, adventure, and spirituality and will surely keep you engaged. On the flip side, I would not recommend this book to younger readers due to profanity and sexual situations.
******
Oli's elephant journey
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
