Trials of Life (Journey to the West) [Kindle Edition]

The Joker in the "Dark Knight". Dr Hannibal Lecter in "Red Dragon, The Judge from Blood Meridian. Ms. Kirk creation, description and actions of Dr. Richard Appleton will tremor your spine.

"Trials of Life" is the second book in the Journey to the West series. The series main character Pearl, married, content and living in the UK. Pearl's happiness is quickly erased when she finds out about the death of Dr. Richard Appleton and this revelation brings back painful memories of her difficult journey. This when the book makes an imprint and were Ms.Kirk injects the vile Dr. Appleton into the reader's conscious.

The book is well written and subjective

Ms. Kirk is a character creative monster and that is something you can't teach. Five stars

The reason why my overall rating is four stars - I wanted more from Pearl.

Enjoyed it very much.

"Trials of Life" is the second book in the Journey to the West trilogy by author Junyung Kirk. Like the first book - The Same Moon - this is not the type of book I would normally read, but Ms. Kirk asked me if I would be so kind as to read and provide reviews for her books and I was happy to do so.

"Trials of Life" was a much more difficult book than the first book in the series. While "The Same Moon" is focused on Pearl's point-of-view exclusively, this book changes point of view frequently and without notice, which made it a bit difficult to follow who was "talking" to the reader. (Note: At author's request I provided editing to this book and the copy you get will hopefully have had this done - we have added information to make it easier to tell who is "speaking" at any given time) Also, the bulk of the book has to do with a truly despicable person named Dick Appleton, and having to spend so much time in his head made me want to scrub my skin with pumice and then pour lye into my eyes - he was really awful. Of course, the mere fact that Ms. Kirk was able to provoke such an extreme reaction in me shows that she knows exactly how to create a character that is sure to stick in the mind of the reader. While there are some issues with grammar and proper sentence structure, overall the writing style is excellent and I was duly impressed. (Note: Hopefully I have helped Ms. Kirk fix this, too) The main reason I marked off to only 4 stars was due to the voice confusion. (Note: I hope my changes will allow you to give it 5 stars!)

Overall I've found myself increasingly intrigued by both China and Scotland as a result of these books and would love to travel to both countries and have a chance to experience their cultures myself. I can recommend this book for those who enjoy a story about rising above and overcoming adversity - if that is you, definitely check it out.

Trials of Life is the sequel to The Same Moon, which I truly enjoyed, and I'd highly recommend be read prior to this one, as it follows the main character - Pearl, in her quest to the West.

The style of writing is different in this one with shifting POVs. This goes against most of the conventional rules I've learned about writing, yet, once I settled into the story, this was not an issue as the plot drew me in.

We learn of Pearl's education in the West ---not all of it is good, and this story centers around a particularly bad part of it. The underlying theme, however, still touches on the immigrant experience for many who move to a new country in search of "a better life." Pearl learns that although some things are better, the road is not all welcoming.

This is a well-told story of Pearl's trials in a new world, and how along the way, she anchors herself to her new home with what is really important.