Review: Raven's Ladder by Jeffrey Overstreet

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.



About the Book:

A DEADLY MENACE IS BREAKING THROUGH THE GROUND. THE PEOPLE OF ABASCAR MUST ABANDON THEIR STONE REFUGE AND FLEE INTO VULNERABILITY IN THE FOREST. BUT THEIR KING HAS HAD A VISION…

Following the beacon of Auralia’s colors and the footsteps of a mysterious dream-creature, King Cal-raven has discovered a destination for his weary crowd of refugees. It’s a city only imagined in legendary tales. And it gives him hope to establish New Abascar.

But when Cal-raven is waylaid by fortune hunters, his people become vulnerable to a danger more powerful than the prowling beastmen––House Bel Amica. In this oceanside kingdom of wealth, enchantment, and beauty, deceitful Seers are all too eager to ensnare House Abascar’s wandering throng.

Even worse, the Bel Amicans have discovered Auralia’s colors, and are twisting a language of faith into a lie of corruption and control.

If there is any hope for the people of Abascar, it lies in the courage of Cyndere, daughter of Bel Amica’s queen; the strength of Jordam the beastman; and the fiery gifts of the ale boy, who is devising a rescue for prisoners of the savage Cent Regus beastmen.

As his faith suffers one devastating blow after another, Cal-raven’s journey is a perilous climb from despair to a faint gleam of hope––the vision he sees in Auralia’s colors.

My Review:

This one took me a little while to get into it. In the beginning of the story I was lost as to who the characters were and what exactly was going on. (Little did I know when I started this that it was the third in a series, I think I should have read the other two first.) There is a "glossary" of characters in the back, and through the first few chapters I referred to that quite a bit.

The story began to get pretty interesting around chapter 9. Before that there were a few good moments, but I think the meat of the story began around that chapter.

The writing was pretty good. The imagination of Overstreet is great. The descriptions of some of the creatures is good enough to give you a image of them even though they are imaginary.

The story deals greatly with faith, and a struggle between two different faiths. I think the subject of faith is difficult to write about as a story of mystical fiction, I've read a few books of the same type that were way off the mark, but Overstreet did a pretty good job with it.

I didn't love the book, but it was intriguing enough (after the first few chapters) to keep me reading. I would liked to have read the first two in the series before hand, maybe I wouldn't have been so lost in the beginning, but I think that even without the previous books there was still something to be gained from this one.

To learn more about Raven's Ladder or to find where to purchase a copy please visit Random House's website.

Review: Faithful Heart by Al Lacy

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.



About the Book:

Dottie Harper fears for her children's safety. Her husband, Jerrod, is struggling with dementia brought on by shell shock during the Civil War. It's as though there are two Jerrods locked inside him: the tender and loving Christian man she married, and a harsh man given to unpredictable fits of violent rage. Dottie loves her husband with all her heart, and with God's help, she'd determined to remain steadfast.

Dottie's sister, Breanna Baylor, is a certified medical nurse. She's headed west with a wagon train, planning to visit Dottie in California and meet her family for the first time. Along the way, Breanna meets up with wounded soldiers, contagious townspeople, and injured outlaws. Compassionate and highly skilled, she tends to their physical hurts and shares the gospel whenever she can. Litlle does she know that a life-or-death meeting awaits with her own brother-in-law.

Come alongside these two remarkable sisters, and rejoice in how God takes care of those with faithful hearts.

My Review:

This was a good story. There were times that it was predictable but I think that every story has those points. I liked Breanna very much. She was very independent and strong willed. The things that Jerrod was dealing with were very interesting. I liked how Lacy put us into his head to show us the two sides of Jerrod.

The story was pretty fast paced. I got caught up in the story a few times and didn't realize how long I had been sitting reading. I didn't finish it in one setting, but it didn't take me very long at all.

The story was unique. It dealt with a few tough subjects but that didn't make it hard to read. Everything was tastefully written and the outcomes were plausible.

Overall I liked this one. It was enjoyable and I wanted to find out what was going to happen next.

To get more information on Faithful Heart please visit Random House's website.

