You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm a fan of Amish fiction, but this wasn't my favorite. Not to say it was at all bad-- I did enjoy this book by Beverly Lewis. I've gotten through a good few Amish novels, and while there is always tension between Amish and English societies, this felt like more drama than I thought was possible in this genre. A lost mother, a dead love, many forbidden passions... it seemed like a lot to put into one character in one book and while the author did manage to weave it well, some pieces just felt too muddled for me to truly enjoy without pulling out of the story. In a story meant to convey realism, only so many weird coincidences can happen.
I decided to give this genre a go strictly out of curiosity because I'm working to get out of my reading comfort zone and to read more romance novels. I grew up near Lancaster County, PA, my home was in the midst of Amish farm fields, and I swam in their pond most summers. I've never had any interest in learning more about the Amish culture than what I observed growing up. However having recently gone back to visit at the same time I came aware of this genre of books, I decided to give it a try.
This isn't a great literary work by any stretch of the imagination. The writing is pretty simple and repetitive. However the story was very interesting from the start, and I found the characters realistic and likable. It was a fast easy read. I listened to the audio book and didn't love the narration, but the dialect seems accurate. I'm definitely going to continue to the next in this series, as I want to see how Katie's journey turns out!
This isn't a great literary work by any stretch of the imagination. The writing is pretty simple and repetitive. However the story was very interesting from the start, and I found the characters realistic and likable. It was a fast easy read. I listened to the audio book and didn't love the narration, but the dialect seems accurate. I'm definitely going to continue to the next in this series, as I want to see how Katie's journey turns out!
I can't resist the Amish! This is very much the first book of a series and I did get sucked in ... let's see if I can resist the second one.
I really thought this would be better and less boring
While generally a fan of the light-hearted predictability of Amish stories, I found this one to be an unfortunate disappointment. The writing seemed repetitive, full of cliches, and rather melodramatic. Or perhaps that was how the reader presented it, with their Amish/Pennsylvania Dutch accent that came across as having more of an Irish cadence and a seeming inability to correctly pronounce German-derived words such as "Tobias".
Alas, do not recommend the audiobook version and am unlikely to read a hardcopy to see if my experience is more positive.
Alas, do not recommend the audiobook version and am unlikely to read a hardcopy to see if my experience is more positive.
There were some flaws to this book, but the fact that I stayed up until almost midnight to finish it and cried all the way through the last chapter bump this book's rating up a lot! I got this book for a couple of dollars from christianbook.com during one of their sales as I've been interested in the Amish lifestyle ever since I read Jodi Picoult's "Plain Truth." The community featured in Lewis's novel appeared to be a bit stricter than the one in Picoult's, and to begin with I was a bit disappointed that the protagonist - Katie - wasn't fully embracing her Amish lifestyle, as that was what I really wanted to read. But once I was halfway into the book I began to agree with Katie's un-Plain thoughts, and wonder, Where *does* it say in the Bible that we can't play instruments (actually, it says the total opposite) and that we must dress alike and that women are inferior to men? I will admit that I previously had a bit of a romanticised view of the Amish, and although I still admire them, I had to agree with Katie in this book. So once I'd settled down and began rooting for Katie's team I enjoyed this book a lot more. Oh, and Dan? It was a little bit obvious (as soon as they mentioned an empty grave I figured out what would happen) but I'm a big romantic at heart so I can't wait to read the next book and find out what happens to that plot line! One of my mum's friends from her home group has also just read this book and says that she's going to buy # 2 and 3 from christianbook.com next time she makes an order, so hopefully they'll arrive in the UK sometime soon. So, overall, I wasn't hooked right from the start, and the writing was a bit amateur in places, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and really felt involved in the story towards the end. It is a little predictable, and quite sad in places, but sometimes you want a predictable, romantic and dramatic story! I can't wait to read more about Katie and I've already discovered that some of my local libraries stock Beverely Lewis novels so I have to say that I'm rather converted to Christian Amish fiction! 8/10
The Shunning by Beverly Lewis – So my grandmother has a thing for Amish books, but this series was actually pretty good. Movies weren’t bad either! Happy Reading!
So I started off really disliking this book because of the writing style, how long it took to get to the point and a lot of the religious sentiment. But I wanted to give it a chance, and actually, I did get into the plot. When you take the evangelical stuff out, it’s a tense story about this young girl trying to figure out where she belongs, who she really is, and that’s pretty universal. I actually want to find out what happens to her. But I just had to knock off stars because a lot of these values are not mine, the author has put the Amish on such a high pedestal and I don’t think this type of Shunning is actually accurate? I do want to check out the next book, but this hasn’t made me a fan of Amish romance. But knowing how massive the sub genre is, I’m glad to have some knowledge about it now.
To be honest, I judge books by their covers. This one screamed to me. It said pick me up, learn the juicy secrets of Katie the Amish girl, and indulge like an English woman reading about the horrible betrayal that led to the Shunning.
That all said, the writing was fine- not great, not bad. There was some annoyingly long focus on parts that could have been summed up quickly and parts that were summed up quickly that needed more explanation. The story line was... well it was lacking. It was super predictable and did not leave me wondering. A book this size I could normally digest in a day or two, but this was just entertaining enough.
There are 2 more in the series- The Reckoning and The Confession. I have no plans to find those or read those.
That all said, the writing was fine- not great, not bad. There was some annoyingly long focus on parts that could have been summed up quickly and parts that were summed up quickly that needed more explanation. The story line was... well it was lacking. It was super predictable and did not leave me wondering. A book this size I could normally digest in a day or two, but this was just entertaining enough.
There are 2 more in the series- The Reckoning and The Confession. I have no plans to find those or read those.