Such a wonderful book – thought-provoking, poignant and utterly compelling, Mitchell’s opus re-enters the life of asocial, intelligent Luke, in five-year instalments.  Whilst initially showing signs of a presence on the disorder spectrum, as the book proceeds through his life, you find yourself starting to wonder if Luke is really all that unusual, or is it modern life, in all its mundane absurdity, which is the problem?  Without a specific storyline, we join Luke at the age of six, and whilst even at that age averse to social interaction, it is a joy to behold him discovering the small things in which he takes pleasure, such as his mini fruit and vegetable garden.  However, by the ages of 16, then 21, you do start to wonder, nervously, just which direction this book is going in – it could just as readily go in either direction, equally: toward future happiness or bleak unpleasantness.  There are points at which you can see Luke’s chances for happiness, and are wondering if he, with this apathetic and negative approach, will take them.  I won’t give too much away, but I will say that whichever life scenario Luke currently found himself in, I did find myself utterly rooting for him, and so wanting a happy ending for the boy and man, right up until the very last pages, even as the anticipation of a feel-good direction for this book was fading.

Beautifully written at every stage, Luke’s simplistic outlook to life really does emphasize the importance most of us place on the fantasy of mundane normality – the dream.  Constantly bombarded by rhetoric and instruction of how to be content and productive in the workplace; how to be successful in business; how to find happiness in religion, by those whose lives are truthfully no more fulfilling than our own, Luke is one of the more reflective ones: those of us who are just worn down by it all.  This realization of his gives “Count It All Joy” a genuine underlying tinge of sadness, which is actually preferable to the sickly sweet hyperbole of the fake lives his peers are living.

In the final chapters, this book made me want to pack it all in and go travelling, as I’m sure it will most of its readers.  Vivid and descriptive, Mitchell is a fantastic author, despite a fistful of typos which really are a shame.  But his talent is without doubt; he paints his wonderful creative writing in broad, colourful and simple strokes - yet simultaneously complex and layered – even when the tone is at its bleakest.  Looking into the pages, you can almost see and hear the national parks and the vast Rocky wilderness; the final chapters are glorious and grand. 

I simply enjoyed every moment of this book, continually intending to take a break after each section, yet not doing so, so eager was I to find out where Luke would be five years later.  “Count It All Joy” is a wonderfully moving and engrossing book, which I can’t recommend highly enough.

Reviewed by Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite

Count It All Joy by Mitchell Allen is a deeply moving story that explores the depth of trauma and its effect on the life of a young man. Luke suffers from post-traumatic stress as he grows up in a small town, and in spite of the efforts of his grandparents to bring joy to his life, he remains morbid, both at home and in school. From childhood, the seeds of loneliness and languor take root in his heart and he grows up seeking refuge in alcohol, bereft of love and a strong sense of identity. Seeking meaning, Luke leaves the familiar landscapes of his childhood behind and embarks on a quest that will either ruin or redeem him. What lies beyond the mountains and the deserts of this new experience? Can he finally reconnect with himself and humanity? The answers to these questions are stunning. 

Mitchell Allen’s protagonist is a character whose personality echoes a lot of the pain that most readers can identify with. The author captures the heart of the protagonist with clarity and infuses the story with surprising doses of realism. The protagonist is genuinely flawed and readers will find themselves often irritated by him. “I felt embarrassed to be crying on the sidewalk while I walked to school. I didn’t even know why I was crying. I just felt awful.” I wanted to understand the very depth of the ache felt by this young man and felt annoyed that he couldn’t pull himself together. But the pathos grows as the reader journeys with him from page to page. Count It All Joy is a gripping story with strong psychological underpinnings, a story with its fair share of hope and a message that is very strong; it’s balanced and deftly written in a compelling first-person narrative voice.