A review by estherfilbrun
Hadassah: One Night with the King by Tommy Tenney

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

2.5

Years ago, I was given the young reader’s edition of this book, and fell in love with the story. Since becoming an adult, I’ve been curious about what the adult version was like—and when I finally got my hands on the book, I eagerly dove into the story. 

Unfortunately, the adult version isn’t as good as the young reader’s edition, in my opinion. While there’s still the same good storyline, I felt like the first-person narrative let the book down. At times, there are pauses where the narrator stops to explain something, which jerked me out of the story; other times, the narrator tells about events she had no way of knowing about, and that felt unrealistic. This book also had quite a bit of telling, not showing, in it, which made the story drag in places. If it had been written in third-person perspective, I think it would have been a much tighter story; as it was, I struggled to get into the book (even though I couldn’t wait to start it!), and didn’t feel gripped by the story until I got close to the climax. 

I was surprised by the amount of violence in the story; I didn’t expect that, so I found it a little disheartening. This book also pushed some boundaries for me when it came to descriptions of the marriage bed (I’d rate it about the same level as many of Francine Rivers’ books, if you’re familiar with those—in other words, more mentions than necessary, in my opinion). 

Was this a good book? Yes, but I doubt I’ll ever read it again. Even though the original is often better, I prefer the young reader’s version, so if I ever want a refresher on the book, I’ll be picking that one up. The story as a whole is good; it’s a portrait of an incredible woman who faced her life with courage and fortitude, even when everything she held dear was on the line. But for this reader, the violence and mentions of intimate topics were more frequent than I prefer, so the book as a whole was a letdown. Still, I recommend it if you don’t mind the things I’ve mentioned above, and do enjoy solid Biblical fiction or thrillers—this book is both of those!