{"id":6584,"date":"2026-06-14T17:29:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T17:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6584"},"modified":"2026-06-14T17:29:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T17:29:33","slug":"review-intrinsic-by-w-h-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6584","title":{"rendered":"Review: Intrinsic by W.H.B."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Synopsis:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christopher Franklin, the proud and only son of a New York literary royalty, from birth he is built and destined to nothing less than greatness. One day, out of disappointment, he makes the dangerous decision to change and turn into someone who is not. He consciously decides to entangle his life with a miserable soul. Abruptly he learns his first lesson from life, miserable souls only bring misery, with one act he will lose everything, in one evening he will be reduced to nothing. No greatness, he becomes a nobody.<\/p>\n

Years passed by and Chris settled into his life as a taxi driver, Brooklyn is home, and the miserable soul is still around him and has gotten more miserable with the years. This time is different, he is a dad of two beautiful daughters with unconditional love, their safety is his new purpose in life, nothing and no one is above his girls. He also discovers a dear friendship with his neighbor and confidante, a place of solace.<\/p>\n

One night, without warning, a triggered chain reaction will take Chris into a ride of a lifetime, nothing will be ever the same, lies and secrets are uncovered, he was played and fooled, he didn\u2019t know anything about who he is and, once again, he is reduced to nothing, rock bottom is where he belongs. Suddenly, out of nowhere, greatness at last, he has the privilege to show who he is, royalty. He will rise while making sure others will fall, miserably.<\/p>\n

Life is fair, but not for all.<\/p>\n

Favorite Lines:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLife is fair\u2014but not for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPay it forward. At some point we all need help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what, things have to return to where they naturally belong\u2014a universal rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t predict the future. I don\u2019t want to, and I don\u2019t need to. I am simply ready and prepared for whatever it throws at me. The only thing I know is no matter what it brings, I will always be the one who decides when and how it\u2019s going to end. Simple control. Control is when you never fail to punctuate the present moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

My Opinion:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.<\/p>\n

Intrinsic<\/em> immediately stands out as a very ambitious and emotionally driven novel. From the opening pages, the book throws readers into a vividly detailed version of New York City that feels alive with movement, history, and personality, and there\u2019s an unmistakable sincerity behind the writing that kept me engaged. The narration is rich and reflective, almost cinematic at times, and the story quickly establishes itself as something much larger than a straightforward family drama. It\u2019s interested in morality, destiny, identity, sacrifice, and what truly defines a good person, all through the life of Chris Franklin, a taxi driver carrying far more emotional weight and history than people around him realize.<\/p>\n

What stood out most to me was Chris himself. He\u2019s written almost like an old-fashioned idealized protagonist: endlessly kind, thoughtful, generous, intelligent, patient, hardworking, devoted to his children, and seemingly able to connect deeply with everyone he encounters. In lesser hands that could have made him feel flat, but the novel balances it somewhat by surrounding him with emotional tension and instability, especially within his marriage to Mary. The family scenes were honestly the strongest part of the book for me because they feel emotionally loaded even during ordinary conversations. There\u2019s this constant undercurrent of volatility in the household where Chris is trying to preserve warmth and tenderness for his daughters while navigating Mary\u2019s anger and emotional instability. Those scenes created much more tension than the larger philosophical passages.<\/p>\n

The book also has a huge sense of nostalgia attached to New York City. The opening chapters almost function as a love letter to the city in the late 2000s and to a version of urban life that feels increasingly distant. Taxi driving, neighborhood delis, late-night cigarettes on fire escapes, crowded avenues, old bookstores, political conversations about Obama\u2019s election, family-owned buildings, and references to pre-smartphone daily life all combine to create a very specific atmosphere. Even when the writing style becomes (intentionally) overly elaborate, there\u2019s still a genuine affection for the setting that makes the world feel lived in. The flashbacks to Chris\u2019s privileged teenage years also help explain why he feels emotionally divided between who he used to be and who he became.<\/p>\n

What stayed with me most after finishing Intrinsic<\/em> was how emotionally sincere it felt. The book wears its heart on its sleeve in a way that feels increasingly rare, especially in modern fiction that often leans detached or overly cynical. Chris\u2019s love for his children, his constant desire to protect the people around him, and the lingering sense that something larger is shaping the course of his life all give the story a strong emotional core. Even during quieter moments, there\u2019s a feeling that the novel is building toward something meaningful. It\u2019s the kind of book that is less focused on rushing from plot point to plot point and more interested in exploring the emotional weight behind the choices people make and the lives they build.<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, Intrinsic<\/em> feels like a character-driven literary drama disguised as a philosophical thriller. It\u2019s ambitious, emotional, reflective, and there\u2019s enough heart underneath it that I stayed invested in Chris and his family. Readers who enjoy emotionally heavy family sagas, morally driven protagonists, reflective narration, and stories centered around sacrifice, destiny, and identity will probably connect strongly with this one. It feels less interested in realism and more interested in exploring what kind of person someone chooses to become when life repeatedly tests them. Happy reading!<\/p>\n

Check out\u00a0Intrinsic\u00a0<\/em>here!<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Synopsis: Christopher Franklin, the proud and only son of a New York literary royalty, from birth he is built and destined to nothing less than greatness. One day, out of disappointment, he makes the dangerous decision to change and turn into someone who is not. He consciously decides to entangle his life with a miserable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}