What do you think?
Rate this book
Every Step Back
For fans of Ian McEwan, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Khaled Hosseini, this captivating, heart wrenching, and romantic tale of the sacrifices we all have to make in life despite their outcomes will establish Masoud Torabi as one of the best new authors to watch for today!
All Hope Was Lost. But Not Love.
For Michelle, her grandfather Franz had always been a safe haven. But while on his deathbed, Michelle promises Franz to travel to Berlin after his passing to find an unknown heir to his millions. Unbeknownst to Michelle, she uncovers the forbidden and fledgling affair Franz shared with a beautiful Jewish girl at the dawn of World War 2 Nazi Germany.
On February 25, 2014, Masoud publishes Every Step Back to move the world and introduce them to his ultra-romantic writing style.
All Hope Was Lost. But Not Love.
For Michelle, her grandfather Franz had always been a safe haven. But while on his deathbed, Michelle promises Franz to travel to Berlin after his passing to find an unknown heir to his millions. Unbeknownst to Michelle, she uncovers the forbidden and fledgling affair Franz shared with a beautiful Jewish girl at the dawn of World War 2 Nazi Germany.
On February 25, 2014, Masoud publishes Every Step Back to move the world and introduce them to his ultra-romantic writing style.
238 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2014
179 people want to read
About the author
Masoud Torabi
5 books5 followersMasoud Torabi was born in Tehran, Iran in 1990. While growing up in the rural streets of Tehran, Masoud developed an urge to write short stories dealing with romance, family and social issues, and various societal topics.
It was not until Masoud was introduced to the James Cameron classic Titanic in 1997 that his path to fiction writing was put front and center. "Titanic, especially the scene where Rose was being lowered into the lifeboat and she was seeing the love of her life for perhaps the last time was so heartbreaking and life-changing for me that I promised myself at that point I want to portray the same type of magic to a great audience," Masoud notes.
After his family migrated to the United States in 2002, his writing journey continued to grow as he began conducting several high-school themed writing projects. In 2007, Masoud entered Arizona State University as a student of the Film and Media Production program and concentrated mainly on screenwriting. "Being exposed to the richness of motion pictures allowed me to truly develop a cinematic viewpoint on what writing should be. You should be able to not only see the characters, but feel, smell, and touch them as well - and that is what I try to do in everything I write."
In 2011 Masoud began developing a screenplay project titled Every Step Back that ignited an indescribable passion to indulge in the art of fiction writing. Soon after completing Every Step Back in its filmic form, Masoud ventured into adapting the screenplay into novel form. "It was a story I could not quite let go of. It represents so much of who I am and the places I have been. It is 100% me."
On February 25, 2014, Masoud published Every Step Back, moved the world and introduce them to his ultra-romantic writing style. "The success of my first novel allowed me to reflect back on my artistry and reevaluate my vision for where I want to go as an author and as a person. It changed my life!"
While fans have called Every Step Back "elegantly written and cogent in description", Masoud continues to develop his repertoir as an author, presenting his first ever short stories collection titled "Underneath Our Broken Wings: a Collection of Short Stories from Our Times & Beyond, Vol. 1", to be released on June 9, 2015.
It was not until Masoud was introduced to the James Cameron classic Titanic in 1997 that his path to fiction writing was put front and center. "Titanic, especially the scene where Rose was being lowered into the lifeboat and she was seeing the love of her life for perhaps the last time was so heartbreaking and life-changing for me that I promised myself at that point I want to portray the same type of magic to a great audience," Masoud notes.
After his family migrated to the United States in 2002, his writing journey continued to grow as he began conducting several high-school themed writing projects. In 2007, Masoud entered Arizona State University as a student of the Film and Media Production program and concentrated mainly on screenwriting. "Being exposed to the richness of motion pictures allowed me to truly develop a cinematic viewpoint on what writing should be. You should be able to not only see the characters, but feel, smell, and touch them as well - and that is what I try to do in everything I write."
In 2011 Masoud began developing a screenplay project titled Every Step Back that ignited an indescribable passion to indulge in the art of fiction writing. Soon after completing Every Step Back in its filmic form, Masoud ventured into adapting the screenplay into novel form. "It was a story I could not quite let go of. It represents so much of who I am and the places I have been. It is 100% me."
