Some of my reflective moments have me thinking about this question. I wonder, what would become of me when I die? Is there a legacy that people will hold on to and remember me for when I’m gone? Questions, questions. I have no answer for these questions just as I have no answer for the time of my departure from this world. Aviara is a world of questions and while some where answered, some were left for we readers to figure out.
As I stepped into the world of Anthony Mukoro again in this book, I am faced with his resignation and tiredness in contrast to how much he burned with fervour in Odufa. Let me backtrack a little. Tony’s story started in Odufa, the prequel to Aviara. In it, he found love and lost it. His sojourn brought him back home to his birth place, Aviara. He is home now and is suffering from a terminal disease, which he has somewhat accepted in good stride. He has a past that haunts him daily and in it lies his guilt and regrets. These two eat him up just as much as his illness does.
Written in two parts, Anthony’s story spans his unraveling of the evil ravaging his hometown, Aviara, and how this resolution set him on the part of freeing himself from his painful past. He meets Zara, his childhood friend, who becomes his nurse. Their fate is intertwined in the mystery behind their childhood. Each character seeks meaning to events that has happened to them in the past and struggle to find a balance in their present world. Amidst this, they manage to find romance and friendship, but mostly friendship. Anthony, resigned initially to his fate, begins to hold on to life after coming to terms with his past. From visiting charlatans, entertaining Herbicide (a character), to traveling to another continent for healing, he is complacent until he has a out-of-the-body experience.
Read the rest of this review on Thebookishlola’s Blog.