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shelfreflectionofficial's Reviews (858)
challenging
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
“Disciple means ‘learner’ As a disciple of Christ, you and I are called to learn, and learning requires effort.”
“Sound Bible study transforms the heart by training the mind and it places God at the center of the story.”
I felt a little overwhelmed reading this book, but I think in a good way.
I grew up in the church, reading my Bible regularly. As you can see on my website, I’ve read and reviewed tons of devotionals and theology books. The Bible is very familiar to me.
And yet.
I’ve always been too intimidated to sit down with a book of the Bible and study it on my own with no commentaries or supplementary books. I feel a little embarrassed to say it. I know God’s Word is sufficient and accessible, but I’ve never been willing to take the time to try the types of methods of study as Jen describes in her book to try to understand the Bible for myself. I haven’t always want to put in the effort. And I felt convicted about that while reading this book.
First things first.
Jen Wilkin is by no means presenting this method of study as the ‘right’ or ‘only biblical’ way to study the Word. This is what she has found to be helpful and what she uses when she writes her Bible studies. I’ve done her 1 Peter and her Hebrews studies and though it was often hard, it was always good.
She also acknowledges the reality that we go through seasons of life where intense Bible study is not in the cards. This book is not an attempt to make anyone feel guilty about not doing enough or being a bad Christian.
I love that she says this:
“Sound Bible study transforms the heart by training the mind and it places God at the center of the story.”
I felt a little overwhelmed reading this book, but I think in a good way.
I grew up in the church, reading my Bible regularly. As you can see on my website, I’ve read and reviewed tons of devotionals and theology books. The Bible is very familiar to me.
And yet.
I’ve always been too intimidated to sit down with a book of the Bible and study it on my own with no commentaries or supplementary books. I feel a little embarrassed to say it. I know God’s Word is sufficient and accessible, but I’ve never been willing to take the time to try the types of methods of study as Jen describes in her book to try to understand the Bible for myself. I haven’t always want to put in the effort. And I felt convicted about that while reading this book.
First things first.
Jen Wilkin is by no means presenting this method of study as the ‘right’ or ‘only biblical’ way to study the Word. This is what she has found to be helpful and what she uses when she writes her Bible studies. I’ve done her 1 Peter and her Hebrews studies and though it was often hard, it was always good.
She also acknowledges the reality that we go through seasons of life where intense Bible study is not in the cards. This book is not an attempt to make anyone feel guilty about not doing enough or being a bad Christian.
I love that she says this:
“If a life stage is making it difficult for you to set aside regular time for study— either with a group or in your own personal efforts, please hear me say this: That’s okay. Give the Lord what you can and trust that he will honor your faithfulness in the small things. Trust that the Lord knows your circumstances better than you do and that he sees your desire to learn and grow. And trust that those times are being used to mature you— to teach you that it is a privilege to be able to devote yourself to learning and studying, and to write more deeply on your heart the truths you have already learned.”
I received this book a few years ago. If I had read it then, I would have definitely felt overwhelmed— though I shouldn’t have. The reality is that a few years ago my four kids were 5 and under. That’s not a recipe for an hour long quiet time with all the highlighters and meditation. That was a season for shorter devotionals or reading a chapter from the Bible here and there.
Now I am in a season where my youngest two will be at preschool every morning and my others are in full time school. I’m entering a season where I now have the time and mental capacity to try to tackle something deeper. I am thankful for that season but I understand how our Bible study times will fluctuate and change and look different from day to day or year to year.
You will have to read this book and evaluate your own season. If you find Jen’s writing to feel like it’s pushing you, do honest reflection. I think she does want to challenge readers and inspire them to dig into the word and not settle with things like the Jesus Calling devotional or habits of randomly opening up the Bible every day and hoping for something to make us feel better.
If we are followers of Christ we need to look like Him. How else can we know what he is like than by reading about Him and reading his very Word? To imitate someone, you have to make a study of them. An intentional study of them. And we should love to read his Word. It should fill us up and comfort us, yes, but it should also reveal hard truths and grow our discernment to detect lies and bad theology.
I know the temptation to ‘give ourselves grace’ when God is actually calling us to do something hard and time consuming. I crave answers and efficiency and I am often skipping devotional questions because I just don’t want to sit there and think about it too hard.
Only you can answer that question for yourself— are you in a season of life where God is calling you to study your Bible in a deeper way? Even if you don’t use Jen Wilkin’s method, find something else, but be obedient and faithful where God has you now. Like Jen said, wherever you are, give God what you can and keep looking for season-appropriate ways God is growing you and teaching you. No season should be without that!
It seemed like a lot of the negative reviews for this book had a similar theme of worrying this book would be a discouragement to readers so I just wanted to share all of that on the front end to hopefully help you read it with the right mindset. The heart behind this book is truly to light a fire in women to desire and love God’s Word and to grow in understanding to be more like Christ. To encourage women that you CAN do it.
So moving on.
I shared that my pitfall in studying Scripture is to always have a commentary or supplementary book at hand to help answer my questions or guide my reading. Jen called this the ‘telephone game’ bad habit. Her method is not about eliminating those great sources, but allowing yourself to wrestle with the text on your own first, before seeking those out. To force yourself delayed gratification and allow the learning process to work organically.
She lists some others off that you too, may find describe your pitfall: Xanax (the Bible is there to comfort me and make me feel better); Pinball (randomly opening the Bible and asking the Spirit to work through it); Magic 8 ball (easy answers to our questions); Personal shopper (focusing on topical, fragmented knowledge); and Jack sprat (pick and choose books or characters or stories or NT and avoid all others).
She’s not saying that the Bible can’t comfort us or that the Holy Spirit can’t speak through a single random verse or that it doesn’t have answers to our questions, what she is advocating in this book is Bible literacy.
Primarily reading the Bible with these habits don’t increase Bible literacy. She describes Bible literacy as “steadily moving toward knowledge and understanding of the text.”
“Bible literacy stitches patchwork knowledge into a seamless garment of understanding.”
Her method of Bible study details this journey towards Bible literacy with the 5 P’s:
- Purpose (taking into account the metanarrative of the entire Bible- creation, fall, redemption, restoration; also looking at genre of the book you’re studying- law, poetry, narrative, etc.)
- Perspective (there are five archaeological questions to ask that she does say to look up- who wrote it? to who? when? why? in what style?)
- Patience (emphasis here is on being willing to get lost and trust the learning process and that it takes time to understand; it goes against the instant gratification we’re used to)
- Process
- This is where a bulk of the work lands. She explains it further in her book but it involves having a printed copy of the text that you can mark up, underline, write questions, and add in cross references. This part also involves paraphrasing, outlining the text, and looking up definitions.
- There are three steps here: comprehension (what does it say?), interpretation (what does it mean?); application (how should this text change me?)
- Prayer- “Prayer is what changes our study from the pursuit of knowledge to the pursuit of God himself”
“In short, if I never allow myself to get lost, I never allow the learning process to take its proper course. If I never fight for interpretation on my own, I might accept whatever interpretation I am given at face value. And that’s a dangerous route to drive.”
“We think that if the Bible would just tell us who we are and what we should do, then our insecurities, fears, and doubts would vanish. But our insecurities, fears, and doubts can never be vanished by the knowledge of who we are. They can only be banished by the knowledge of ‘I AM’”
A couple other notes on negative reviews.
One negative reviewer had concerns about her saying that “Not all contact with scripture builds Bible literacy”. Wilkin did say this in the book but the reviewer understood it to mean that Jen was saying that if our Scripture reading isn’t perfect, God can’t use it for our good. I don’t believe that is the intent behind this statement. I think she would agree that God can use imperfect Bible study for good. The key words in this statement is ‘Bible literacy.’ If we randomly open to a Psalm and read it and then go about our day, that’s not increasing Bible literacy because we didn’t ask any questions about it or seek to understand it. Can it still be encouraging? Yes! It just doesn’t really build our understanding of the Bible as a whole.
Another reviewer had concerns about the emphasis on the more academic aspect of learning instead of ‘heart learning’. Though I’m not entirely sure what the reviewer was trying to say, I don’t think Jen Wilkin believes this method of study is the only way we learn about God! The premise of the book is to help Christians to do the academic side of learning because that’s where we struggle to know what to do. We do need to learn about God and his truth in other more experiential ways, but that is beyond the scope of this book. I do think there is an important difference between ‘heart’ and ‘intellectual’ learning if the heart learning is outside of Scripture. Feelings and experiences are fallible. God’s Word is not. I still think understanding God’s Word should be our primary source of truth and knowledge about who God is. And like Jen says, our head knowledge turns into heart knowledge so our heart is connecting to God through the truths our heads learn.
Another reviewer was disappointed that this book didn’t get into Greek and Hebrew words or that it didn’t offer guidance on which commentaries were best. I do think there is another layer of study that I would be interested to learn but that feels a little next level than where this book needed to be. I do wish she would have included some recommendations for commentaries because I think there are a lot of people who are going to find the wrong ones. I’m thinking she wanted that to be part of the learning process— to look up multiple commentaries and to do the work of analyzing and seeing which ones are good or bad so that readers learn how to discern good theology from bad. And she probably didn’t want to pigeonhole anyone to thinking only these two commentaries are correct because of primacy bias. I don’t necessarily have a ‘go-to’ commentary, but a good place I would recommend to start would be to search on Crossway or The Gospel Coalition and find sources that either of those places reference or recommend.
All that to say, this book is not the end-all be-all for Bible study methodology nor the only information you’ll ever need to understand the Bible. It’s not trying to be. It’s an OPTION for studying your Bible. I know enough about Jen and her teaching to trust the heart behind this book and her heart in trying to teach people to study Scripture.
Take it or leave it, but don’t leave it if the alternative is not prioritizing your ability to understand God’s Word.
Recommendation
This review does not detail exactly how to do her method— you would need to read the book for that. Is it a method worthy of trying— I think yes.
Here’s where I’m at with it:
Because I’m in a more feasible season of life to attempt a more in-depth Bible study, I am planning to try her method for myself. There’s part of me that still feels scared about it and worried that I won’t know what I’m doing. But I plan to not set any sort of timeline on it— it takes me however long it takes me, I may not be able to do it every day and that’s okay. I also plan to start with a shorter book of the Bible like 2 Corinthians or something so it’s not like Genesis or Romans.
The worst that could happen is I finish my outline and paraphrasing and interpretation and then I look up some good commentaries and find out I missed something. And then I correct it. I still will have spent all that time in the word and trying it. I’m guessing there will still be growth!
I’ll try to update this review whenever I finish a book and let you know my thoughts on the back end if there is anything I would change or let you know how it went.
But on the front end, I would recommend reading this book and evaluating for yourself if now is the time for you to try it.
If you still feel too intimidated by it, then I would definitely recommend doing one of her published book studies. You’ll be doing her method but without having to do it all on your own. Plus some of them have video teaching to go along with it which is super helpful.
I can see how this book might feel especially overwhelming or intimidating for new believers. If you are a new believer and read this book and want to try the method, I would recommend finding another believer to do it with you. If you are a new believer and you read the book and you have no idea what to do or where to start, I would recommend finding someone to go through one of Wilkin’s Bible studies with you.
(You can also check out the You Can Handle Truth book.
I have listened to a lot from Jen Wilkin and read many of her books and I continue to grow a lot under her teaching and am thankful that she has spent so much time working to teach other women to become Bible literate.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“His words still haunt me. ‘You’re Cristian Florescu and I know what you’ve done.’”
This was a good but hard to read book.
‘Good’ meaning: very compelling, fast and easy to read story about a character you instantly love and feel for.
‘Hard to read’ meaning: eye-opening to the way of life and terrible happenings in Romania under the totalitarian government of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
“Nicolae Ceaușescu. Our beloved leader. Our hero. Maverick of the grand Communist Party of Romania and vampire to the necks of millions.”
Goodreads describes it correctly like this: “A gut-wrenching, startling window into communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation”
The writing style of this book was very good. It was in the ‘teen’ section of my library, probably because the main character is seventeen, there’s a bit of a love story, it’s pretty easy to read, and there’s no swearing or sexual content. But the writing style is so good and the themes still mature that it fit for an adult read for me.
The very first line of the book (after a very good prologue) is: “Fear arrived at five o-clock.”
It hooks you pretty quickly.
