Scan barcode
bandysbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Slavery, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Death, and Violence
busy_izzi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy and Death of parent
Minor: Slavery and Suicide
anastasia_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved getting into Ana's world everytime I opened this book. The historical context is so well researched that I feel I've learnt a lot while reading. The plot itself is amazingly well executed, with a flawless logic. I didn't find myself asking "why" for lack of context from the author's part. It really was like reading someone's memoir or autobiography. There were only a very few moments were the story got slow but picked up almost immediately so as to not vet boring. Long book (over 300 pages is long to me ^^) but so worthwhile! Would recommend if you enjoy female lead characters, coming of age novels a dive into history and/or rewritings of ancient texts!
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
v171's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
But with that being said, I still just can't get over the thought that this was an easy capitalization on creating a feminist bible story, filled with headstrong, flawless women and modern motivations. I'm torn on the purpose of this story. It is clearly centered on Ana, the wife of Jesus, but it is so focused on her that Jesus is not present for the vast majority of the book. He only exists as someone to be, well, longed after off screen (off page?). One might argue that is the purpose of the story: focus on Ana as Jesus already has his own story. But to that, my response would be -- why make it about Jesus at all? What additional insights were we supposed to walk away with by making this a Jesus love story that he was hardly present in?
Would this have been a stronger story if it was not about the bible? No, probably not. As historical fiction, it fell flat because the characters felt far too modern, so maybe the only way to salvage it WAS to associate it with the bible. But I also didn't feel that this story challenged the reader to reconsider how they approach Christian texts. It was literally just bible fan fiction.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Miscarriage, and Violence
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Forced institutionalization