Greetings travelers, and welcome to a new stop in the Otherworld. We’re actually spending some time in a familiar world today, but across different points in time, which ought to be pretty fun. If that sounds like it might be up your alley, dive into The four lives of Robinson Appleson.
Author Véronique Iswery Pasquet does a remarkable job balancing immersion and self-awareness in her debut, The four lives of Robinson Appleson. Her book is playful and humorous where it needs to be, but it also tells a compelling story that will leave readers hooked from beginning to end. Set up almost like a pseudo biography, the narrator explains their multiple reincarnations, and what they’ve encountered throughout each of these existences. It’s a challenging notion, but one Pasquet meets head on, and easily conquers. This is thanks to the aforementioned narrator, who has a witty presence, as well as a tone and cadence that makes the book feel conversational in all the right places.
Can a killer turn a new leaf?
Robinson Appleson is one lucky bastard!
We get only one life. He has had four so far.
And it’s not like he deserved them, either.
In his first life, he was a Porcian prince who was known to devour humans. His obsession with eternal youth and beauty made him addicted to the
taste of human flesh, much to the dismay and terror of his kingdom’s subjects.
Reborn as a rich kid in Beverly Hills, California, he has no recollection of his past life and thinks of himself as a blessing to mankind. He holds no respect or feelings for women and treats them like objects. It leads to everyone avoiding him like the plague.
His third life is different, as he is born as a jaguar in the African savannah. Filled with new wisdom, he fights against his instinct to hunt while the smell of prey drives him mad with hunger.
His last life lands him in the body of a beautiful but poverty-stricken Black woman who was also unfaithful!
Each of his lives has been different from the last, except that it looked as if he was doomed to make the same blunders. The woman he loves dies in his arms in all of his lives, because of a curse placed on his family.
Having been selfish and cruel in his previous lives, he attempts to change this forever. Using a range of tricks learned from Oscar, his mentor, he hopes to suppress and destroy the evil lurking inside him.
Would he manage to escape from his fate?
Pasquet’s command over her story means that she can make even the snobby folks like the Applesons seem appealing, but it is the subtle storyline that exists beneath the braggadocio that will really keep readers enthralled. The author’s exploration of the past lives is catching as well, and it keeps the story feeling fresh, allowing surprises to flitter across the funnier stories in some very meaningful ways. Before readers know it, they’ll reach the end of a very cheeky tale, but they’ll certainly be hungry for more from this compelling author. Check out The four lives of Robinson Appleson by Véronique Iswery Pasquet on Amazon today!
