Onlinebookclub.org Book Reviews

” You Will – Memoirs of a Loving Father is a non-fiction book by Frank J. Melero Jr. He has lovingly written this book for his two children. His aim is to inspire them to hold on to love, hope, and faith.

Melero reflects on three of his worst experiences. He shares the fear, anxiety, pain, and anger he felt during those tumultuous periods. First, he narrates how he went through being robbed, beaten, and being held hostage in his own vehicle. That episode in itself was testing, yet, it was only the beginning of his misery. His ordeal was highly publicised. This was embarrassing for him as he was viewed by the general public as a helpless, powerless victim. Second, he covers the period of grief he underwent after losing Joel, his closest cousin. Third, he tells us about his accident and recovering from suffering with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and a torn brachial plexus.

It is clear in the author’s tone that this is a book written out of love. His fatherly concern shone through its pages. Yet, it was not overly mushy. The author has a quirky, unapologetic style of writing. He threw in his own made-up or modified words and would state boldly in parentheses that those words were not typos. Thankfully, he went on to explain the meaning and significance of those words. An example of this is his modification of “words” to “wordz” (yep, not a typo in this case either). I won’t go into details about the reason behind the modification of this word, instead, I’ll let you read all about it in this touching memoir. Back to my point, his quirky, unapologetic style gave a great energy to this book, making it fun to read.

Although the book mainly covers three challenging experiences, it still manages to ooze positivity. Those depressing experiences were balanced by the author’s positive view of life. His focus while relating these experiences was to point out the silver lining beneath the cloud. For example, he explains how recovering from his brain injury taught him to rely on people and view them in a positive light.

This book is filled with advice and life lessons. The lesson I treasure most is about viewing people in a positive light. Humans can be amazing, and the author wants his children to realise this. He went on to give solid proof of this notion. For example, think about your favourite song. Think about its beat and rhythm. Think about its lyrics. Somebody had to come up with all those elements and put them together. That song was once just an idea in some brilliant person’s head. That notion blew my mind. It was gems like these that made me love this book!

The only thing I did not enjoy was that in his reflections, he would revisit certain experiences and repeat them. It gave the book an organic, relaxed flow, which I guess is justified as the book was meant for his children.

I’m glad that the author chose to share this book with the general public. Its a short book and makes for a light read. I can see no reason to rob it of a perfect rating. Thus, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. – Onlinebookclub.org”