The setting is Bucharest, Romania, 1989. Which is wild. I was born three months after the execution of Ceaușescu. To imagine what this teenager was going through almost in my lifetime… When you read it, your mind’s reaction is ‘this is far in the past and good thing we’re past this,’ but the reality is, this kind of thing is still going on.
Communism, is an evil thing. Dictatorships are an evil thing. I couldn’t help but lament for all the civilians in North Korea, especially, but also China and Russia and the restrictions of freedom in these places. The propaganda. The abuse. The poverty.
“Ceaușescu had stolen us from ourselves, for himself. He had broken the soul of Romania and patched a beautiful country into an apocalyptic landscape of the lost.”
Just to give you an idea what Cristian, our main character, was living in: They were taught English to use as a weapon against their enemies; everyone learned how to use a gun at the age of 14; it was illegal to speak to a foreigner or accept foreign currency; it was illegal to even say the word dollar; they had to worry about being eaten by wild dogs and often carried sticks to fend off attacks; a video player cost half as much as a car which most people couldn’t afford; women were periodically given humiliating exams to see if they were pregnant because you were penalized and taxed extra if you had no children; they waited in line for everything; electricity regularly turned off.
“Living in Bucharest was like living inside a black-and-white photo.”
“We were marked ‘present’ in attendance but were often absent from ourselves.”
Besides the physical turmoil, they endured psychological turmoil which is the hallmark of any totalitarian type of government. They had to control their minds. They did this through fear and paranoia. Anyone could be an informant. It sowed distrust among the people which hindered their ability to exchange information, share their feelings, experience unity, or gather to bring a revolution.
“‘They steal our power by making us believe we don’t have any. But words and creative phrases— they have power. Explore that power in your mind.’”
As this book depicts, people in your own family could be informants! Not because they necessarily wanted to, but because they were coerced, were avoiding a worse punishment, or were bartering for necessities like money or medicine. As became the case for Cristian. He did something illegal and was asked to inform on the son of the American diplomat that his mother cleaned for. In exchange he would get medicine for his severely sick grandfather.
“I was convinced I could keep everything hidden. After all, blankets of gloom are thick and heavy. Good for covering things, right?”
His grandfather is an important character in the book because he is a dissident. He is trying to train Cristian to think for himself. To use the creative parts of his brain. To use the power of words to make a difference.
“How could we expect others to feel our pain or hear our cries for help when all we could do was whisper?”
The character development in this book is a primary theme. Cristian, doing as he is told, playing the game Ceaușescu forces him to. He has a streak of rebellion to him from the beginning as he keeps his secret notebook detailing his feelings and what it’s really like in Romania. Rebellion in how he searches for English words to describe things.
His grandfather and his relationship with Liliana start to light a fire in him and give him courage to fight back even as he is ‘informing.’ He found a way to turn a whisper into a shout.
But the path to freedom always costs you something and it’s more than he imagined it would take.
One thing I kept thinking about while reading this book was the non-fiction book I read by Rod Drehr called ‘Live Not By Lies.’ I’m pretty sure many of the people he interviewed for his book had lived under communist rule in Romania.
In the book he quotes Hannah Arendt, the foremost scholar of totalitarianism, who says, “A totalitarian state is one that aspires to nothing less than defining and controlling reality. Truth is whatever the rulers decide it is.”
The premise of Live Not by Lies is to see the methods of totalitarianism and how we actually see a ‘soft’ version of that manifesting in the United States. Just because we don’t have gulags or the Securitate to keep track of all the informers, doesn’t mean we don’t have some concerning practices in our own country that are taking away our freedoms and changing what reality and ‘truth’ is. Definitely worth thinking about.
The other concerning thing I thought about after reading this book was the recent surge in positivity towards socialism and communism. Even though there is not a single positive example to point to to show how communism would be a good thing, there are a lot of people that are advocating for moving toward that kind of government. These stats are enough to raise concern.
Hopefully reading Cristian’s story— which is so many people’s story— readers will be reminded of the path communism inevitably takes and how no one benefits from it except the man at the top, sitting in his palace with all his stolen wealth, scaring people into believing his created reality.
Recommendation
I think this is a must-read book. It’s books like these that remind us of the atrocities done to humanity and help us never to repeat them.
Based on the author’s note, this book is well-researched, and though it’s historical fiction, there’s a lot pulled from people’s true stories. You’ll feel a lot of feelings in this book and it won’t take you long to become invested in Cristian’s story.
I think this book is good for young adults or regular adults and will hopefully inspire readers to understand the importance of critical thinking and courage to stand up for truth.
It definitely earns its nomination for one of the best Young Adult Fiction books in 2022 on Goodreads.
[Content Advisory: 1 s-word, no sexual content; towards the end there’s more violence and torture and traumatic experiences for young kids]
This was a good but hard to read book.
‘Good’ meaning: very compelling, fast and easy to read story about a character you instantly love and feel for.
‘Hard to read’ meaning: eye-opening to the way of life and terrible happenings in Romania under the totalitarian government of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
“Nicolae Ceaușescu. Our beloved leader. Our hero. Maverick of the grand Communist Party of Romania and vampire to the necks of millions.”
Goodreads describes it correctly like this: “A gut-wrenching, startling window into communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation”
The writing style of this book was very good. It was in the ‘teen’ section of my library, probably because the main character is seventeen, there’s a bit of a love story, it’s pretty easy to read, and there’s no swearing or sexual content. But the writing style is so good and the themes still mature that it fit for an adult read for me.
The very first line of the book (after a very good prologue) is: “Fear arrived at five o-clock.”
It hooks you pretty quickly.
The setting is Bucharest, Romania, 1989. Which is wild. I was born three months after the execution of Ceaușescu. To imagine what this teenager was going through almost in my lifetime… When you read it, your mind’s reaction is ‘this is far in the past and good thing we’re past this,’ but the reality is, this kind of thing is still going on.
Communism, is an evil thing. Dictatorships are an evil thing. I couldn’t help but lament for all the civilians in North Korea, especially, but also China and Russia and the restrictions of freedom in these places. The propaganda. The abuse. The poverty.
“Ceaușescu had stolen us from ourselves, for himself. He had broken the soul of Romania and patched a beautiful country into an apocalyptic landscape of the lost.”
Just to give you an idea what Cristian, our main character, was living in: They were taught English to use as a weapon against their enemies; everyone learned how to use a gun at the age of 14; it was illegal to speak to a foreigner or accept foreign currency; it was illegal to even say the word dollar; they had to worry about being eaten by wild dogs and often carried sticks to fend off attacks; a video player cost half as much as a car which most people couldn’t afford; women were periodically given humiliating exams to see if they were pregnant because you were penalized and taxed extra if you had no children; they waited in line for everything; electricity regularly turned off.
“Living in Bucharest was like living inside a black-and-white photo.”
“We were marked ‘present’ in attendance but were often absent from ourselves.”
Besides the physical turmoil, they endured psychological turmoil which is the hallmark of any totalitarian type of government. They had to control their minds. They did this through fear and paranoia. Anyone could be an informant. It sowed distrust among the people which hindered their ability to exchange information, share their feelings, experience unity, or gather to bring a revolution.
“‘They steal our power by making us believe we don’t have any. But words and creative phrases— they have power. Explore that power in your mind.’”
As this book depicts, people in your own family could be informants! Not because they necessarily wanted to, but because they were coerced, were avoiding a worse punishment, or were bartering for necessities like money or medicine. As became the case for Cristian. He did something illegal and was asked to inform on the son of the American diplomat that his mother cleaned for. In exchange he would get medicine for his severely sick grandfather.
“I was convinced I could keep everything hidden. After all, blankets of gloom are thick and heavy. Good for covering things, right?”
His grandfather is an important character in the book because he is a dissident. He is trying to train Cristian to think for himself. To use the creative parts of his brain. To use the power of words to make a difference.
“How could we expect others to feel our pain or hear our cries for help when all we could do was whisper?”
The character development in this book is a primary theme. Cristian, doing as he is told, playing the game Ceaușescu forces him to. He has a streak of rebellion to him from the beginning as he keeps his secret notebook detailing his feelings and what it’s really like in Romania. Rebellion in how he searches for English words to describe things.
His grandfather and his relationship with Liliana start to light a fire in him and give him courage to fight back even as he is ‘informing.’ He found a way to turn a whisper into a shout.
But the path to freedom always costs you something and it’s more than he imagined it would take.
One thing I kept thinking about while reading this book was the non-fiction book I read by Rod Drehr called ‘Live Not By Lies.’ I’m pretty sure many of the people he interviewed for his book had lived under communist rule in Romania.
In the book he quotes Hannah Arendt, the foremost scholar of totalitarianism, who says, “A totalitarian state is one that aspires to nothing less than defining and controlling reality. Truth is whatever the rulers decide it is.”
The premise of Live Not by Lies is to see the methods of totalitarianism and how we actually see a ‘soft’ version of that manifesting in the United States. Just because we don’t have gulags or the Securitate to keep track of all the informers, doesn’t mean we don’t have some concerning practices in our own country that are taking away our freedoms and changing what reality and ‘truth’ is. Definitely worth thinking about.
The other concerning thing I thought about after reading this book was the recent surge in positivity towards socialism and communism. Even though there is not a single positive example to point to to show how communism would be a good thing, there are a lot of people that are advocating for moving toward that kind of government. These stats are enough to raise concern.
Hopefully reading Cristian’s story— which is so many people’s story— readers will be reminded of the path communism inevitably takes and how no one benefits from it except the man at the top, sitting in his palace with all his stolen wealth, scaring people into believing his created reality.
Recommendation
I think this is a must-read book. It’s books like these that remind us of the atrocities done to humanity and help us never to repeat them.
Based on the author’s note, this book is well-researched, and though it’s historical fiction, there’s a lot pulled from people’s true stories. You’ll feel a lot of feelings in this book and it won’t take you long to become invested in Cristian’s story.
I think this book is good for young adults or regular adults and will hopefully inspire readers to understand the importance of critical thinking and courage to stand up for truth.
It definitely earns its nomination for one of the best Young Adult Fiction books in 2022 on Goodreads.
[Content Advisory: 1 s-word, no sexual content; towards the end there’s more violence and torture and traumatic experiences for young kids]
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
“Nature gave the word ‘glory’ a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one.” —C.S. Lewis
If you are not already a nature lover, this book just might turn you into one. And if you already feel the wonder when you sit in nature, this book is going to strike all the right chords!
I knew the Bible talked about a variety of nature-related things, but I feel like this book illuminated a lot of those passages (and more) for me in a new way.
If you’ve heard of the Rosetta Stone, you might know that it was discovered in the 1799 and broke open the Egyptian hieroglyphics for understanding. The stone showed the same message in hieroglyph and Greek (and another language) side by side. Because we (not me) knew the Greek, then we (not me) could understand the hieroglyphic script.
Brilliantly, Seth Lewis applies that understanding to the reality of God’s creation. He says God has two languages: nature and his Word. Our Rosetta Stone, the Word who became flesh, is Jesus.
Psalm 19:1-4 tells us that nature is speaking to us, constantly pouring out speech. Romans 1:18 says that God’s attributes can be clearly seen in his creation. We can understand a lot about God by looking at nature. But because we have Jesus and God’s Word, we can interpret it correctly.
If you are not already a nature lover, this book just might turn you into one. And if you already feel the wonder when you sit in nature, this book is going to strike all the right chords!
I knew the Bible talked about a variety of nature-related things, but I feel like this book illuminated a lot of those passages (and more) for me in a new way.
If you’ve heard of the Rosetta Stone, you might know that it was discovered in the 1799 and broke open the Egyptian hieroglyphics for understanding. The stone showed the same message in hieroglyph and Greek (and another language) side by side. Because we (not me) knew the Greek, then we (not me) could understand the hieroglyphic script.
Brilliantly, Seth Lewis applies that understanding to the reality of God’s creation. He says God has two languages: nature and his Word. Our Rosetta Stone, the Word who became flesh, is Jesus.
Psalm 19:1-4 tells us that nature is speaking to us, constantly pouring out speech. Romans 1:18 says that God’s attributes can be clearly seen in his creation. We can understand a lot about God by looking at nature. But because we have Jesus and God’s Word, we can interpret it correctly.
“God did not have to speak to us. He communicates because he wants to reveal himself. He gave us his word and his world to invite us to know and relate to him. He gave this invitation in two languages, and the completeness and clarity of the language of Scripture has not diminished our need to hear God’s voice in his creation as well. Scripture itself is filled with references to God’s world— from mountains and stars to sparrows and wild flowers and the morning mist that evaporates in the rising sunshine. God never intended for us to choose one language and ignore the other.”
