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Shadow Garden Blues by Michael Romeo

February 27, 2015December 9, 2018
Shadow Garden Blues by Michael Romeo
Shadow Garden Blues by Michael Romeo

In Shadow Garden Blues, Michael Romeo recounts his past as a thief, a homeless man, a drug user and an alcoholic.

Unfortunately, this debut novella doesn’t have much of a narrative. While the author uses an elaborate writing style with short chapters and poems that give some rhythm to the book, there seems to be no point to the story. In addition, it is very difficult to feel empathy for Michael in his path to self-destruction. Even though he seems to have ambition, he doesn’t take any steps to improve his life. Instead, the book is a seemingly endless list of jobs he couldn’t keep, places he stayed in and doomed relationships to women.

There are also a lot of unanswered questions. For example, why did he leave his parents when he was 15? His explanation that it was more fun at Lori and Wally’s place doesn’t seem to cover it all. Later on, he also writes about two friends of his who died when they were still young, but doesn’t give any details on what happened to them. So why mention them at all?

Overall, I thought this book lacked purpose and needed much improvement. When I did some research on the internet concerning Michael Romeo, I found out that he hitchhiked across the United States in 2011 from Maryland to California. Now this seems to be an interesting tale to write about…

Shadow Garden Blues was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

About the author and his work: Michael Romeo’s Website.

If you liked this book you might also like:

Alphabeticus Atrocitus by Michael Romeo
Alphabeticus Atrocitus by Michael Romeo
Way Out by Arthur Thomas Morton
Way Out by Arthur Thomas Morton
Inside by Kenneth J. Harvey
Inside by Kenneth J. Harvey
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Michael Romeo Review alcoholicambitiondrug userhitchhikerhomeless manjobsmichael romeoself-destructionshadow garden bluesthiefwomen

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Cecile

Cécile Sune was born in Lyon, France, and her obsession with books started when she was 14. Her grandparents had lent her Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and she spent part of the summer indoors reading. Needless to say, her tan didn't really improve that year! It was also around that time that Cécile fell in love with the English language. Several years later, in 1999, Cécile moved to Toronto, Canada, with her cat and 5 suitcases. Her love of reading greatly increased when she discovered that English books were much cheaper than French novels. In 2013, she decided to start a blog to share her passion. Cécile now lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband and their daughter, and works as a freelance translator (CS Revision).

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2024 Reading Challenge

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