Julie's Review: Somewhere Over the Sun

Summary: Alan, a spirited young writer with a wandering imagination has discovered that the stories he writes are suddenly coming to life. At the suggestion of his loving father, Alan embarks on a quixotic journey to visit friends and use his new found gift to write them all happier lives. There are a few limitations to his power; he can't cure diseases, he can't summon pots of gold, and headaches accompany each reality-infused story he lives out, but the appreciative and optimistic Alan is not deterred from creating fantastical characters and story lines to give his friends more literary lives. ~amazon.com

Review: I can't say that I loved Somewhere Over the Sun as much as Alice did. I liked it but never was overwhelmed by the book. I thought that it was an intriguing and interesting way to write a  novel. It was like reading a book within a book. For a relatively short novel, I thought it was a bit too wordy.

I also never truly connected with Alan but I still appreciated what he was doing for his friends. At times I felt that he was living life through writing stories and yet he still managed to experience life as well. It is apparent that Alan had a gift for story telling from a very young age and his new gift just enhanced his writing.

I did like that some of the chapters were told from the view of the people he was visiting and how they viewed what was going on instead of just Alan's view point.I loved Alan's dad, Robert's, chapter. This is where I fell that Mr. Alsaid wrote his best chapters. I really admired Robert and how he handled being a single father. It was apparent that everything he did was to make a better life for himself and Alan.

Mr. Alsaid has a gift of storytelling and I will more than likely check out his other novels in the future, when he writes them.


Final Take: 3.5/5

Alice's Review
Alice's Q&A with Mr. Alsaid