Why do we experience awe and wonder at the roaring waterfalls, majestic mountains, the infinite stars, the unique array of creatures? Because we were created to. We are the only created things that notice and are mesmerized by its beauty.
“God could have started speaking to us only with words like ‘I am powerful, and I can provide for you’…what is power? What is provision? By making a sun for us, God gave us the ability to understand what he means when he says these words.”
In this wonderful little book, Seth takes the seven days of Creation (including the day of rest) and looks at how each thing God created communicates something to us about who God is and who we are. (There are more than seven chapters because he focuses in on multiple things from certain days.)
For each chapter he talks about a personal experience he had with the particular thing in nature and then he has three sections: discover, interpret, and respond. Discover reveals some really interesting or amazing things about the topic, more like scientific facts; interpret looks at what the Bible says and what truths are revealed; respond is the application, the ‘what do we do with this information’.
“[God’s creation] communicates truth and calls for a response— to glorify God, give him thanks and seek him.”
As human beings we are also unique in that God has given us the ability to respond and communicate with him about his creation. Plants and animals aren’t crafting songs about its beauty or replicating the sunsets with watercolors or sharing the wonder of the mountains with their friends. And they aren’t thanking God for his creativity and glory and provision. We can.
I won’t tell you all the takeaways from each day of creation— because I think you should read the book for yourself— but I will give you a little taste with a few that I particularly liked.
When he talked about light he commented how people will often say to ‘find the light inside yourself.’ But he points to lightening bugs and bio-luminescent creatures and says that if God wanted to create us with light inside us, he could have. But he didn’t.
“Which means that the physical reality we need to interpret is not actually our inner light. It’s our inner darkness. What is God saying to us by making us rely on light as an external rather than an internal reality? (Ps 19; 119:130; Jn 8:12)”
He explains photons a little bit which is just a wild thing to think about in and of itself but he continues, “To have light, you must open your eyes. You must receive what is given from another source… Jesus came as the source of all true light."
God also communicates this to us by creating the sun— the source of light— and the moon— the reflector of the light. We were made to receive and reflect the light from him.
In another chapter he talks about seeds:
“Seeds hold a power that we, with all our progress and technology, have not been able to replicate: the power of life.”
“He placed the most precious gift of all— life itself— in the smallest, most unimpressive of packages and scattered it everywhere…”
“his glorious eternal kingdom begins and grows like a seed (Mt 13:31-32) All of its growth comes through a message, scattered in the world like seed sown in a field, with the power to grow in the soil of our hearts and to bear abundant fruit…”
“This seed will break your heart. Its roots will push down and slowly shatter the rocky places inside you— your selfishness, your pride and anger and lust and greed and vanity. And as it grows down, it will also grow up, sending shoots into the air and filling them with the aromatic flowers and delicious fruits of God’s Spirit (Gal 5:22-23)… This is how we receive true spiritual life and how we grow: we come to him and remain in him. (Jn 15:5)”
I noticed some overlap in this chapter with the book I’m reading about growing in Gratefulness (Gratitude) and the theme of that book incorporates a lot of analogies and language around planting and roots and growth and cultivating. There is a lot to reap from this chapter and it’s really applicable to navigating life in God’s economy.
“How does the outdoors move us so deeply and have such power to make us feel more alive, more connected, more rested and content than any technology or device we’ve been able to invent—even though it is so often wild, unpredictable and threatening? Nature stirs us with sunsets, calms us with steady waves and terrifies us with power. We hear it. We feel it. We sense it communicating, and something inside of us responds naturally. Innately. Even if we don’t understand the language. This conversation—between us and the world—happens whether we want it to or not.”
Recommendation
“If all of creation is the orchestra of praise, then we are the choir. We are the tongue, the voice of all things, the directors of music, the soloists and singers, the poets and scribes.”
Of course I would recommend this book. Come get your sheet music and join the choir, listen to the orchestra of praise God has given in creation.
I could see myself revisiting this book every summer (when I’m in nature most) and sharing these things with my kids.
Seth Lewis articulates so well things we probably sense every day but don’t know what to do with. He reveals our Rosetta Stone and connects us to the source to interpret what God has made plain. It will make you feel awe, and thankfulness, and stability, and hope.
Even the storms and droughts tell us truths we need to know.
Seriously. Pick up this book!
**Received a copy via Good Book Company in exchange for an honest review**
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
“This wasn’t a rescue mission anymore. It was a crime scene.”
Even though this is only my second Matthew Redd book, I feel like I’m pretty invested in his hero persona. In the previous book, Out for Blood, he single-handedly takes out a team up in the mountains, his home terrain, and then leads a showdown at the town courthouse.
There are no less shootouts in this book and he has the same ferocious sidekick, Rubble (see my spoiler at the end if you want to know if Rubble dies or not— it’s something I always need to know so maybe you do too).
Gone Dark is non-stop action just like Out for Blood and I’m here for it! I could not put this book down. It was always one more chapter, one more chapter, and I definitely stayed up too late multiple nights.
What I love about the action in the book is that it’s not just the same action sequence that just happens to take up the whole book. There is movement and change of scenery. It is one overarching plot— save the kid, get the bad guy— but there are several encounters or problems that they have to get through and then they are moved onto the next one. It’s not a car chase scene that lasts 30 pages.
It’s a smokejumper crime scene. Then it’s a double homicide crime scene. Then it’s surviving the wildfire. Then it’s a home attack. Then a motel attack. Then a car chase. Then a fight scene in the woods, etc. You get the idea.
It reads like a movie and one you’d definitely want to watch. Matthew Redd is the classic former-military-turned-protective-family-man-who-still-does-side-ops guy that everyone loves to root for.
Culture has its own choice words about ‘masculinity’ but I don’t know how you can read a book like this and think ‘we need less of these kind of men’. He’s not a bro, he’s a man who uses his strength to sacrifice himself for the good and protection of others.
What I also love is Mikey’s character. He’s a softer masculine figure and best friend to Matthew. He also has a family. Steck does a good job of showing both the tender and the fierce sides of both of these men in the ways they fight together and just have a real friendship.
There is also the developing relationship between Redd and his biological dad who is FBI. The history of that relationship takes place in previous books but the series shows the ongoing progress they are making to reconcile and learn how to be family again.
It’s not all about the men though. Matthew’s wife, Emily, is a medical professional who also knows how to shoot a gun. We see Matthew and Emily navigating their relationship and learning how to be a team and doing what is best for their family.
It’s nice to read a book where everyone isn’t dysfunctional and a plot can revolve around positive heroism instead of figuring out which dysfunctional person is the worst of the bunch.
In case I’ve gotten too far in my review without giving you more plot details here ya go:
There’s a wildfire raging in the forests of Montana. Smoke jumpers are dispatched to help quell the fire and keep it from reaching the most populated areas. (I enjoyed learning about this job and would totally watch a documentary on it.) But after the smoke jumpers land— radio silence. Matthew Redd is called in to check it out and see the cause for the disconnect. Instead of a faulty radio signal, Redd finds a bunch of dead bodies.
He chases the killer to a secluded cabin where another crime scene awaits and a man is searching for a 6 year old boy, Jack, in the woods. The ‘bad guys’ think Jack has the answers they need— the location of a valuable ‘key.’
The rest of the book is Matthew rescuing Jack and trying to keep him safe.
“Are we jumping out of the frying pan and into the actual fire?”
The sideplot— but also related— is Emily’s encounter with a doctor who prescribed opioids to a woman who ended up overdosing.
From a raging wildfire to a runaway train (see cover image), this book has the action and suspense you’re looking for!
“'He’s going to John Wick these guys. For sure.'”
I did have to chuckle a little at the scene where the bad guy is like- you’re a preacher’s kid right? (his father in law is a pastor) and is confused why Matthew would be punching him and fighting him. And Redd’s response is:
“'I would go to hell to save my kids, so don’t think I won’t sin a little to get one back.'”
He does question the entire biblical soundness of this admission, but it just shows the core of his character— sacrificing himself for others, especially his family.
I don’t know the whole right theology when it comes to this kind of violence, but I do know that someone has to fight the bad guys and maintain order and protection in the world, and Matthew Redd is the poster child for that exact thing.
Based on the Epilogue of the book, Steck appears to give us a clue to where the next book is going to take us. I will admit though that I had not remembered what I was supposed to know/think about Aaron Decker so it might not have hit me the same as it might others.
Recommendation
I would definitely recommend this book. You will read it so fast.
It also would be a series I would recommend to any males who want to get into reading but aren’t sure where to start— unless they are males that really hate action movies or guns— then this might not be the right fit.
This is a great series that has suspense and action and characters to love and no swearing or sexual content! I’m already looking forward to the next one and am hoping to get my hands on another advanced reader’s copy so I can tell you guys all about it.
[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content; there is a lot of fighting and death; I wouldn’t call it gory for the sake of being gory but there are some descriptions of deaths and injuries that make it somewhat violent]
[Spoiler Alert: for those who want to know, Rubble does not die. I really don’t see a way that Steck can kill this dog off at any point and not lose readers so he better keep Rubble safe.]
**Received a copy via Tyndale Publishing House in exchange for an honest review**
Even though this is only my second Matthew Redd book, I feel like I’m pretty invested in his hero persona. In the previous book, Out for Blood, he single-handedly takes out a team up in the mountains, his home terrain, and then leads a showdown at the town courthouse.
There are no less shootouts in this book and he has the same ferocious sidekick, Rubble (see my spoiler at the end if you want to know if Rubble dies or not— it’s something I always need to know so maybe you do too).
Gone Dark is non-stop action just like Out for Blood and I’m here for it! I could not put this book down. It was always one more chapter, one more chapter, and I definitely stayed up too late multiple nights.
What I love about the action in the book is that it’s not just the same action sequence that just happens to take up the whole book. There is movement and change of scenery. It is one overarching plot— save the kid, get the bad guy— but there are several encounters or problems that they have to get through and then they are moved onto the next one. It’s not a car chase scene that lasts 30 pages.
It’s a smokejumper crime scene. Then it’s a double homicide crime scene. Then it’s surviving the wildfire. Then it’s a home attack. Then a motel attack. Then a car chase. Then a fight scene in the woods, etc. You get the idea.
It reads like a movie and one you’d definitely want to watch. Matthew Redd is the classic former-military-turned-protective-family-man-who-still-does-side-ops guy that everyone loves to root for.
Culture has its own choice words about ‘masculinity’ but I don’t know how you can read a book like this and think ‘we need less of these kind of men’. He’s not a bro, he’s a man who uses his strength to sacrifice himself for the good and protection of others.
What I also love is Mikey’s character. He’s a softer masculine figure and best friend to Matthew. He also has a family. Steck does a good job of showing both the tender and the fierce sides of both of these men in the ways they fight together and just have a real friendship.
There is also the developing relationship between Redd and his biological dad who is FBI. The history of that relationship takes place in previous books but the series shows the ongoing progress they are making to reconcile and learn how to be family again.
It’s not all about the men though. Matthew’s wife, Emily, is a medical professional who also knows how to shoot a gun. We see Matthew and Emily navigating their relationship and learning how to be a team and doing what is best for their family.
It’s nice to read a book where everyone isn’t dysfunctional and a plot can revolve around positive heroism instead of figuring out which dysfunctional person is the worst of the bunch.
In case I’ve gotten too far in my review without giving you more plot details here ya go:
There’s a wildfire raging in the forests of Montana. Smoke jumpers are dispatched to help quell the fire and keep it from reaching the most populated areas. (I enjoyed learning about this job and would totally watch a documentary on it.) But after the smoke jumpers land— radio silence. Matthew Redd is called in to check it out and see the cause for the disconnect. Instead of a faulty radio signal, Redd finds a bunch of dead bodies.
He chases the killer to a secluded cabin where another crime scene awaits and a man is searching for a 6 year old boy, Jack, in the woods. The ‘bad guys’ think Jack has the answers they need— the location of a valuable ‘key.’
The rest of the book is Matthew rescuing Jack and trying to keep him safe.
“Are we jumping out of the frying pan and into the actual fire?”
The sideplot— but also related— is Emily’s encounter with a doctor who prescribed opioids to a woman who ended up overdosing.