Review: Yesterday's Promise by Linda Lee Chaikin

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group



About the Book:

He fought to seek his fortune.
Would he lose a greater treasure: the love he left behind?

As the son of the squire of Grimston Way, aristocrat Rogan Chantry has fought hard to win his independence from Sir Julien Bley and the British South Africa Company. Now, his pursuit of a mysterious deposit of gold, marked on a map willed to him by his murdered uncle, Henry Chantry, is challenged by a new complication: the impending British colonization of South Africa. Can Sir Rogan find the gold in the midst of escalating tensions among the native tribesmen, the missionaries sent to win them, and the new colonists?

Meanwhile, Evy Varley, the woman Rogan loves back in England, is headed for a brave yet dangerous confrontation with Henry’s killer–but at what price? With so much against Rogan and Evy, a reunion seems improbable, if not impossible. Can yesterday’s promise hold them faithful to the hope of future freedom and a victorious love?

My Review:

I couldn't get into this one. The story starts out great, but after that I kept getting lost. I don't know why I didn't like this one, I really can't pinpoint it, but it just didn't work for me.

I got about half way through this one and had forgotten the intricacies and relationships between the characters. There weren't a ton of characters, but for some reason I just couldn't keep them straight.

The biggest reason why I didn't like this one is that I just felt so confused through it. The basic story line stayed with me, but other than a few characters I couldn't really keep everything straight.

To learn more about Yesterday's Promise please visit Random House's website.

Review: Donkeys Can't Sleep in Bathtubs and Other Crazy Laws by Susan Dach

I won this in a Member Giveaway on Library Thing.



About the Book:

Did you know -Donkeys can't sleep in bathtubs in Brooklyn? -It's against the law to disturb honeybees in Nebraska? -And in Gary, Indiana, you aren't allowd to eat garlic and go to the theater? These are just a few of the wacky laws still on the books in these United States. This amusing collection of "strange, but true" laws is a must for trivia fans as well as those who just like to laugh!

My Review:

For some reason I love to find weird laws that make no sense in the present day. This book is full of them.

The author actually gives a reasoning behind one of the laws in the book, and it was quite interesting to learn why that law was enacted. I wish that there had been that kind of background info for all the laws, but being that I'm pretty sure this was a kids book I think it would have been too much.

It was a quick read (literally took me 10 mins.) The laws that were given kind of just make you think, why would they even need to make that law. Entertaining to read.

This book was published by Watermill Press, and I couldn't find a direct link to them, but it is available on Amazon.com

Review: Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

I borrowed this one from a friend.



About the book:

Jodi Picoult earned rave notices for her debut novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale. Now this gifted young writer turns her considerable literary talents to the story of a young woman overcome by the demands of having a family.

Written with astonishing clarity and evocative detail, convincing in its depiction of emotional pain, love, and vulnerability, Harvesting the Heart recalls the writing of Alice Hoffman and Sue Miller. Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who left when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her own. But her mother's absence, and shameful memories of her past, make her doubt both her maternal ability and her sense of self worth. Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness, Jodi Picoult crafts an absorbing novel peopled by richly drawn characters and explores issues and emotions readers can relate to.

My Review:

I loved this book. It was such a touching story. I was so captivated by the characters that I just let myself get lost in the story. It only took me a few hours to read it.

The character development was great. I loved Paige and Nicholas. Even the secondary characters were great. I had great images of them all, and I could even hear the accents in their voices as I read. I think Nicholas comes off as being a bit superficial and at times a real jerk but I almost understood where he was coming from and felt that he was justified in his actions (sometimes).

The story was very good. Picoult did a great job with the narration changes, which I think can sometimes make a story seem choppy. The changes didn't affect the flow of the story at all.

The story spans quite a bit of time, and I found myself forgetting that so many years had passed but that didn't really take away from the story.

I really liked this one. It wasn't an excellent book, but it was pretty good. It was a quick read and it was easy to attach to the characters. If you like chick lit this is a good one to pick up. This was the first of Picoult's books that I've actually read, but I've added her to my list of favorite authors.

To learn more about Harvesting the Heart please visit Penguin.com