Set the Stars Alight

Set the Stars Alight
By Amanda Dykes
Published by: Bethany House
Publication Date: June 30, 2020

Description:
Lucy Clairmont's family treasured the magic of the past, and her childhood fascination with stories of the high seas led her to become a marine archaeologist. But when tragedy strikes, it's Dashel, an American forensic astronomer, and his knowledge of the stars that may help her unearth the truth behind the puzzle she's discovered in her family home.
 Two hundred years earlier, the seeds of love are sown between a boy and a girl who spend their days playing in a secret sea cave, while the privileged young son of the estate looks on, wishing to join. As the children grow and war leads to unthinkable heartbreak, a story of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption unfolds, held secret by the passage of time. As Lucy and Dash journey to a mysterious old estate on the East Sussex coast, their search leads them to a community of souls and a long-hidden tale that may hold the answers--and the healing--they so desperately seek.

Review:
This book has so much going for it--there are wonderful characters (both the main and secondary characters), two storylines (the contemporary one with Lucy and Dash, and the one set two hundred years ago, with Frederick), each of which is compelling, a mystery, family dynamics of both the heartbreaking and heartwarming variety, sweet stories passed from Lucy's father to her and Dash, love stories, and so much more--and it's all wrapped up in this beautiful writing style. There are lots of great authors in the world, but only a few of them have this almost mystical storytelling ability, and Amanda Dykes has it. This is one of those books that you want to hurry through because you HAVE to know what's going to happen but that you also want to read slowly so you can savor every single bit...and that you then want to go back and re-read as soon as you finish. Very, very well done. This will be very well-loved by many, many readers.
5 stars.
I read an ARC provided by the publisher via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Shadow of the Storm

Shadow of the Storm
Connilyn Cossette

As she lives with the other Hebrews, as well as some non-Hebrews who joined them in their exodus from Egypt—at the base of Mt. Sinai, Shira has made herself content with following in her mother’s footsteps to become a weaver—even though she doesn’t particularly care for it or have an aptitude for it. However, when a chance comes for her to learn to be a midwife, she can’t get the idea out of her head, and when she helps her brother’s handsome friend Ayal deliver a newborn lamb, the idea that perhaps bringing new life into the world is what Yahweh created her for is enough to get her to defy her mother’s wishes and start training with Reva, the Levite midwife. She slowly starts to become more confident in her skills, despite the scorn she receives from Dvorah, the midwife trainee that Reva has paired her up with, and also starts to hope that, in spite of what she has long believed—that she will never marry or have a family—that she might have a future with Ayal. But then tragedy strikes and a heartbroken Shira retreats, going back to weaving and trying to avoid Ayal as much as she can. Meanwhile, Dvorah, who was widowed when the Levite men, following Mosheh’s orders, killed those who rebelled against Yahweh in a night of debauchery, needs to find a way to provide for her son, and she will do anything to escape her brother-in-law—and if it hurts Shira in the process, so much the better.
Wow. This is another incredible book from Connilyn Cossette. I loved it. There were times when it was painful to read—because I felt so connected to Shira that her pain was real to me. It was so hard to read about her past, about how her mother discouraged her from following her dream of becoming a midwife, of her pain, confusion, and guilt at a delivery gone terribly wrong and the fallout from it, etc. It was hard to read about her interactions with Dvorah; although the passages where she was the narrator allowed me to see WHY she did what she did—and how she’d come to be the bitter, cruel person she was—it was hard to see innocent, kind Shira take the brunt of Dvorah’s anger and pain. The fact that Shira and her feelings were so real to me is a testament to what a great writer Cossette is. As painful as Shira’s path was, I enjoyed being able to feel the beginnings of hope again, and then forgiveness, and love, along with her as she continued on her journey.
Although we didn’t get to see the story from Ayal’s point of view, I liked how he was a flawed character who made some pretty serious mistakes but also could experience forgiveness both from Shira and from Yahweh; the fact that he wasn’t the perfect man made him more believable and in some ways, more endearing, and of course I loved the message of forgiveness and becoming new through God’s grace and forgiveness. I also appreciated the way Cossette conveyed that message—it was fairly subtle but still powerful.
Besides the incredible character development, especially with Shira, Cossette does a terrific job of depicting the day-to-day life as the Hebrews camped at Mt. Sinai—from the preparations of the tabernacle, with required immense amounts of materials (like cloth that had to be dyed and woven), to the petty arguments and jealousies and larger disagreements between tribes and between the Hebrews and non-Hebrews and between family members—were also so well written. I’d never thought before about what daily life for these people would have been like, or about how the people might have struggled to get along with one another, so that was both eye-opening and totally believable. And the way Cossette wove those details into the story, without dragging down the plot, again shows her skills as a writer.
It’s hard to convey how well-written this book is. The plot is so absorbing and Shira’s journey is both painful and beautiful. The characters are so real, as is the setting, and the language also served to pull me into the story. Solid five-star book here.
Although this is the second book in a series, you don’t actually have to read the first one to be able to follow the story. (But you SHOULD read the first one because it’s a great book, too!)
I read a copy available through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

5 stars.

These Is My Words

These Is My Words
By Nancy E. Turner
Regan Books/HarperCollins, 1998. 384 pgs. Adult fiction

Sarah Agnes Prine keeps a diary of her life, telling of her time journeying in a wagon train with her family, losing her father, and trying to keep her family together. On her journey, she meets the infuriating army captain, Jack Elliott, and falls in love with books. She settles into a loveless marriage, has a daughter, and manages a ranch. And ultimately, she finds true love.

My summary does not even begin to do this story justice. It's been a year or so since I've read it cover to cover (although I do go flip through it sometimes, to reread favorite scenes), so I'm a little fuzzy on some of the details, but I wanted to put this on here since I need more 5 star books, and this one definitely gets 5 stars. I love this book. I've heard a couple people say this book was boring; I, on the other hand, loved it from the first page. I like historical fiction, and I'm particularly drawn to historical fiction romances that take place in the west. However, I find most of them aren't really very well written. This book, however, is dazzling. The writing and dialogue are realistic, Sarah, who is spunky, strong, and stubborn, is a fantastic protagonist, and the love story is wonderful. I loved everything about this book.* Some of my co-workers have commented that I read a lot of romances; my response was that I'm on the quest for the perfect love story...and this book comes pretty darn close to giving that to me. Definitely five stars.

Side note: it's not exactly entirely "clean"; there's some sexual content, although not really explicit (and it's in the context of marriage).
In case you noticed, this is INTENTIONALLY labeled as a love story, not a romance. I feel like a lot of romances aren't really love stories, or not a love story I can really believe in. But for me, this is a love story. (And that's not to say nothing else on the blog is a love story, but for me, this is the love story of love stories.)

*SPOILER*

(Other than the fact that Jack dies, of course. That about killed me. I did not love that part. And yet, I can't entirely hate it because it was so well written.) And I refuse to read the sequels because I can't handle not having Jack in the story.