From a raging wildfire to a runaway train (see cover image), this book has the action and suspense you’re looking for!
“'He’s going to John Wick these guys. For sure.'”
I did have to chuckle a little at the scene where the bad guy is like- you’re a preacher’s kid right? (his father in law is a pastor) and is confused why Matthew would be punching him and fighting him. And Redd’s response is:
“'I would go to hell to save my kids, so don’t think I won’t sin a little to get one back.'”
He does question the entire biblical soundness of this admission, but it just shows the core of his character— sacrificing himself for others, especially his family.
I don’t know the whole right theology when it comes to this kind of violence, but I do know that someone has to fight the bad guys and maintain order and protection in the world, and Matthew Redd is the poster child for that exact thing.
Based on the Epilogue of the book, Steck appears to give us a clue to where the next book is going to take us. I will admit though that I had not remembered what I was supposed to know/think about Aaron Decker so it might not have hit me the same as it might others.
Recommendation
I would definitely recommend this book. You will read it so fast.
It also would be a series I would recommend to any males who want to get into reading but aren’t sure where to start— unless they are males that really hate action movies or guns— then this might not be the right fit.
This is a great series that has suspense and action and characters to love and no swearing or sexual content! I’m already looking forward to the next one and am hoping to get my hands on another advanced reader’s copy so I can tell you guys all about it.
[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content; there is a lot of fighting and death; I wouldn’t call it gory for the sake of being gory but there are some descriptions of deaths and injuries that make it somewhat violent]
[Spoiler Alert: for those who want to know, Rubble does not die. I really don’t see a way that Steck can kill this dog off at any point and not lose readers so he better keep Rubble safe.]
**Received a copy via Tyndale Publishing House in exchange for an honest review**
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
“That’s why my mother is dead. It started with a photograph.”
This is a biography of Nickelback.
Just kidding. Their song isn’t even referenced. Just Charlie Robison’s song.
Anyway, it’s my 14th Brian Freeman book so I guess you could say I enjoy his books.
I liked this book too but there is an element to this book that wasn’t my favorite.
The cover shows an image of a woman with one blue eye and one green eye— a condition called heterochromia. In the book her name is Maro. The main character, Shannon, has an encounter with her where Maro helps Shannon ‘regress’ and sees a memory of a woman being killed in a home invasion. But it’s not her memory. It’s someone else’s.
I would say that’s the side plot of the book, not necessarily the main drive, which I’m glad for. Shannon is having recurring nightmares about this vision and it becomes this question of— are these past lives of hers? does she believe in reincarnation? does she have a ‘twin shadow’ that will continue to try to kill her in every life?
This is not a theme I’m interested in in this context and I’m still not sure what significance the one green eye, one blue eye has to the story other than it makes Maro stand out. In that sense, the cover image is misleading to the main plot of the story.
Without giving any spoilers, I will say that I liked how the story came around and how it all gets wrapped up. Other than the cat— but I’m sure there will be some readers who will appreciate that tiny mystery.
[And if you like this idea of ‘someone else’s memories, you may also enjoy Brian Freeman’s book I Remember You]
So if heterochromia and ‘misplaced’ memories aren’t the main plot, what is?
Thirty-year-old Shannon Wells lives in Florida offering her own private investigator services. As a survivor of sexual assault, her customers are women who need her help.
“Fate had shown me who I was and what I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I’ve been in self-defense classes ever since. I learned to fight. I learned to shoot. You come at me? I will kill you. I got my private investigator’s license. My clients are women, all women, only women.”
One day the daughter of a previous client, Kate, shows up asking about her mom, Faith. Her mom had asked Shannon to ‘find who she [Faith] was.’ Shannon says she discovered Faith most likely changed her identity around the time Kate was born but could never find anything prior to that.
Turns out Faith was just murdered. So whatever previous life she had, it caught up to her in the worst way.
Shannon feels like she owes it to both Faith and Kate to find out who Faith was and what happened to her. The investigation revolves around a photograph that Faith took of a rainy motel in Michigan many years ago.
“It was one obscure photograph in one obscure book that only sold a few hundred copies.”
Whoever killed Faith will kill again to keep their secret and Kate and Shannon are walking right into the danger. Add to that the mystery and potential danger in Shannon’s head with the home invasion memories and the suspense doubles.
I like the tough yet emotionally empathetic character of Shannon. I liked the relationship that Freeman developed between Shannon and Kate. I’m not sure there’s really a likeable male character— I can enjoy an empowered woman type of book but I wish he would have had at least had one primary male character that was likeable.
Freeman wrote a good suspenseful story that kept me guessing and threw in a few good twists. I liked the concept of a photograph being a catalyst for the investigation.
The contrast of Florida and the Midwest made for good movement in the story and good settings— to leave the carefree sunshiney Daytona Beach for the more atmospheric moody climate of Michigan definitely helps draw the reader in.
Recommendation
It’s not my favorite Brian Freeman book but still one I would recommend. Even though it had a weird element of possible reincarnation, Freeman connects everything well and has written a good suspenseful novel about an unsolved murder, hidden identity, and friendship.
I would also advise you to check out all the other reviews on Brian Freeman books I’ve written so you can find one of his other books to try as well!
[Content Advisory: 1 f-word, 22 s-words; reference to sexual assault but not a graphic recounting]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This is a biography of Nickelback.
Just kidding. Their song isn’t even referenced. Just Charlie Robison’s song.
Anyway, it’s my 14th Brian Freeman book so I guess you could say I enjoy his books.
I liked this book too but there is an element to this book that wasn’t my favorite.
The cover shows an image of a woman with one blue eye and one green eye— a condition called heterochromia. In the book her name is Maro. The main character, Shannon, has an encounter with her where Maro helps Shannon ‘regress’ and sees a memory of a woman being killed in a home invasion. But it’s not her memory. It’s someone else’s.
I would say that’s the side plot of the book, not necessarily the main drive, which I’m glad for. Shannon is having recurring nightmares about this vision and it becomes this question of— are these past lives of hers? does she believe in reincarnation? does she have a ‘twin shadow’ that will continue to try to kill her in every life?
This is not a theme I’m interested in in this context and I’m still not sure what significance the one green eye, one blue eye has to the story other than it makes Maro stand out. In that sense, the cover image is misleading to the main plot of the story.
Without giving any spoilers, I will say that I liked how the story came around and how it all gets wrapped up. Other than the cat— but I’m sure there will be some readers who will appreciate that tiny mystery.
[And if you like this idea of ‘someone else’s memories, you may also enjoy Brian Freeman’s book I Remember You]
So if heterochromia and ‘misplaced’ memories aren’t the main plot, what is?
Thirty-year-old Shannon Wells lives in Florida offering her own private investigator services. As a survivor of sexual assault, her customers are women who need her help.
“Fate had shown me who I was and what I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I’ve been in self-defense classes ever since. I learned to fight. I learned to shoot. You come at me? I will kill you. I got my private investigator’s license. My clients are women, all women, only women.”
One day the daughter of a previous client, Kate, shows up asking about her mom, Faith. Her mom had asked Shannon to ‘find who she [Faith] was.’ Shannon says she discovered Faith most likely changed her identity around the time Kate was born but could never find anything prior to that.
Turns out Faith was just murdered. So whatever previous life she had, it caught up to her in the worst way.
Shannon feels like she owes it to both Faith and Kate to find out who Faith was and what happened to her. The investigation revolves around a photograph that Faith took of a rainy motel in Michigan many years ago.
“It was one obscure photograph in one obscure book that only sold a few hundred copies.”
Whoever killed Faith will kill again to keep their secret and Kate and Shannon are walking right into the danger. Add to that the mystery and potential danger in Shannon’s head with the home invasion memories and the suspense doubles.
I like the tough yet emotionally empathetic character of Shannon. I liked the relationship that Freeman developed between Shannon and Kate. I’m not sure there’s really a likeable male character— I can enjoy an empowered woman type of book but I wish he would have had at least had one primary male character that was likeable.
Freeman wrote a good suspenseful story that kept me guessing and threw in a few good twists. I liked the concept of a photograph being a catalyst for the investigation.
The contrast of Florida and the Midwest made for good movement in the story and good settings— to leave the carefree sunshiney Daytona Beach for the more atmospheric moody climate of Michigan definitely helps draw the reader in.
Recommendation
It’s not my favorite Brian Freeman book but still one I would recommend. Even though it had a weird element of possible reincarnation, Freeman connects everything well and has written a good suspenseful novel about an unsolved murder, hidden identity, and friendship.
I would also advise you to check out all the other reviews on Brian Freeman books I’ve written so you can find one of his other books to try as well!
[Content Advisory: 1 f-word, 22 s-words; reference to sexual assault but not a graphic recounting]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
[4 for now, but still contemplating]
“Modernist assumptions that verifiable knowledge is the ultimate path to truth have overlooked the fact that mystery and beauty are at the core of knowing. This book is an effort to affirm such journeys into the unknown, and to provide language and a map.”
I was introduced to this book at a Christian conference for financial advisors, because nothing speaks to finance like art, right? As a person holding an art degree rather than one in finance or economics, when one of the seminar speakers started talking about art, I was very intrigued.
To be honest, I don’t remember how he connected it to financial advising, I’d have to ask my husband, but I bought the book, nonetheless, to see what this theology of making was.
Makoto Fujimura’s website can be found HERE. Wikipedia describes his art style as “a fusion between contemplative art and expressionism, using the traditional materials of Japanese art of Nihonga.” Apparently he is one of the leading artists in the ‘slow art’ movement— which, admittedly, I am unsure what that means.
His book talks some about his art and some about the terms ‘culture care’ and ‘theology of making’ that he coined. I feel like the writing style of this book is philosophical in nature. You can tell he’s a true artist because the way he communicates ideas flows from a different thought process.
I may be an artist, but my right and left brain are always fighting for precedence for me. I see the beauty of creativity in paint and words alike, but I’m also over-analytical and question many forms of art. Looking at Fujimura’s work, it’s abstract and flowing. He tells the story of one of his pieces and then I look it up to view it and I realize- ‘There’s no way I would have gathered all of that from looking at that painting.’
I guess what I’m trying to say is that this book is an interesting read and gives the reader a lot to think about but it wasn’t a book that I felt completely pulled in by. As an artist who is known to just sit and contemplate a piece of art, Fujimura’s ideas challenge someone like me (who has a really hard time putting myself into a position like that) to think differently than I am accustomed to (or want to).
I think this book is probably best read with someone or a group of someones to contemplate its content. A lot of things he said I agreed with or felt enlightened by. But there were also some things that gave me pause and made me wonder if it stood up to scrutiny or if it just sounded profound.
I will say that I’m still processing most of what I read in this book because I’m trying to find people who will discuss it with me, so this review probably won’t feel solid or complete.
I’ll list some major points he makes and some other quotes that I found worth pondering.
Part of his theology of making is recognizing the role art plays in connecting people to God. There is more to know about God than through reading words— though he does affirm the necessity and importance of Scripture. It comes in the form of creating and expressing and experiencing.
“Makers are experienced at navigating the gap between ideas and reality. Makers can help us to love more deeply.”
He says, “I now consider what I do in the studio to be theological work as much as aesthetic work. I experience God, my Maker, in the studio. I am immersed in the art of creating, and I have come to understand this dimension of life as the most profound way of grasping human experience and the nature of our existence in the world.”
I do like that he emphasizes that humanity’s ability to create is something unique to us— something innate put into us by the Creator as we were created in his image. Creating is part of what makes us human.
We often have a narrow minded view of what ‘art’ is, or what it means to ‘create.’ It’s worth just considering all the areas of our life where we are actually ‘creating’ even if it’s not with pencils or paint or clay. You don’t have to be ‘right-brained’ to create.
He laments, “Expectations of art are largely driven by fear that art will lead us away from “truth” into an anarchic freedom of expression.”
He desires to see artists and art incorporated more in the church in helping people connect and experience the God we read about in Scripture. It’s true that the ability to create is part of prevenient grace— meaning that believers and unbelievers alike can all create. There are definitely forms of art and pieces of art that are sinful or idolatrous, but it’s also probably true that by and large we’ve wrongly lumped all art together and labeled it all as a ‘potential problem.’
