Lemonade Revealed - Will Chluho

★★

Read : February 2014

"FICTION: A boy in search of his true father regained consciousness on an unknown island to the curious stares of 'three old men': a warrior, a trader, and a priest. The lost boy would later discover through a mysterious man - a skinhead with an eye tattoo on his neck - that one among the trio could be the father he had been looking for...
NON-FICTION: This 'little yellow book' is a place to rediscover such good old-fashioned gems as 'faith' and 'hope' under the demythologized light of human reason. It is a timely examination on the possibility and probability of a divine existent vis-a-vis a real world of human frailties and frictions."

Lemonade Revealed follows the tales of 5 rather different characters on the Island of Ahio; Father Rene, spiritual, calm and knowledgeable but who needs to take regular breaks from his community for his own sanity; Barnett, a rather crooked trader overtaken by his own greed and exuberance; Ahiga, a fine warrior who lacks trust; Pahi'Umi'Umi, a hermit and outcast viewed as a threat by the rest of the Island and the boy, Iota, who washes up on the shore after a shipwreck with no memory of who he is or where he has come from.

I really wanted to love Chluho's 'little yellow book.' I'm not normally overly bothered by the outward appearance of a book (never judge a book by it's cover and all that..) but Lemonade Revealed left me expectant of something rather grand. It's 'bible like' binding and presentation definitely delivered a few wise words that will stick with me, but I don't think it quite lived up to it's appearance and the claims it made in the non-fiction part of it's blurb. For me, it just fell a little flat.

I think the main issue I had whilst reading Lemonade Revealed was that I just couldn't quite get into the story. Although Iota's amnesia and discovery of himself was interesting there was far too much skiting around characters and timelines for me to be able to properly connect with anyone. I found it very confusing and, at times, really didn't know if I was reading about present day or past events and I think it would really benefit the book if Chluho had been able to make these differences in time much clearer (italics for past events perhaps?)

The novel picked up a bit during the 2nd half of the book when Iota started his quest of discovery and knowledge about himself and his past life and I liked that the ending was left rather open, leaving me able to draw my own ideas of what may have happened to all of the characters and the Island of Ahio.

The storyline is broken up by rather a few philosophical and meaningful speeches by the characters (mainly Father Rene and Pahi). These are done cleverly and fit into the story well but hold enough weight for me, as the reader, to be able to take them out of the context of the book and apply them to myself and my own story. There were quite a few wise words said that still resonate now, even after finishing the book and having started another novel.

I'm a bit sad to give this book just two stars, because there was a good storyline within the pages...it just wasn't brought to life as well as it could have been, for me at least. Unfortunately, it just didn't capture me like it should have.

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was kindly sent to me via Goodreads First Reads to read and review. All thoughts and opinions on the book are my own.