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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
I’m on the fence with this book. I didn’t think it was bad but I also didn’t think it was great. It had so much more potential. A quarter or more of the book is spent in great detail about mining life (at least the first 50 pages) and although that is interesting, that portion could’ve been condensed giving more time for character development between family, friends, the antagonist, and their conversion to the LDS faith. The ending wrapped up quickly with a lot of open ended questions making one think that there might be a sequel, which didn’t happen considering the book was published in 2012.
On the other side of the coin Bessey’s research on mining is very well done and gives one perspective on the hardships and dangers of mining life. The development of the couple’s marriage from convenience to pure love is sweet and endearing.
Content: (L) No foul language. (S) No sex. Squeaky clean. There is implied attempted rape with no details. (V) Mining life accidents and injury. Fighting scenes but nothing graphic.
On the other side of the coin Bessey’s research on mining is very well done and gives one perspective on the hardships and dangers of mining life. The development of the couple’s marriage from convenience to pure love is sweet and endearing.
Content: (L) No foul language. (S) No sex. Squeaky clean. There is implied attempted rape with no details. (V) Mining life accidents and injury. Fighting scenes but nothing graphic.
The baseline of the story was good but the actual development was lacking. I feel like it started out so well. Lots of potential that just wasn’t given the right attention. There weren’t enough details to help the reader picture as the story progressed. All that being said did I still enjoy it? Yes. Yes, I did.
This is really a 1.5 star book for me. This story was a type of "arranged marriage" love story, which I usually like but this one was just too rushed and predictable to enjoy. And then at the end the author had to throw in a quick conversion to Mormonism and send them on their way to Zion - all within 2 chapters or so - with hardly no trouble or heartache or persecution for this decision - and then the end. Really? I am a Mormon. I like historical Mormon/LDS fiction, reading about the pioneers and the early conversion stories and treks to Zion. But the way it was just throw in to this story I would say made it even more rushed and unbelievable. If you are going to have a conversion story (to any religion, not just the Mormon/LDS church) there should be time for the characters to really be converted so the reader believes that they believe it. I'm sure there are many of my fellow Mormons who will disagree with me, but that's just my personal preference when it comes to historical LDS fiction. This was a disappointing read for me.
This book was excellent! It's LDS historical fiction about people living in Wales in the early 1800's--sometime after 1830. The story was beautiful and I really sympathized with the coal miners and the difficult lives they led. The romance is sweet and the characters are delightful. Great book.
Good story, well-paced, with interesting characters. I have Welsh ancestors that emigrated to America about this time period, so this was of special interest to me.