There are a couple prominent themes throughout this book:
Utilitarian Pragmatism
He pushes back on the culture’s infatuation with utilitarian pragmatism. This is the mindset that we focus or value that which is practical and useful. What is efficient? He will sometimes specifically use art making processes hat force him to be ‘inefficient’ and materials that are costly to resist this idea that art is merely a commodity to be bought and sold.
“Modernist assumptions that verifiable knowledge is the ultimate path to truth have overlooked the fact that mystery and beauty are at the core of knowing. This book is an effort to affirm such journeys into the unknown, and to provide language and a map.”
I was introduced to this book at a Christian conference for financial advisors, because nothing speaks to finance like art, right? As a person holding an art degree rather than one in finance or economics, when one of the seminar speakers started talking about art, I was very intrigued.
To be honest, I don’t remember how he connected it to financial advising, I’d have to ask my husband, but I bought the book, nonetheless, to see what this theology of making was.
Makoto Fujimura’s website can be found HERE. Wikipedia describes his art style as “a fusion between contemplative art and expressionism, using the traditional materials of Japanese art of Nihonga.” Apparently he is one of the leading artists in the ‘slow art’ movement— which, admittedly, I am unsure what that means.
His book talks some about his art and some about the terms ‘culture care’ and ‘theology of making’ that he coined. I feel like the writing style of this book is philosophical in nature. You can tell he’s a true artist because the way he communicates ideas flows from a different thought process.
I may be an artist, but my right and left brain are always fighting for precedence for me. I see the beauty of creativity in paint and words alike, but I’m also over-analytical and question many forms of art. Looking at Fujimura’s work, it’s abstract and flowing. He tells the story of one of his pieces and then I look it up to view it and I realize- ‘There’s no way I would have gathered all of that from looking at that painting.’
I guess what I’m trying to say is that this book is an interesting read and gives the reader a lot to think about but it wasn’t a book that I felt completely pulled in by. As an artist who is known to just sit and contemplate a piece of art, Fujimura’s ideas challenge someone like me (who has a really hard time putting myself into a position like that) to think differently than I am accustomed to (or want to).
I think this book is probably best read with someone or a group of someones to contemplate its content. A lot of things he said I agreed with or felt enlightened by. But there were also some things that gave me pause and made me wonder if it stood up to scrutiny or if it just sounded profound.
I will say that I’m still processing most of what I read in this book because I’m trying to find people who will discuss it with me, so this review probably won’t feel solid or complete.
I’ll list some major points he makes and some other quotes that I found worth pondering.
Part of his theology of making is recognizing the role art plays in connecting people to God. There is more to know about God than through reading words— though he does affirm the necessity and importance of Scripture. It comes in the form of creating and expressing and experiencing.
“Makers are experienced at navigating the gap between ideas and reality. Makers can help us to love more deeply.”
He says, “I now consider what I do in the studio to be theological work as much as aesthetic work. I experience God, my Maker, in the studio. I am immersed in the art of creating, and I have come to understand this dimension of life as the most profound way of grasping human experience and the nature of our existence in the world.”
I do like that he emphasizes that humanity’s ability to create is something unique to us— something innate put into us by the Creator as we were created in his image. Creating is part of what makes us human.
We often have a narrow minded view of what ‘art’ is, or what it means to ‘create.’ It’s worth just considering all the areas of our life where we are actually ‘creating’ even if it’s not with pencils or paint or clay. You don’t have to be ‘right-brained’ to create.
He laments, “Expectations of art are largely driven by fear that art will lead us away from “truth” into an anarchic freedom of expression.”
He desires to see artists and art incorporated more in the church in helping people connect and experience the God we read about in Scripture. It’s true that the ability to create is part of prevenient grace— meaning that believers and unbelievers alike can all create. There are definitely forms of art and pieces of art that are sinful or idolatrous, but it’s also probably true that by and large we’ve wrongly lumped all art together and labeled it all as a ‘potential problem.’
There are a couple prominent themes throughout this book:
Utilitarian Pragmatism
He pushes back on the culture’s infatuation with utilitarian pragmatism. This is the mindset that we focus or value that which is practical and useful. What is efficient? He will sometimes specifically use art making processes hat force him to be ‘inefficient’ and materials that are costly to resist this idea that art is merely a commodity to be bought and sold.
“Could it be that what is deemed marginal, what is ‘useless’ in our terms, is most essential for God and is the bedrock, the essence, of our culture? Could it be that our affinity for the utilitarian pragmatism of the Industrial Revolution created a blind spot in culture that not only overlooks great art, but if purity of expression is compromised could also lead us to reject the essence of the gospel?… Do we try to ‘sell’ the Good News in the most efficient and entrepreneurial way?”
He points to God’s creation as superfluous— he didn’t need Earth or us. He created in abundance and generosity and love.
He points to Jesus’s tears as extravagant— when he wept over Lazarus, he didn’t have to. He knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead but expressing those tears was something Jesus deemed important.
“Our Christian culture seems to shrink from things that seem extravagant. ‘What a waste,’ we might hear, ‘because we could have fed the poor.’…The justification of extravagance, therefore, does not hinge on the amount of money: it has everything to do with the object of our extravagance, the object of our adoration, or the object of our grief. The problem is not that we do not have an extravagant visual culture; the problem is that we do not believe in an extravagant God.”
This idea caused me to revisit my artist statement from my college art show and think more about what I wrote and if I still agree with it (the jury is still out).
God’s Future City
Another point of his theology of making is the idea that what we do or make has eternal implications. He says that we are co-creators with God.
He quoted a pastor who said that only people and God’s Word are eternal and everything else will burn. He challenges that thought:
“What we build, design, and depict on this side of eternity matters, because in some mysterious way, those creations will become part of the future city of God.”
“If God is the Artist, God does not create to make things disappear. It is in the very nature of God to create for an enduring future. The Bible is not about the End; it is about the New. The fire of judgment melts away dross, but ultimately it is a sanctifying fire.”
“Our words matter because what we say and do today can last eternally!— even if it is a short word of assurance and encouragement, even if no one sees our act of kindness. That silent submission to forgive rather than stay bitter, that lonely time of walking with Christ in alone in the workplace, at school, or in the art world—Christ will use those deeds to build his city of God.”
Kintsugi
I found the artistic process of Kintsugi really interesting.
“The Japanese kin stands for ‘gold’ and tsugi means ‘to reconnect’ but tsugi also has, significantly, connotations of ‘connecting to the next generation’”
It is a process that takes shattered pieces of pottery and then, using gold as a connector, fashions them into a new vessel.
“Kintsugi does not just ‘fix’ or repair a broken vessel; rather, the technique makes the broken pottery even more beautiful than the original… So, too, the biblical passages of restoration… The Christian gospel, or the Good News, begins with the awareness of our brokenness. The Fall created a schism between humanity and God caused by our desire to become like gods. Christ came not to ‘fix’ us, not just to restore, but to make us a new creation.”
He challenges the idea that Christians focus too much on God ‘fixing’ things when it’s more about creating something new that’s better and more beautiful than before. Fixing is a pragmatic and utilitarian term… creating is a gratuitous, costly, generative term that better embodies the Spirit of God’s restoration.
Things to Think About
Here are some things that I really liked or I wondered what it meant or I questioned whether I agreed with it. I put the location in the book so you can read the context of the quote and discuss it yourselves.
[Chapter 1]
“When we make, we invite the abundance of God’s world into the reality of scarcity all about us.”
“All artists, in this sense, operate out of a faith in abundance and the experience of hope, despite the propensity of our egos to twist all that is good and make idols.”
[Chapter 2]
“Why did God create? Our view of the creative process and the role of art hinges on how we answer this question. God created out of love. God created because it is in God’s nature to make and create.”
“If ‘we make to be useful’ then we will value only what is most efficient, what is practical and industrial.”
“…we seem to ‘verify’ by relying on the ‘rationality’ of technology, but indeed, we are easily manipulated because we trust in the form rather than the content.”
“In order to be effective messengers of hope, we must begin by trusting our inner voice, an inner intuition that speaks into the vast wastelands of our time. This process requires training our imagination to see beyond tribal norms, to see the vista of the wider pastures of culture. Therefore, it is part of our theological journey to see the importance of our creative intuition and trust that the Spirit is already at work there. Our creative intuition, fused with the work of the Spirit of God, can become the deepest seat of knowledge, out of which a theology of the New Creation can flow.”
[Chapter 3]
“Without beauty and mercy, the gospel will not change the world.”
“It’s as if to say we are ‘fixed’ by the gospel, and we can now live out our identity as a New Creation in Christ. But we do not know what purpose and what world we are being prepared for. Again, it’s as if we are provided with tools to fix the pipes of injustice and righteousness, but we have no word on why the pipes are there in the first place.”
[Chapter 4]
“Thus, our brokenness, in light of the wounds of Christ still visible after the resurrection, can also mean that through making, by honoring the brokenness, the broken shapes can somehow be a necessary component of the New World to come.”
“All artists seek the New; great ones redefine what Newness is.”
[Chapter 5]
“Unless there is tangible, fruitful reality that is made into the world, what we know, and what we preach, has not incarnated itself fully in love… No matter how high the ideal, or how great the preaching, the true test of the power of the gospel to affect our lives is in the ‘bottom line’ of what we have created into the world through love.”
“The first question that should be asked as people walk into our church building is, What did you make this week?’… We need to judge on the basis of the fruit of making…”
“Market economy and gift economy: ‘a work of art can survive without the market, but where there is no gift, there is no art’”— Lewis Hyde
“When we proclaim “salvation comes free, at no cost,” we are unwittingly falling in with the architecture and the language of a transactional consumer economy.”
[Chapter 6]
“We are not horses that need to jump higher and higher (moralism) but he makes us into horses with wings… A church should be a place of nurturing those wings” (pg 78-79)
“The experience is not to ‘prove’ God’s existence, but to affirm the source of creativity and imagination, thereby affirming the center.”
[Chapter 7]
“In a world of sanctified imagination, we will come to see dominion over the earth as based not on power and domination, but on loving stewardship.”
[Chapter 8]
“I develop my thesis on a kind of culture that flows out of the tears of Christ, rather than on a culture of self-expression or utility.”
“To know an artist is to know both the depth of sorrows and the heights of joy. Therefore, we need to consider the arts as a way to value life’s mysterious details and as a way to train our senses to pay attention to the world. The discipline of the arts allows for this luxurious communing to take place in the deeper soils of all our lives. Artists are the conduits of life, articulating what all of us are surely sensing but may not have the capacity to express.”
“I believe that the rational flows out of the intuitive; the active should be led by the contemplative. But it is also clear from these passages [Mary and Martha] that the rational and the analytical must partner with the contemplative for the full reality of God to break into our world.”
“Christ called Mary’s anointing with nard act of devotion ‘beautiful’ echoing the Hebrew word kalos, a word that appears in the original language of Genesis that tells us that God called Creation ‘good.’”
“We could call this the beginning of the feminist movement. Jesus is the founder of every movement that liberates men and women from oppression or inequality.”
[Chapter 10]
“The art of waiting depends upon our willingness to die to ourselves and trust in God. Art, poetry, and music all depend on waiting. There is no music without pauses. There is no art if we are unwilling to wait for paint to dry.”
“Let us reclaim creativity and imagination as essential, central, and necessary parts of our faith journey. Imagination is a gift given to us by the Creator to steward, a gift that no other creature under heaven and earth has been given.”
One last thing that he brought up that I hadn’t thought of before.
“The Eucharist relies on us to be culture makers. Bread and wine are both realities that would not exist on their own, but earthly materials must be cultivated by human beings and require much time to create… Human beings, through their toil, and over a period of time experimenting to perfect the craft, have made bread and wine.”
It’s interesting to think about Jesus selecting bread and wine and commanding his people to partake of it in remembrance of him, knowing that they would have to do the work of creating both elements in order to obey.
Considering how much we are in a consumerist culture, I really enjoyed being reminded of the importance of creating and the value it has inherently. The book, The Language of Rivers and Stars is also helping me connect tangible beauty and created things with what it communicates about God. I think that book is more compelling to me at the moment, but I think it’s because I need some other artists to share with me how they understand this book.
Recommendation
Because I’m still processing this book, it’s hard to know how to recommend. I think if you are interested in art at all, it’s definitely worth reading and pondering some of the thoughts.
I could totally see this in curriculum of certain collegiate art programs.
I do think it’s a book that requires contemplation and is not one that you want to read while distracted or in a loud environment because you’re probably going to need to reread things a few times or sit with something a minute.