On February 25, 2014, Masoud published Every Step Back, moved the world and introduce them to his ultra-romantic writing style. "The success of my first novel allowed me to reflect back on my artistry and reevaluate my vision for where I want to go as an author and as a person. It changed my life!"
While fans have called Every Step Back "elegantly written and cogent in description", Masoud continues to develop his repertoir as an author, presenting his first ever short stories collection titled "Underneath Our Broken Wings: a Collection of Short Stories from Our Times & Beyond, Vol. 1", to be released on June 9, 2015.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 26, 2014
The author did get the romance aspect of this novel down very well. As evidenced by what I've read on the author's webpage and in the personalized book inscription, it's very evident that the author feels deeply and strives to make the love affairs of his characters vibrant and alive. Success was met. The two couples supported each other brilliantly and I could feel the emotion coming off the page. I think I felt this all the more in the modern couple of Michelle and Justin, probably because of the tragic circumstances of familial loss and the support from each other as they fulfill his last wish. Either way, the romantic stuff in this novel excelled beautifully.
The author did a fantastic job in world-building as well. He's able to describe a scene and transport his readers to Nazi-era Berlin or modern Germany with equal aplomb. The reader doesn't get bogged down with over-descriptive paragraphs nor do they get underwhelmed with straight dialogue sections and single sentence paragraphs. Everything is kept in an even keel that I enjoyed immensely.
Now for the downer parts... There were aspects of this novel that I did find a bit of a downer or just downright irritating. There were times where I felt that the characters were a bit too perfect or there would be the other side of the spectrum when they would do something incredibly stupid (Franz shouting in the street of Nazi Germany and what he shouted, I'm looking at you!!). This book could also do with some serious editing. An overabundance of capitalized words and the mixing up of names made me stop a few times, just sigh in frustration, and then continue.
If you're looking for a romance, you've found the right book. The author does a fantastic job of bringing to life his characters and their relationships. He also excels at setting the scene where these romantic feelings are taking place. However, he falls down on the job with some serious editing issues as well as having his characters sometimes fall too far on the ends on the perfect/stupid scale. So, all in all, a middle of the road novel with some potential. Maybe getting an editor might take care of some of the down sides? I don't know. But I did enjoy the read.
Note: Book received through GoodReads FirstReads program for free in exchange for honest review.
The author did a fantastic job in world-building as well. He's able to describe a scene and transport his readers to Nazi-era Berlin or modern Germany with equal aplomb. The reader doesn't get bogged down with over-descriptive paragraphs nor do they get underwhelmed with straight dialogue sections and single sentence paragraphs. Everything is kept in an even keel that I enjoyed immensely.
Now for the downer parts... There were aspects of this novel that I did find a bit of a downer or just downright irritating. There were times where I felt that the characters were a bit too perfect or there would be the other side of the spectrum when they would do something incredibly stupid (Franz shouting in the street of Nazi Germany and what he shouted, I'm looking at you!!). This book could also do with some serious editing. An overabundance of capitalized words and the mixing up of names made me stop a few times, just sigh in frustration, and then continue.
If you're looking for a romance, you've found the right book. The author does a fantastic job of bringing to life his characters and their relationships. He also excels at setting the scene where these romantic feelings are taking place. However, he falls down on the job with some serious editing issues as well as having his characters sometimes fall too far on the ends on the perfect/stupid scale. So, all in all, a middle of the road novel with some potential. Maybe getting an editor might take care of some of the down sides? I don't know. But I did enjoy the read.
Note: Book received through GoodReads FirstReads program for free in exchange for honest review.
Read
May 6, 2014I won this autographed book from Masoud Torabi in a goodreads giveaway. It's the story of a woman who travels to Berlin at her grandfather's last request, to find his long lost love and give her his fortune. On his death bed, Franz tells Michelle of the young Jewish girl he fell in love with during World War II while he was studying in Berlin. There's a disturbing scene where Franz has to make an impossible decision that I did not see coming. I can appreciate the time and research that went into writing the details about Berlin during the early 1940's. The story is written by a true romantic.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews