DNF Review: The Confessions of X

The Confessions of X by Suzanne M. Wolfe, January 26, 2016. 304 pages. Published by Thomas Nelson. Source: Publisher.

Before he became the sainted church father of Christianity, Augustine of Hippo began a love affair with a young woman whose name has been lost to history. They were together for over thirteen years, and she bore him a son. This is her story.

She met Augustine in Carthage when she was just seventeen years old. She was the daughter of a tile-layer. He was a student and the heir to a fortune. They fell in love, despite her lower station and Augustine’s dreams of greatness. Their passion was strong, but the only position in his life that was available to her was as his concubine. When Augustine’s ambition and family compelled him to disown his relationship with the her, X was thrust into a devastating reality as she was torn from her son and sent away to her native Africa.

First Sentence

There is a well in the courtyard where I sit that is not yet dry and at daybreak a young man in dark tunic comes to draw water.

Well, it seems that I have yet another book that I just could not get into. This will be really short because I just don't have much to say about it.

• Sometimes, when I'm bored, I'll start reading through unsolicited books that arrive for review consideration. If I'm lucky, it'll turn out to be interesting enough to see through the end. Unfortunately, that was not the case with The Confessions of X. 

• In theory, it could have been interesting to see what happened to the mysterious woman that St. Augustine loved before devoting himself to God and the church. Yet, it just was not something I could get into. The writing and storytelling were, to be blunt, really awkward and not captivating. I don't know, there was just something amiss with the way the writing flowed; it just felt weird and liked the sentences were oddly structured. More than the plot, it was the author's writing style that turned me away from delving further into the story. I even broke my reading rule and flipped through the book to see if the writing style improved in any way that would make me wish to give it another chance. 

• As for the plot, I said above that the storytelling was not interesting enough to grab my attention. Personally, if you're going to write a book about some historical person, why not write about someone that's more known; sure an obscure person gives an author more leeway with telling the story howsoever they wish to bend it. Yet, writing about X just seemed a little grasping. 

Sidenote: Though if you want to read another confessions book, St. Augustine's The Confessions is brilliant!! 

Final Verdict: The Confessions of X- Awkward writing, made this a total no for me.

The Confessions of X earns

A copy of this book was received for review consideration. All thoughts are my own.