At times it feels even over-philosophical or abstract and hard to grasp some of his points. In some ways it emphasized to me some of the gaps I previously felt while surrounded by other artists in college and not feeling like I saw the world on the same level. Should I be challenged by him, or should I be challenging him? Probably some of both, but still trying to figure out which things where.
I’m interested in what others glean when they read this book and what sticks out to them so feel free to comment on what you loved or didn’t love or how the theology of making manifests itself in your own life or how you think this concept of art and creation should show up in church.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“There were only two ways this forced reunion of theirs could end— a passionate reconciliation that led to the renewal of their vows… or a double homicide.”
This is a rom-com about second-chance love. I don’t know how often second-chance love stories involve previously married people, but I love that about this book.
First Love, Second Draft has humor, redemption, and subtle Chicago Cubs references— what more could you ask for?
Other than a couple characters and a shotgun wedding, this book is a solid double, possibly a triple depending how accurate of a throw it is.
Gracie Parker, a rom-com writer, has been divorced from Noah Parker, a professional baseball player, for five years when their paths cross again.
Noah has been removed from the post-season roster of the Seattle Mariners, basically ending his career (cuz he’s old) and he realizes he wants to win back his ex-wife who he never should have let go of in the first place.
Gracie— recently just injured in the most ridiculous way— will NOT be accepting help from Noah during her recovery. Except that’s her only option if she doesn’t want to check herself into a rehab facility.
Gracie tries to play the ‘Ice Queen’, unmoved by Noah’s attempts to rekindle their love, focused on finishing her book that’s under a tight deadline. But Noah is not giving up and even finagles a way for them to work together on a book project forcing them to have a conversation about what led to their split.
I liked the premise of the novel. I liked that a rom-com tried to incorporate sports into the story. I really like the title and the ‘rewriting’ of their love story.
The redemption in this book is the best part. [This may be a little bit of a spoiler, but it’s a rom-com so suspense isn’t the driving force of this book and I think it’s okay] At the root of their divorce was infertility and the strain that puts on a marriage. Added to that were the demands of a professional baseball career and a wife feeling like she’s grieving alone.
I had my own journey of infertility and trying to get pregnant and miscarrying. I understand how she felt alone in her grief and I understand how Noah didn’t know how to grieve with her, how he defaulted to his job because that’s all he knew how to do, the only way to not feel like a failure. A miscarriage is a special kind of loss and grief that men can’t fully identify with and that can definitely create disconnect and distance.
They didn’t know how to love each other when things got hard and fighting for their marriage when they’re both grieving in different ways became too difficult. Books about divorced people working through their problems, recognizing they should have fought harder for their marriage, confessing their mistakes are not common. I love that Kinzer showed that divorce doesn’t have to be the answer.
Kinzer shares in her author’s note that she’s a big Cubs fan (woot woot!) and that not only were Gracie and Dusty’s names inspired by the Cubs, but the rain delay at the end as well. She recounts her feelings from Game 7 of the Cubs/Indians World Series during the rain delay. It was this idea that a rain delay doesn’t mean you give up— you keep fighting. So in this baseball themed rom-com, the divorce was the rain delay that they needed to fight through. The rain delay does not mean the end.
Now there were two characters I did not care for.
Gracie’s sister Mona. She was so unreliable. And it turns out she advised her sister many times in unwise and selfish ways. Family is family, but I can see a really frustrating relationship between these two. Mona seemed to be in her own little world with little regard for her sister or her son.
Rachel. I am pretty much never a fan of a scatterbrained, flighty, clumsy character. They are stressful and annoying and exaggerated. But to add to that trope, Rachel’s occupation was a nurse. It made it so much worse! There’s no way a person like Rachel could function like a nurse who has to keep track of multiple patient’s strict medicine schedules or handle high-stress situations. Not to mention when Matt got into a car accident she freaks out at the hospital and acts like he’s literally dying and how can the nurse say he can go home?! and where is their supervisor?! She was hysterical. I don’t believe scatterbrained characters, but I REALLY don’t believe this type of character as a nurse.
This then leads my other problem with the book: Matt and Rachel’s relationship. With Kinzer’s attention to marriage in regards to Noah and Gracie, I would have thought she wouldn’t have been so careless with Matt and Rachel. Yes, they’ve been friends for a long time, but they’ve never actually dated each other. All of a sudden they realize they’re in love with each other and they get married after one week?!
And Gracie supports this? It doesn’t make sense. Marriage is a good thing, but it’s also a big thing. Long engagements aren’t always best, but I think there is a lot of wisdom in actually being in a relationship with someone for a little while before jumping into a lifelong commitment. Call me crazy.
Matt and Rachel were like the microcosm of Noah and Gracie and then overnight they became Noah and Gracie on steroids. I would have rather them just be the ripple to Noah and Gracie’s wave in terms of story prominence and plot moving. I would give you another analogy to explain my feelings but I just ran out.
My last little critique of the book feels weird to say, but I’m going to anyway. Gracie’s mention of God at the end seemed rather abrupt. I guess her dad kinda led her down the path of spiritual reasoning, but with no real mention of faith up until that point it seems out of left field for Gracie to decide she needs to depend on God more or for her dad to bring it up.
I mean I’m all for depending on God, but in terms of this book, I think it either needed to be a longer thread that showed up at least a little bit more often or taken out completely.
When she mentions it to Noah I was like- wait, is that an important thing to him? We never really got any sort of measure on where either of their faith was at. I don’t know if Kinzer was required to have that in there in order to be labeled a Christian Fiction book, but it seemed like a last minute- Oh yeah, we need God in there- type of thing instead of something intentional.
I’m okay with just having a clean, redemptive story without an overt Christian message— I don’t have any problem with that. I also don’t have a problem if an author wants to make faith a prominent part of a character’s journey. What bothered me was the way it was just randomly slid in like it was supposed to mean something when it didn’t.
Recommendation
Romance is a dicey genre these days. I try to just stick to rom-coms, but even then the spicy factor can still be ratcheted up. I think there is a big market for clean rom-coms and can appreciate a book like this that can do it!
While there were a few characters that annoyed me, overall it was an enjoyable read and a good second-chance love story with some decent humor.
If you are looking for a romance or rom-com book, I would definitely give this one a try!
Oh, one last warning for Cubs fans— she sent the Cardinals to the World Series in her own book!! Not even her husband could convince her to change it, so just prepare yourself for the trajesty.
[Content Advisory: no swearing; there is a bathtub scene that I suppose could count towards sexual content but it was a mostly clothed comical scene between two previously married people so it doesn’t feel sexual]
**Received a copy via Tyndale Publishing in exchange for an honest review**
This is a rom-com about second-chance love. I don’t know how often second-chance love stories involve previously married people, but I love that about this book.
First Love, Second Draft has humor, redemption, and subtle Chicago Cubs references— what more could you ask for?
Other than a couple characters and a shotgun wedding, this book is a solid double, possibly a triple depending how accurate of a throw it is.
Gracie Parker, a rom-com writer, has been divorced from Noah Parker, a professional baseball player, for five years when their paths cross again.
Noah has been removed from the post-season roster of the Seattle Mariners, basically ending his career (cuz he’s old) and he realizes he wants to win back his ex-wife who he never should have let go of in the first place.
Gracie— recently just injured in the most ridiculous way— will NOT be accepting help from Noah during her recovery. Except that’s her only option if she doesn’t want to check herself into a rehab facility.
Gracie tries to play the ‘Ice Queen’, unmoved by Noah’s attempts to rekindle their love, focused on finishing her book that’s under a tight deadline. But Noah is not giving up and even finagles a way for them to work together on a book project forcing them to have a conversation about what led to their split.
I liked the premise of the novel. I liked that a rom-com tried to incorporate sports into the story. I really like the title and the ‘rewriting’ of their love story.
The redemption in this book is the best part. [This may be a little bit of a spoiler, but it’s a rom-com so suspense isn’t the driving force of this book and I think it’s okay] At the root of their divorce was infertility and the strain that puts on a marriage. Added to that were the demands of a professional baseball career and a wife feeling like she’s grieving alone.
I had my own journey of infertility and trying to get pregnant and miscarrying. I understand how she felt alone in her grief and I understand how Noah didn’t know how to grieve with her, how he defaulted to his job because that’s all he knew how to do, the only way to not feel like a failure. A miscarriage is a special kind of loss and grief that men can’t fully identify with and that can definitely create disconnect and distance.
They didn’t know how to love each other when things got hard and fighting for their marriage when they’re both grieving in different ways became too difficult. Books about divorced people working through their problems, recognizing they should have fought harder for their marriage, confessing their mistakes are not common. I love that Kinzer showed that divorce doesn’t have to be the answer.
Kinzer shares in her author’s note that she’s a big Cubs fan (woot woot!) and that not only were Gracie and Dusty’s names inspired by the Cubs, but the rain delay at the end as well. She recounts her feelings from Game 7 of the Cubs/Indians World Series during the rain delay. It was this idea that a rain delay doesn’t mean you give up— you keep fighting. So in this baseball themed rom-com, the divorce was the rain delay that they needed to fight through. The rain delay does not mean the end.
Now there were two characters I did not care for.
Gracie’s sister Mona. She was so unreliable. And it turns out she advised her sister many times in unwise and selfish ways. Family is family, but I can see a really frustrating relationship between these two. Mona seemed to be in her own little world with little regard for her sister or her son.
Rachel. I am pretty much never a fan of a scatterbrained, flighty, clumsy character. They are stressful and annoying and exaggerated. But to add to that trope, Rachel’s occupation was a nurse. It made it so much worse! There’s no way a person like Rachel could function like a nurse who has to keep track of multiple patient’s strict medicine schedules or handle high-stress situations. Not to mention when Matt got into a car accident she freaks out at the hospital and acts like he’s literally dying and how can the nurse say he can go home?! and where is their supervisor?! She was hysterical. I don’t believe scatterbrained characters, but I REALLY don’t believe this type of character as a nurse.
This then leads my other problem with the book: Matt and Rachel’s relationship. With Kinzer’s attention to marriage in regards to Noah and Gracie, I would have thought she wouldn’t have been so careless with Matt and Rachel. Yes, they’ve been friends for a long time, but they’ve never actually dated each other. All of a sudden they realize they’re in love with each other and they get married after one week?!
And Gracie supports this? It doesn’t make sense. Marriage is a good thing, but it’s also a big thing. Long engagements aren’t always best, but I think there is a lot of wisdom in actually being in a relationship with someone for a little while before jumping into a lifelong commitment. Call me crazy.
Matt and Rachel were like the microcosm of Noah and Gracie and then overnight they became Noah and Gracie on steroids. I would have rather them just be the ripple to Noah and Gracie’s wave in terms of story prominence and plot moving. I would give you another analogy to explain my feelings but I just ran out.
My last little critique of the book feels weird to say, but I’m going to anyway. Gracie’s mention of God at the end seemed rather abrupt. I guess her dad kinda led her down the path of spiritual reasoning, but with no real mention of faith up until that point it seems out of left field for Gracie to decide she needs to depend on God more or for her dad to bring it up.
I mean I’m all for depending on God, but in terms of this book, I think it either needed to be a longer thread that showed up at least a little bit more often or taken out completely.
When she mentions it to Noah I was like- wait, is that an important thing to him? We never really got any sort of measure on where either of their faith was at. I don’t know if Kinzer was required to have that in there in order to be labeled a Christian Fiction book, but it seemed like a last minute- Oh yeah, we need God in there- type of thing instead of something intentional.
I’m okay with just having a clean, redemptive story without an overt Christian message— I don’t have any problem with that. I also don’t have a problem if an author wants to make faith a prominent part of a character’s journey. What bothered me was the way it was just randomly slid in like it was supposed to mean something when it didn’t.
Recommendation
Romance is a dicey genre these days. I try to just stick to rom-coms, but even then the spicy factor can still be ratcheted up. I think there is a big market for clean rom-coms and can appreciate a book like this that can do it!
While there were a few characters that annoyed me, overall it was an enjoyable read and a good second-chance love story with some decent humor.
If you are looking for a romance or rom-com book, I would definitely give this one a try!
Oh, one last warning for Cubs fans— she sent the Cardinals to the World Series in her own book!! Not even her husband could convince her to change it, so just prepare yourself for the trajesty.
