Review of The Canary Journal: a novel

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Lucy Vera
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Review of The Canary Journal: a novel

Post by Lucy Vera »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Canary Journal: a novel" by Karah Khalia.]
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Canary Journal by Karah Khalia is a journal-styled novel that tells the intriguing story of Jolie Tanique Cade, a thirty-year-old girl who finds herself living with her mother in Los Angeles and working at Amoeba. Even though Jolie loves her job at Amoeba because it stimulates her artistic and creative mind, she desires something better. She still faces her share of challenges. Being an unusual thirty-year-old virgin still trying to figure out her life, she battles with her mother's desperate demands for her to change her life and advance by chasing a career. At the same time, Jolie is still trying to find love and a better job to fast-track her independence.

Jolie's precious diary, which means the world to her, not just as a creative reader and writer but also as an introvert, gets misplaced. It then seems like Jolie's silent prayer for a lover has been answered. The finder who calls turns out to be Majid Hassan, a handsome young man who she cuts ties with after two dates because he was making sexual advances she didn't appreciate. Soon after, she meets Damien, an Englishman, but somehow, she still can't label him as her man. What then becomes of Jolie's life?

This book has a lot of positive aspects. The struggles of the young black youth are beautifully shown in this novel, and these struggles are many. A thorough reading of this work will show most of them, like the parental pressure we face from parents who just want us to be people of substance in society without knowing what goes on in our heads. Just like Jolie's mother, they expect us to figure things out quickly. The struggle to find love in today's society is also shown.

Another struggle pointed out in this work is how slow and difficult the process of figuring out one's life can be. Today, many young people find themselves trapped and studying courses they would rather have nothing to do with. We are always advised to take our time and stay true to ourselves, just like Jolie did despite her mother's tantrums. Jolie may have worked at Amoeba for eleven years, but she kept her cool until she figured out what to do with her life, an online business that could fund the lifestyle she wanted. We can even say that another theme in this novel is encouraging the reader to never settle for less. Moreover, this novel also portrays the importance of surrounding ourselves with understanding and compassionate family members like Aunty Laetitia, who also showed us a theme of sisterhood.

This book didn't have any negative aspects; it was beautifully written. I salute the bravery of the author in choosing to write this novel like a journal because it felt like I was gliding through Jolie's daily life as she tried to figure things out. The absence of errors also shows that the work was exceptionally well edited to make the reading experience worthwhile. Another theme I wish to point out from this work is that we must not squeeze ourselves into relationships we do not like just because we are afraid of loneliness. I love the fact that Jolie didn't for once think that she had to be noticed by a man or even be in love.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because I feel it is a beautiful work of literature; it was very enlightening, and it contains many lessons. I recommend it to people looking for a lesson-filled book. The young ones will learn to believe in themselves and take things easy. The older ones will learn to be patient with the young ones. I recommend it to men because they will learn to treat women properly. Also, women will learn the importance of financial independence and high self-esteem from this book too.

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The Canary Journal: a novel
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Amy Luman
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Post by Amy Luman »

I can relate to Jolie’s efforts to find an acceptable mate. He doesn’t have to be just right for her, but her family (usually) must also approve. The career struggle is also familiar.
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