Cover Image: The Journey

The Journey

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Member Reviews

This book was harrowing and hard to read, which is one of the reasons it has taken me so long to read.

It is one of those books that you really do need to read - especially given the news lately.

I was given a free copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

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Beautiful, heartwarming and absolutely memorable. A tense fast paced read that will keep you turning the page.

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DNF - I'm certain that people adore this book & that more readers will seek this book out but, I could not connect with the writing or the set-up of the story.

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Brilliantly written, that kept me hooked from the first page. At times I just couldn’t read quick enough to find out what was going to happen next.

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This book should be a must read for anyone interested in world events and for all high school students. It is a no holds barred account of a family’s fleeing to escape when Boko Haram invade the area where they live. The language is straightforward and has no poetical or frilly description. The language suits the urgent situation in which the family find themselves, fleeing from brutal, sadistic men who will rape and kill without a second thought.
Full of twists and unexpected turns, this story grips you from page one and doesn’t relax its grip even at the end of the book. I think this book will become a modern classic, and deservedly so.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book. I will be advising everyone I know to obtain a copy and read it.

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The Journey tells the story of 10 year old Beb, his parents and three sisters who live in the Nigerian village of Monguno. They are a close, happy family, pretty well off compared to some others in the village.
Boko Haram fighters are sweeping from town to town, village to village, forcing men to join them or die, kidnapping children to train them as soldiers and taking women as sex slaves. Any one they dont have a use for they kill. They loot houses and businesses, take what they want and burn the rest.

One day, they arrive in Monguno, and it's terrible. But Beb's father, Kalu, has planned for this. He's hidden money, food, fuel and a truck and is determined to save his family and get them away from danger. All the way to Europe.
We see the first part of the story mainly through young Beb's eyes as he sees things no child should ever see. Later in the journey we see Kalu's view, as he makes the toughest decisions he's ever had to make. And ones that go completely against his beliefs as a doctor.
This is a story told from the heart. A harrowing, emotional and brutal one. The Journey is a powerful story that I will never forget. Conrad Jones has created a masterpiece.

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What an emotional read, and such a terrible story. Boko Haram comes to a town in Northern Nigeria and causes terror. A doctor and his family are escaping, doing everything they can to get to Europe. The problem is that so is everyone else, you can't trust anyone, Boko Haram is near, and the fight for survival is on.

This is an excellent book about what is going on in Africa, and how everyone else is closing their eyes "not our problem". There is no limit to how awful and greedy people can be. There are so many twists and turns in the book that it made me breathless. I started wonder about all those people with not enough money or wit to escape. In this book the family had both. Even though they run out of luck many times, they seem to be luckier than most. Sadly, that does not mean much.

I find this book to be bold and moving. It's a book everyone should read. Highly recommended!

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The Journey by Conrad Jones is the story of Kalu, a UK-trained doctor living in Monguno, Northern Nigeria and his family. Kalu, Esse, his wife, and 4 children, become refugees when Boko Haram overruns Monguno. These early scenes are not for the faint-hearted - guns, machetes, rape, burning…

<p>Kalu has been making secret preparations for such an event and he quickly gathers his family in his surgery, distributes necessary supplies and money among them. They escape, initially at night and on foot, through the forest surrounding the town. They find the Land Cruiser that Kalu had hidden earlier and so the long, dangerous journey begins. The danger comes at the family in many forms: Boko extremists who race ahead of the invasion, corrupt border guards, other desperate refugees also trying to escape, and simple opportunists. But they're also helped by sympathetic well-wishers. Ultimately, Kalu and his family make it to the Libyan coast where they board a trawler to cross the Mediterranean to Italy. The boat capsizes, the family is separated and… I'll stop there rather than spoil the story's ending.

<p>The plot races along giving the reader a tiny sense of the desperation the family must feel as it remains just ahead of danger. The story mostly focuses on Kalu and Esse with their children's characters not being developed in as much detail as I'd have liked. It was an engaging and ultimately satisfying read with several twists and threads to keep track of and wonder about.

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5/5 Thank you to Net Galley and the author for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Before reading this book I had the naïve idea that all those poor people trying to cross the Mediterranean to get to Europe were uneducated, simple souls fleeing their plight in their home countries; looking for a better, easier life. I thought that they did not understand how large the Mediterranean was, or how unwelcome they were to most of Europe. This really opened my eyes to the fact that these are not stupid people. They are distressed and despairing, and many are honestly just trying to save their families’ lives. Also, there are many corrupt profiteers along the way who prey on their desperation to make their suffering an extraordinary ordeal, where life is cheap.

This story is fast-paced and grips you from the beginning. It follows one family as they flee from their home in Nigeria to Niger, Algeria, and beyond. The characters are well-fleshed out and you feel their angst throughout all of their trials. Again and again, their lives hang on the line as they flee across the war-torn continent; border after border, bush, towns, and desert. It is not a surprise, that they don’t all make it.

This should be required reading (perhaps in high school), so that everyone may know that these people are not a scourge upon Europe, but bona fide refugees in need of our help and understanding. Hats off to Conrad Jones for writing a gripping tale that gets a strong point across without being preachy.

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I fancied something different for a change and thought this one would be it. Unfortunately it wasn’t.
I need to get into a book from the start and for some reason, couldn’t with this one. Perhaps it is one to go back to at some point, but others waiting for their pages to be turned, this one will just have to wait.

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This is fiction. But every day people are living this nightmare, risking their lives for the safety we all take for granted. An eye opening, heartbreaking read.

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I want to thank @netgalley for the opportunity to review The Journey by Conrad Jones. This book was such an emotional read! Kalu’s town in Africa is attacked by Boko Harem. He flees with his wife and four kids to Europe where they are unwanted. Th writing was beautiful, the story hear wrenching. As a parent, you know tag you would go through anything to keep your family safe. I strongly recommend this book. It is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

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I’m a big fan of Conrad Jones so was excited to read this book. Gripping is an understatement, wow what a fantastic book. Heartbreaking, hard to read in places, full of hope. Totally sucked me in, I couldn’t put it down. It felt like I was reading at a million miles an hour I was absolutely riveted. Loved this book so much. A really great read that 100% deserves five stars.

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This book made me feel so many things, I really enjoyed reading it it was brutal, gripping, haunting, heartbreaking and powerful. I felt so many emotions whilst reading it but mainly sadness, anger and injustice. The writing is so good, charcaters are excellent and the story is great. I loved it.

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“Chaos reigned across Africa. Life was always cheap but the price had dropped to rock bottom.”

The Journey by Conrad Jones is a one-sitting book. Boko Haram has attacked Monguno, and once you start on the perilous journey with Kalu, Esse and their children you won’t be able to put this book down.

An absolutely devastating account of having to leave home, friends and family for a chance of survival. Doing everything to keep your family safe, but then even everything is not enough. A desperation of survival resulting in betrayal and danger every turn they took.

A few things really stuck with me
1. How much preparation Kalu had to undertake prior to the invasion. Imagine having that weighing on your mind!
2. How many people took advantage of their situation. Boarder crossings, Libya, etc.
3. As a doctor, Kalu started out helping everyone he could but quickly realised that helping others was not an option in his new world.

A book that makes you feel grateful for everything you have.

Many thanks to #netgalley for a copy in exchange for my views.

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Absolutely fantastic and an eye opener to current events to which much of the world appears to be turning a blind eye. Well written, unapologetically brutal and offering an excellent balance of fact and fiction, this is likely to be of interest to many readers. The characters are surprisingly well developed considering how quickly the action starts and you truly feel swept along this journey with the family.

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