Tuesday, July 9, 2019

I Am Marcus Fox by Bryon Cahill | A Book Review

I Am Marcus Fox by Bryon Cahill | A Book Review by iamnotabookworm!


It's Monday again. Those in the US or those working for US companies, we had a long weekend. I didn't go out of town. I just stayed home and relaxed since I was feeling under the weather. My all-cure for all ailments is sleep. I did just that and watched movies and Korean dramas online. I was also able to write two reviews. Good, but not that good. I was hoping to write more but I felt so uninspired. Anyway, here is another one.

The book - I Am Marcus Fox is an action-adventure. That's what it seemed at first. It seemed like a real-life story but might be too impossible to believe. It's somewhere between fiction and real life. Some events are just too plausible to be actually true. The book started really good. How Marcus Fox was abandoned by his parents and got miraculously saved and adopted by an African couple. He grew up to be a strong man loved by his adoptive parents like their own and then tragedy struck again. It was going well until he got to the part where he battled a shark which felt too unbelievable. I was doubtful about that part. There were other similar scenes in the story which will make you question - "Is this a real story or pure fiction born out of the author's imagination?" In a way, I got confused because in the first few parts you were made to believe that this is a tragic story of a boy who had the misfortune of being born out of crazy and criminal parents. Then along the way, the story seems to blend together reality and fantasy because then Marcus suddenly does these feats that you can only see in the movies. It suddenly felt like a bunch of kids talking about a movie they've watched together and were not satisfied with it that they then decided that the main character should have done this and that. Injecting feats that require supernatural or superhuman abilities which is what happened here.

In a way, even if some parts bordered on impossible, it has a way of getting the reader hooked. I read it in one go. Unbelievably, I didn't put it down though I had times where I had my eyebrows raised and had wrinkles pinned on my forehead. The story has a way of pulling you in and make you root for Marcus Fox to finally have a good life. That's one of the merits of the story. You will wish all his troubles will come to an end and that he will finally live a life he deserves after all the perils and heartbreaks he has to go through. 

I give this book 3/5 sharks.The part with the shark is where I couldn't get over. It's crazy. In the end, I am still unsure if this is part-true embellished with fiction or pure fiction skirting the limits of fantasy. I am still a bit confused what to make of the story. It started really good and the bones of a really satisfying read is there but I can't seem to take it all seriously. Or maybe, it's meant to be that way. It doesn't have to be boxed into what kind of story it is. As one of the reviews on Amazon say, "It's skirting the realm of fantasy and realism." That sentence perfectly sums it up. 




Would you want to read this book? I can't answer that. As I have said, I am unsure. The beginning and some parts of the story were very solid. I just wished it was more believable. If this was meant to be a fantasy, it wasn't really hitting it. If this was just meant to feel more like an action-adventure, then it's so over-the-top. The best answer to the question is to read it yourself and tell me what you think. I may be wrong about all of it but that's how the story felt like to me. Or maybe, I just don't do well with realism like Murakami's Hear the Bird Sing. 


Truth doesn't set you free. It only turns you to dust. 
- Bryon Cahill, I am Marcus Fox - 

Thanks again, Bryon Cahill, for the review copy. Sorry, it took months for the review to come out. 





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