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The Journey to Santosa
A powerful story of conflicting ideals that come in unexpected ways to a crossroads of righteousness and understanding. Each engrossing scene will catapult you excitedly to the next as tensions build and secrets come to light.
Santosa is defined as a state of complete acceptance or contentment. Everyone has different ideas about what it would take to bring happiness or find joy. So how do you define success? Growing up in a rural mountain village, Alex believes he knows. He plots a course for his future working and building a life with Rosa in a community that has always felt like family to him. With patience and determination, he sees his plans moving forward.
Upheaval in Alex’s country prompts a series of events that remove him from this idyllic life. Warring visions of what constitutes success interrupt his own. His journey unfolds far from home and the life that he’s planned. His desire to return to that life has him traveling to his nation’s capital, where unlikely relationships cast him reluctantly into the halls of power. When opposing forces depend on each other, their ability to understand and come to terms with each other’s actions and their own determines their success.
Santosa is defined as a state of complete acceptance or contentment. Everyone has different ideas about what it would take to bring happiness or find joy. So how do you define success? Growing up in a rural mountain village, Alex believes he knows. He plots a course for his future working and building a life with Rosa in a community that has always felt like family to him. With patience and determination, he sees his plans moving forward.
Upheaval in Alex’s country prompts a series of events that remove him from this idyllic life. Warring visions of what constitutes success interrupt his own. His journey unfolds far from home and the life that he’s planned. His desire to return to that life has him traveling to his nation’s capital, where unlikely relationships cast him reluctantly into the halls of power. When opposing forces depend on each other, their ability to understand and come to terms with each other’s actions and their own determines their success.
444 pages, Paperback
Published July 6, 2023
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3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 25, 2024
TW: Domestic abuse, sexual assault, torture, systemic oppression
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The Journey to Santosa is a VERY strong debut novel from D. M. Prior. It deals with themes of systematic oppression, indigenous rights, criticism of the prison system, unfair taxation, and abuse of power. It may sound like A LOT to put into one book, and it is, but so far there are 2 other books planned and I could not be happier.
I'll be honest, I was not sure what to expect when i picked this book up. I'd read the blurb. I'd had conversations with the author. And I still was not expecting the book I read. What starts off as a simple story of love and struggle in a village becomes an accidental spy-political-thriller novel pretty quickly. Alex is thrust into the world of espionage by happenstance and honestly, the last few pages makes me wonder just HOW MUCH of it was coincidence. My brain is racing with conspiracy theories. I cannot wait for book 2.
The only real criticism I have of the book is that the dialog in the beginning feels a little exposition heavy and awkward. It wasn't a deal breaker for me and honestly, a part of me is glad the exposition was there. The world building in this novel is intense and rich, and the dense politics requires a fair bit of exposition dumping. But at about the 40pg mark, I was thoroughly hooked and would countdown the minutes at work until I could pickup the book again. And the writing after that point is truly remarkable. There were so many times I was sighing over how beautifully something was written. So, if you're struggling with the dialog in the first few chapters, I promise, it is SO worth it to push through.
One of the major themes of this book is workers rights and for the first time in a long time, it didn't feel like lip service. For quite a stretch of the book, Alex is a waiter and you can tell Prior has a respect for the worker. She writes the job with such respect and dignity that I, someone who does NOT thrive in customer facing jobs, wanted to go get a job as a waiter as I read this. There is also a very strong voice for the worker in this novel. I felt seen. I felt empowered. I wanted to take up arms with the separatists as I read.
In books like this, oftentimes characters are incidental in regards to the plot. They tend to be any-man types. Not so here. There are some really touching and beautiful moments between characters and there are horrifying and stark interactions as well. For every moment of love, there is a moment of horror. The upper echelons are given as much humanity as the downtrodden. But, Prior does a great job of never excusing the actions of the people enacting oppression on the oppressed. They are human, but they are not absolved. I was worried about that when Alex started becoming entrenched in the upper crust of Santosa.
Prior also does some really smart, subtle things in her writing. Early in, betrothed Alex and Rosa are torn apart. By weilding situational irony and carefully crafted structure, Prior ups the tension by having them just miss each other several times. I am at turns heartbroken and impressed by this.
Overall, this book is WELL WORTH picking up. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for book 2 because I cannot guess where this is going. I am forever grateful I read this book.
.
.
.
The Journey to Santosa is a VERY strong debut novel from D. M. Prior. It deals with themes of systematic oppression, indigenous rights, criticism of the prison system, unfair taxation, and abuse of power. It may sound like A LOT to put into one book, and it is, but so far there are 2 other books planned and I could not be happier.
I'll be honest, I was not sure what to expect when i picked this book up. I'd read the blurb. I'd had conversations with the author. And I still was not expecting the book I read. What starts off as a simple story of love and struggle in a village becomes an accidental spy-political-thriller novel pretty quickly. Alex is thrust into the world of espionage by happenstance and honestly, the last few pages makes me wonder just HOW MUCH of it was coincidence. My brain is racing with conspiracy theories. I cannot wait for book 2.
The only real criticism I have of the book is that the dialog in the beginning feels a little exposition heavy and awkward. It wasn't a deal breaker for me and honestly, a part of me is glad the exposition was there. The world building in this novel is intense and rich, and the dense politics requires a fair bit of exposition dumping. But at about the 40pg mark, I was thoroughly hooked and would countdown the minutes at work until I could pickup the book again. And the writing after that point is truly remarkable. There were so many times I was sighing over how beautifully something was written. So, if you're struggling with the dialog in the first few chapters, I promise, it is SO worth it to push through.
One of the major themes of this book is workers rights and for the first time in a long time, it didn't feel like lip service. For quite a stretch of the book, Alex is a waiter and you can tell Prior has a respect for the worker. She writes the job with such respect and dignity that I, someone who does NOT thrive in customer facing jobs, wanted to go get a job as a waiter as I read this. There is also a very strong voice for the worker in this novel. I felt seen. I felt empowered. I wanted to take up arms with the separatists as I read.
In books like this, oftentimes characters are incidental in regards to the plot. They tend to be any-man types. Not so here. There are some really touching and beautiful moments between characters and there are horrifying and stark interactions as well. For every moment of love, there is a moment of horror. The upper echelons are given as much humanity as the downtrodden. But, Prior does a great job of never excusing the actions of the people enacting oppression on the oppressed. They are human, but they are not absolved. I was worried about that when Alex started becoming entrenched in the upper crust of Santosa.
Prior also does some really smart, subtle things in her writing. Early in, betrothed Alex and Rosa are torn apart. By weilding situational irony and carefully crafted structure, Prior ups the tension by having them just miss each other several times. I am at turns heartbroken and impressed by this.
Overall, this book is WELL WORTH picking up. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for book 2 because I cannot guess where this is going. I am forever grateful I read this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2024
The charectors dialog between each other seemed a little choppy, but it didn't take long to get used to it. The storyline was good and captivating (having money and power versus not), and seeing the development of the characters became a page turner. I found it was worth the small push needed to get used to the dialog and can't wait for the next book in the series.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews