Book Review #59: RISE - Rejection Is a Lie By D.U. OKONKWO

Name: RISE (REJECTION IS A LIE)

Author: D.U. Okonkwo

Publishers: A Few Words Press Ltd.

ISBN: 978-0-9931617-0-1

Genre: General Fiction

Pages: 200

This is a nice book. Author DU Okonkwo had written a fantastic tale. When I was offered to review this book by the author herself, I was instantly impressed with the blurb and before that, the cover image of the book is simply stunning. As a voracious reader and reviewer I give much importance to the cover image.

So what this book is all about? Well, this book is a story of belief, it’s a story of confidence, and it’s a story of happiness. This book speaks about art and an artist. The protagonist of this book is a sculpture artist Riana Ofor. She is a self-made artist that has a dark, disappointing story to offer us, the readers. Ria was like any other girl in her younger days; she used to go out with her friends, having a happy time, having a good time with her family etc... One unfortunate incident made her life miserable. She was accidentally trapped in a fire accident and her face was half burnt. She spent a considerable amount of time in coma and she had a permanent scar on her face that traumatized her for the rest of her life. This also resulted in losing a good relationship with her father.

The plot opens to be a promising start. Ria Ofor who has made enough sculpting work but she wasn't confident enough to approach some agents to sell her work. Reluctantly one day she decides to give it a shot and calls an agent and received an appointment. This agent is called Meg Fuller, who was thrilled to see the works of Ria and in that very instant she offered her a contract and took one of Ria's works for her personal collection. Things were looking easy for Ria until the day she landed an exhibition contract with Almarez, a prestigious art gallery house. This was envied by one of her colleague Adam and he threatened openly and called her names and even went out to mock her face!!

This was the stage where the novel takes it turn. Having received these kinds of abuses, Ria was almost broke. Her nightmare days seemed to reappear before her. However she tried to forget this incident, it used to come back. She started seeing therapist who suggested her antidepressants and sleeping pills. This was not at all working for Ria, and finally she stopped her sculpting work.

So this event sets the novel for its climax. Like, how Ria came back to herself? How she was able to remove blockages from her mind? What she had done to face the reality? What actually helped her? With whom did she seek help? Was Bible the reason that she is able to reason out? How she proved herself that Rejection is a LIE? How her thoughts and reasons made her to believe that everything happens for a reason?

She indeed encounters the bible and she starts to read it to find out few of the answers. She discusses the same with her brother, her sister-in-law and her friends. She gets this realization slowly that, she soon starts to emanate the positivity out of her life. She cared less for the burnt scars on her face and she believed in what was told in bible and moved on to build her life in a more positive way.

Overall, a thought filled book. A book you can read and re-read for questions, for inspiration and a must read when you are feeling really low.

My Rating:

4/5