[Content Advisory: no swearing; there is a bathtub scene that I suppose could count towards sexual content but it was a mostly clothed comical scene between two previously married people so it doesn’t feel sexual]
**Received a copy via Tyndale Publishing in exchange for an honest review**
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
“As always he was struck by the similarities between the craft of restoration and the craft of killing. The methodology was precisely the same: study the target, become like him, do the job, slip away without a trace.”
“We all leave behind bits of loose thread. Old operations, old enemies. They pull at you, like memories of old lovers.”
Daniel Silva books had been recommended to me by a literal FBI agent I met on vacation. I read The Unlikely Spy in 2023 and as I look back on my review for that one, I remember virtually none of it.
I had decided to try him again, but with the Gabriel Allon series— others had told me it was a great series. The Kill Artist is definitely better than The Unlikely Spy but still one I could see myself completely forgetting in a few months’ time. Though, to be fair, that is kinda the spy genre in general to me. They’re good for some action and espionage and maybe even a little history, but there’s not a lot that sticks with me.
I could still see myself continuing this series (in a very slow progression) because the main character— Gabriel Allon— is intriguing. The Unlikely Spy was a standalone book so many of the characters were largely inconsequential. I like the idea of a series and being able to see character development and build on Allon’s story.
Plus, Gabriel Allon is both an art restorer and an assassin and that’s an interesting combination.
We get part of his backstory in this book: his wife and son were killed in a car bombing the night he was planning to get out of the assassination business. Fast forward several years and while continuing to use his skills in art restoration he is called upon again by the organization to go after a terrorist who killed an Israeli ambassador in an effort to disrupt peace operations between Palestine and Israel. The only reason he takes the job is because the terrorist is the one believed to have killed his family.
It was interesting to read this book now that Palestine and Israel have been at war. The tension between these two groups has been longstanding and the conflict is complicated. Even now, I don’t full understand it completely so I won’t act like I know what is currently going on or what was going on at the time this book was written. In the book, Gabriel is the Israeli assassin and Tariq is the Palestinian terrorist. I didn’t get the feeling like I was supposed to be empathetic towards Tariq so it’s possible with the way things are today, some readers who are more sympathetic towards the Palestinian people may not like his portrayal in the book.
Sometimes when I read espionage thrillers it’s hard for me to really grasp all the political implications, especially if they’re historically based, so I’m sure I missed some important things in this book. I like a good spy thriller but I don’t like when there are too many political characters to keep track of. At least this book seemed easier to navigate than The Unlikely Spy.
I do think Gabriel Allon’s character is what keeps people coming back to this series and recommending it to others. He seems like the kind of person a reader would want to root for. A man avenging his family’s death. A man now unattached, living a quiet, gentle life wrapped up in the careful and skilled craft of art restoration. A man willing to take a lonely little boy under his wings and make him feel important. A man who may be an assassin but, in contrast to Tariq, takes care to avoid ‘needless death.’
I glanced at some of the next books in the series (there’s 25 so who knows how far it all progresses) and it seems like Gabriel is reluctant to get back into the assassin work and so he is just ‘on-call’ when something relevant to his life/history pops up or something that requires his particular skills.
Recommendation
This book is not really an exciting read that I’m bubbling over to tell people about, but the main character is enough for me to be interested in continuing the series.
If global-political-spy-assassin-type books are your jam, then I would definitely give this series a shot. It seems like there are a lot of people who really love it.
If you do not like global-political-spy-assassin type books I can’t think of a reason for why you should invest your time in this author in general. If you would like to get into this type of genre, maybe try Robert Dugoni’s Charles Jenkins series. That seems like a better place to dip your toes in the water.
Between the swearing and the somewhat slow-moving plot and political terrain to navigate, this wasn’t really a book that is going to make it on the short list of any recommendations I make; however, I am hopeful that as the series progresses and Silva hones his craft and fleshes out Gabriel Allon’s character, I think I will enjoy the later books better. *fingers crossed*
[Content Advisory: 34 f-words, 22 s-words; a lot of blaspheming; some sexual content, in particular a photography scene; some gore/violence
“We all leave behind bits of loose thread. Old operations, old enemies. They pull at you, like memories of old lovers.”
Daniel Silva books had been recommended to me by a literal FBI agent I met on vacation. I read The Unlikely Spy in 2023 and as I look back on my review for that one, I remember virtually none of it.
I had decided to try him again, but with the Gabriel Allon series— others had told me it was a great series. The Kill Artist is definitely better than The Unlikely Spy but still one I could see myself completely forgetting in a few months’ time. Though, to be fair, that is kinda the spy genre in general to me. They’re good for some action and espionage and maybe even a little history, but there’s not a lot that sticks with me.
I could still see myself continuing this series (in a very slow progression) because the main character— Gabriel Allon— is intriguing. The Unlikely Spy was a standalone book so many of the characters were largely inconsequential. I like the idea of a series and being able to see character development and build on Allon’s story.
Plus, Gabriel Allon is both an art restorer and an assassin and that’s an interesting combination.
We get part of his backstory in this book: his wife and son were killed in a car bombing the night he was planning to get out of the assassination business. Fast forward several years and while continuing to use his skills in art restoration he is called upon again by the organization to go after a terrorist who killed an Israeli ambassador in an effort to disrupt peace operations between Palestine and Israel. The only reason he takes the job is because the terrorist is the one believed to have killed his family.
It was interesting to read this book now that Palestine and Israel have been at war. The tension between these two groups has been longstanding and the conflict is complicated. Even now, I don’t full understand it completely so I won’t act like I know what is currently going on or what was going on at the time this book was written. In the book, Gabriel is the Israeli assassin and Tariq is the Palestinian terrorist. I didn’t get the feeling like I was supposed to be empathetic towards Tariq so it’s possible with the way things are today, some readers who are more sympathetic towards the Palestinian people may not like his portrayal in the book.
Sometimes when I read espionage thrillers it’s hard for me to really grasp all the political implications, especially if they’re historically based, so I’m sure I missed some important things in this book. I like a good spy thriller but I don’t like when there are too many political characters to keep track of. At least this book seemed easier to navigate than The Unlikely Spy.
I do think Gabriel Allon’s character is what keeps people coming back to this series and recommending it to others. He seems like the kind of person a reader would want to root for. A man avenging his family’s death. A man now unattached, living a quiet, gentle life wrapped up in the careful and skilled craft of art restoration. A man willing to take a lonely little boy under his wings and make him feel important. A man who may be an assassin but, in contrast to Tariq, takes care to avoid ‘needless death.’
I glanced at some of the next books in the series (there’s 25 so who knows how far it all progresses) and it seems like Gabriel is reluctant to get back into the assassin work and so he is just ‘on-call’ when something relevant to his life/history pops up or something that requires his particular skills.
Recommendation
This book is not really an exciting read that I’m bubbling over to tell people about, but the main character is enough for me to be interested in continuing the series.
If global-political-spy-assassin-type books are your jam, then I would definitely give this series a shot. It seems like there are a lot of people who really love it.
If you do not like global-political-spy-assassin type books I can’t think of a reason for why you should invest your time in this author in general. If you would like to get into this type of genre, maybe try Robert Dugoni’s Charles Jenkins series. That seems like a better place to dip your toes in the water.
Between the swearing and the somewhat slow-moving plot and political terrain to navigate, this wasn’t really a book that is going to make it on the short list of any recommendations I make; however, I am hopeful that as the series progresses and Silva hones his craft and fleshes out Gabriel Allon’s character, I think I will enjoy the later books better. *fingers crossed*
[Content Advisory: 34 f-words, 22 s-words; a lot of blaspheming; some sexual content, in particular a photography scene; some gore/violence
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“The secrets on this island have teeth, and they don’t like being dragged into the light. Humanity can’t change itself. History has shown that. We need an intervention.”
“Sometimes the only way to win the game is to let the pieces think they’re the ones playing it.”
This was a pretty unique read. Part sci-fi/dystopian, part murder mystery. With themes about human nature and technology, good and evil, pain and suffering, and survival.
What I loved most about this book was the idea that the characters had to solve the mystery not knowing if they were the actual murderer or not (because of the memory wipes)!
They had to rely on observation and deduction and piecing things together, trying to gauge when people might be lying and having to come to terms with what they will do if they are the killer.
The context of the book— meaning why the world is ending— isn’t really talked about much. The island is isolated and supposedly housing the last remnant of humanity after ‘the fog’ (i.e. fog with scavenging insects?) ravaged the world. Somehow the island (and a half mile of ocean) is protected from it but we’re never really sure how. The current state of the world, what happened before the island went into lockdown, is not really a focus of the book. (Hey, everyone loves a prequel, right?)
We just jump right into this world and have to figure out what it all means.
Starting with Abi. (I’m like days past finishing the book and I just realized this might be pronounced like Abby and I’ve been saying Ah-bee this ENTIRE time like a total idiot.) Abi is the voice in everyone’s heads that can hear everyone’s thoughts and relay them to others. Her character is somewhat of a narrator and is told in the first person.
Then we find out that everyone dies at 60 (if they live that long). There is a curfew where everyone falls asleep at the same time and doesn’t remember anything that happens at night. But the elders (the scientists) of the island are over 150 years old and get special privileges.
When someone dies, an eight year old child appears in the village to take their place. People apply to become the parents. Everyone has to learn a skill to contribute to the village, but the noblest (and most dangerous) jobs are to apprentice with the scientists.
It’s a strange beginning and took me a bit to get my bearings. The actual murder doesn’t occur right away so it feels a little slow as you wonder what is really going on on this island and try to keep everything straight.
The book is separated by markers letting us know how many more hours until humanity’s extinction. This is because the murder of one of the scientists activated the “dead man’s switch” which removed the barriers to the fog (that apparently approaches at the approximate speed of an old lady paying for her groceries in change) allowing it to come consume the island. They are told by Abi that if they find the murderer and execute them, the security system will be restored.
Very high stakes, indeed.
It kinda felt like a game of mafia. The townspeople go to sleep and when they wake up: THERE’S A MURDER! And they have to find the killer but nobody knows who anyone is or what anyone did. Except in this case, maybe it’s more like Ultimate Werewolf where you could end up flipping over your character piece and find out you’ve been the werewolf this almost whole time. What a rush.
Our main protagonist is Emory. She’s not quite like the other townspeople and is struggling to fit in. She asks too many questions instead of going along with the rules and isn’t afraid to challenge the scientists.
Weighed down by the added grief of losing both her husband and her mother who were apprentices to the scientists, her loyalty to the elders has diminished.
She is the perfect person to head up the investigation.
I love a good question-asker character! [And what a great name choice. Emory reminds me of ‘emery’ like an emery board. Rough and abrasive but in the end, smooths things over and keeps things in line.]
I’m not sure how many other characters are very loveable, but you can at least root for Emory. And for her daughter, Clara, who is currently a scientist’s apprentice. They are at odds but you are hopeful that somehow through this investigation they will reconcile.
What I didn’t like about this book was the elevation of ‘the created.’ That humans are too erratic and emotional and selfish and violent that they need to be replaced with something more controlled. I mean, I begin with the same premise: the problem is sin in humanity; but I end with a different solution: they need an outside source to transform them… perhaps their Creator.
I mean, yeah, the point of the book is to explore some other options— I get that. But I don’t see how technology fixes the problem— for those in the back: technology cannot be a savior.
AI is a big topic of conversation these days.
It came up in my thoughts as I was reading a book called Art + Faith when the author was posing how ‘creating’ is what makes us human. The ability to create. To imagine. AI generates things— is that considered creating? Is AI able to do everything better than actual humans? Does it matter?
It does matter. Our society is really trying to jumble the definition of ‘human’ and ‘life’ in so many ways. We can’t give up on humanity believing the world is better off with machines running things. Sure the pinnacle of God’s creation has fallen short because of sin, but we are made in the image of God, and are essential to the story of redemption God is telling, revealing to us His power and glory. The created can never be more than its Creator. It can never be better, more enlightened than its Creator.
Technology is a tool. It doesn’t have a soul. AI will never have a soul. It is amoral and its value can never be elevated above eternal souls.
There are many stories that explore ‘end of the world’ scenarios (try Tosca Lee’s The Line Between or Future’s Dark Past by J.L. Yarrow if you love them) and I get the curiosity and the fear— what happens if climate change is as bad as the worst predictions? what happens if there’s nuclear war? what happens if violence beats kindness? what about an EMP? what would the world look like if humans create their own demise? what if an animal act doesn’t win America’s Got Talent? It’s intriguing for sure.
