Raindrops

Author Ayo Ajumobi provided an ecopy of Raindrops for review.

I have very mixed emotions about how to approach my review of Raindrops. Fortunately, here on my blog I do not use a star system, but other sites want such a rating. When I post this review on those sites I will try to bypass stars. Either way I go will be less than representative of my reaction to this book.

"Reaction" is the most appropriate word I can use here: I had a visceral reaction to Raindrops.

First, the positive reaction. The story started out as a nice idyllic setting involving a forest world. Ayo Ajumobi does a wonderful job of painting the verbal picture. The characters are well presented. The story line hooks the reader. Very well written.

Now the other reaction. A little back story; the description of Raindrops on Amazon presents a story of nature, wildlife and the arrival of humans. Fair enough. The Goodreads description starts out with the sentence..."Guilt can be a good thing...". That is the crux of my reaction, Raindrops paints humans as basically an evil that is destroying the harmony of the planet. Now, I am not an environmentalist, but I do believe in living responsibly as it pertains to nature. But I do not give credence to the idea that an anthropomorphic tree has equal moral standing to a human. I do live in a house made mostly of wood, I have sat around a campfire burning wood for the sheer enjoyment of the moment. Guess what, I don't feel the least bit guilty!

Raindrops, in the end hit me as just another attempt to make the reader feel guilty for existing. I am a man, I am white, and I am a human. As I recall I was not consulted or given a choice as to whether this was what I wanted. I am quite tired of people pointing the finger of accusation at anybody based on criteria they had no say in. Had the author been interested in presenting a story that could help the situation perhaps he could have included ways for that to happen in his book. As it is all he provided was another example of finger pointing.

"Guilt can be a good thing...", not this time. Raindrops by Ayo Ajumobi is a well written book even if I find the premise faulty, but I can't recommend it.

Mike