Sometimes these types of stories stress me out— if they’re too realistic. Sometimes I don’t mind the exploration because I don’t actually live in fear of any of them coming to fruition. I serve a big God who is not worried by humanity’s evil potential. He dealt with the Tower of Babel pretty handedly (that’s not a word?) and AI is no match for him.
[Tony Reinke’s book God, Technology, and the Christian Life was a really good book on how to look at technology as Christians.]
But I’ll just say this: I think The Last Murder at the End of the World felt a little too heavy-handed on the idea that technology needs to put humanity in its place rather than the other way around.
Unless that’s exactly what Stuart was trying to tell us in which case— well done, Stuart, well done.
On a similar, but unrelated but possibly related but maybe not note, there’s this quote that I thought was interesting:
“A few governments tried to ban the technology, but humanity does not easily abandon its pleasures, even the vile ones.”
Most dystopian, end-of-the-world stories are trying to make a statement. To point out to readers: hey, stop doing such and such because, see, it goes badly for you. Obviously, stop being violent is easy pickings, but I think this quote should give readers the most pause.
It’s people’s pleasures that we need to evaluate. What pleasures are actually vile things? The pornography industry jumps out at me. All the ways that humanity has twisted sex into vile pleasures. I don’t know if people would call social media a pleasure, but there are a lot of vile things coming out of that that’s a problem. Drug and alcohol addictions begin as pleasures. They end in destruction. Being a Packers fan… does it get more vile than that?
Abandon your vile pleasures. That’s a good message.
Here’s another thought-provoking quote (because I believe Stuart is the kind of author who delights in readers being provoked into thought):
“If this plan works, we’ll create a world without suffering. For the first time in our history, there’ll be perfect equality. I can’t turn my back on that because I don’t have the strength to do what’s necessary.”
Okay, I’m not going to empty all my thoughts about this one here, partly because I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I think it’s worth pondering this idea that humanity could ever come up with a way to eliminate suffering and have perfect equality.
I think those are right things. I believe followers of Christ will experience them in heaven. But can we possibly fathom that happening on earth. By our own hand?
What do you think of the method employed in this book in order to achieve it? Does the method negate any morality that may result from it? Could morality ever result from that?
I also think we don’t think enough about our suffering. What role does suffering play in our lives? What kind of people would we be if we never experienced suffering? What characteristics or things might we miss if we never had pain or grief? We try so hard to eliminate any possibility of suffering, but we lose sight of what God is producing in us through our suffering.
What does perfect equality mean? What is lost when everything is perfectly equal? (If we can agree to a definition of equal…) There’s part of me that is pondering if perfect equality the way we humans tend to understand it will even be part of heaven. Maybe we don’t even understand equality.
There’s some good discussion questions for your book club!
To move on from the provoked thoughts, just a couple more notes on the book and the writing.
I think Turton… no, I’m going to stick with Stuart… has a refreshing way of writing. It doesn’t feel like a run-of-the-mill book. There’s some personality. Creativity. Even some humor snuck in there. After reading the author’s notes at the end, it confirms for me that Stuart is an interesting guy with a fun brain. I can see myself reading his other books (this was my first of his).
Like this line: “I’m trying to play chess, but Adil’s walking around with a cricket bat.”
That’s a creative line. I’m not sure if it necessarily fits the character that spoke it, but I appreciate the playfulness that was sprinkled in.
I do agree with some other reviewers that it was often hard to keep everyone straight. Even though there was a cast of characters at the beginning, I kept forgetting if Seth was her husband, her dad, or her grandpa. Seth is not a dad or grandpa name. The father should have been something like Ron and the grandpa should have been Herbert. Seth is a husband name… like Jack. Anyway, just some naming suggestions for future character names.
I also agree that this isn’t really a mystery you could necessarily solve on your own. You learn about the missing boat, corpse cart, bird carvings, boots, etc., but you don’t really even know what the world is like anymore so the reader’s observations have no legs. Which makes sense because observation requires eyes.
Recommendation
So what do we do with this book?
I land on this: I do recommend this book if you enjoy murder mysteries and aren’t afraid of some ambiguous weirdness.
If you’re like: a wall of people-eating fog and some super old scientists that are kinda jerks and I’m supposed to care that one of them died and somehow these people’s memories can be wiped??? Then yeah, probably not the book for you.
Is that helpful?
[Content Advisory: I don’t recall any swearing in this book; no sexual content; some violence (because HUMANS!!!!!)]
“Sometimes the only way to win the game is to let the pieces think they’re the ones playing it.”
This was a pretty unique read. Part sci-fi/dystopian, part murder mystery. With themes about human nature and technology, good and evil, pain and suffering, and survival.
What I loved most about this book was the idea that the characters had to solve the mystery not knowing if they were the actual murderer or not (because of the memory wipes)!
They had to rely on observation and deduction and piecing things together, trying to gauge when people might be lying and having to come to terms with what they will do if they are the killer.
The context of the book— meaning why the world is ending— isn’t really talked about much. The island is isolated and supposedly housing the last remnant of humanity after ‘the fog’ (i.e. fog with scavenging insects?) ravaged the world. Somehow the island (and a half mile of ocean) is protected from it but we’re never really sure how. The current state of the world, what happened before the island went into lockdown, is not really a focus of the book. (Hey, everyone loves a prequel, right?)
We just jump right into this world and have to figure out what it all means.
Starting with Abi. (I’m like days past finishing the book and I just realized this might be pronounced like Abby and I’ve been saying Ah-bee this ENTIRE time like a total idiot.) Abi is the voice in everyone’s heads that can hear everyone’s thoughts and relay them to others. Her character is somewhat of a narrator and is told in the first person.
Then we find out that everyone dies at 60 (if they live that long). There is a curfew where everyone falls asleep at the same time and doesn’t remember anything that happens at night. But the elders (the scientists) of the island are over 150 years old and get special privileges.
When someone dies, an eight year old child appears in the village to take their place. People apply to become the parents. Everyone has to learn a skill to contribute to the village, but the noblest (and most dangerous) jobs are to apprentice with the scientists.
It’s a strange beginning and took me a bit to get my bearings. The actual murder doesn’t occur right away so it feels a little slow as you wonder what is really going on on this island and try to keep everything straight.
The book is separated by markers letting us know how many more hours until humanity’s extinction. This is because the murder of one of the scientists activated the “dead man’s switch” which removed the barriers to the fog (that apparently approaches at the approximate speed of an old lady paying for her groceries in change) allowing it to come consume the island. They are told by Abi that if they find the murderer and execute them, the security system will be restored.
Very high stakes, indeed.
It kinda felt like a game of mafia. The townspeople go to sleep and when they wake up: THERE’S A MURDER! And they have to find the killer but nobody knows who anyone is or what anyone did. Except in this case, maybe it’s more like Ultimate Werewolf where you could end up flipping over your character piece and find out you’ve been the werewolf this almost whole time. What a rush.
Our main protagonist is Emory. She’s not quite like the other townspeople and is struggling to fit in. She asks too many questions instead of going along with the rules and isn’t afraid to challenge the scientists.
Weighed down by the added grief of losing both her husband and her mother who were apprentices to the scientists, her loyalty to the elders has diminished.
She is the perfect person to head up the investigation.
I love a good question-asker character! [And what a great name choice. Emory reminds me of ‘emery’ like an emery board. Rough and abrasive but in the end, smooths things over and keeps things in line.]
I’m not sure how many other characters are very loveable, but you can at least root for Emory. And for her daughter, Clara, who is currently a scientist’s apprentice. They are at odds but you are hopeful that somehow through this investigation they will reconcile.
What I didn’t like about this book was the elevation of ‘the created.’ That humans are too erratic and emotional and selfish and violent that they need to be replaced with something more controlled. I mean, I begin with the same premise: the problem is sin in humanity; but I end with a different solution: they need an outside source to transform them… perhaps their Creator.
I mean, yeah, the point of the book is to explore some other options— I get that. But I don’t see how technology fixes the problem— for those in the back: technology cannot be a savior.
AI is a big topic of conversation these days.
It came up in my thoughts as I was reading a book called Art + Faith when the author was posing how ‘creating’ is what makes us human. The ability to create. To imagine. AI generates things— is that considered creating? Is AI able to do everything better than actual humans? Does it matter?
It does matter. Our society is really trying to jumble the definition of ‘human’ and ‘life’ in so many ways. We can’t give up on humanity believing the world is better off with machines running things. Sure the pinnacle of God’s creation has fallen short because of sin, but we are made in the image of God, and are essential to the story of redemption God is telling, revealing to us His power and glory. The created can never be more than its Creator. It can never be better, more enlightened than its Creator.
Technology is a tool. It doesn’t have a soul. AI will never have a soul. It is amoral and its value can never be elevated above eternal souls.
There are many stories that explore ‘end of the world’ scenarios (try Tosca Lee’s The Line Between or Future’s Dark Past by J.L. Yarrow if you love them) and I get the curiosity and the fear— what happens if climate change is as bad as the worst predictions? what happens if there’s nuclear war? what happens if violence beats kindness? what about an EMP? what would the world look like if humans create their own demise? what if an animal act doesn’t win America’s Got Talent? It’s intriguing for sure.
Sometimes these types of stories stress me out— if they’re too realistic. Sometimes I don’t mind the exploration because I don’t actually live in fear of any of them coming to fruition. I serve a big God who is not worried by humanity’s evil potential. He dealt with the Tower of Babel pretty handedly (that’s not a word?) and AI is no match for him.
[Tony Reinke’s book God, Technology, and the Christian Life was a really good book on how to look at technology as Christians.]
But I’ll just say this: I think The Last Murder at the End of the World felt a little too heavy-handed on the idea that technology needs to put humanity in its place rather than the other way around.
Unless that’s exactly what Stuart was trying to tell us in which case— well done, Stuart, well done.
On a similar, but unrelated but possibly related but maybe not note, there’s this quote that I thought was interesting:
“A few governments tried to ban the technology, but humanity does not easily abandon its pleasures, even the vile ones.”
Most dystopian, end-of-the-world stories are trying to make a statement. To point out to readers: hey, stop doing such and such because, see, it goes badly for you. Obviously, stop being violent is easy pickings, but I think this quote should give readers the most pause.
It’s people’s pleasures that we need to evaluate. What pleasures are actually vile things? The pornography industry jumps out at me. All the ways that humanity has twisted sex into vile pleasures. I don’t know if people would call social media a pleasure, but there are a lot of vile things coming out of that that’s a problem. Drug and alcohol addictions begin as pleasures. They end in destruction. Being a Packers fan… does it get more vile than that?
Abandon your vile pleasures. That’s a good message.
Here’s another thought-provoking quote (because I believe Stuart is the kind of author who delights in readers being provoked into thought):
“If this plan works, we’ll create a world without suffering. For the first time in our history, there’ll be perfect equality. I can’t turn my back on that because I don’t have the strength to do what’s necessary.”
Okay, I’m not going to empty all my thoughts about this one here, partly because I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I think it’s worth pondering this idea that humanity could ever come up with a way to eliminate suffering and have perfect equality.
I think those are right things. I believe followers of Christ will experience them in heaven. But can we possibly fathom that happening on earth. By our own hand?
What do you think of the method employed in this book in order to achieve it? Does the method negate any morality that may result from it? Could morality ever result from that?
I also think we don’t think enough about our suffering. What role does suffering play in our lives? What kind of people would we be if we never experienced suffering? What characteristics or things might we miss if we never had pain or grief? We try so hard to eliminate any possibility of suffering, but we lose sight of what God is producing in us through our suffering.
What does perfect equality mean? What is lost when everything is perfectly equal? (If we can agree to a definition of equal…) There’s part of me that is pondering if perfect equality the way we humans tend to understand it will even be part of heaven. Maybe we don’t even understand equality.
There’s some good discussion questions for your book club!
To move on from the provoked thoughts, just a couple more notes on the book and the writing.
I think Turton… no, I’m going to stick with Stuart… has a refreshing way of writing. It doesn’t feel like a run-of-the-mill book. There’s some personality. Creativity. Even some humor snuck in there. After reading the author’s notes at the end, it confirms for me that Stuart is an interesting guy with a fun brain. I can see myself reading his other books (this was my first of his).
Like this line: “I’m trying to play chess, but Adil’s walking around with a cricket bat.”
That’s a creative line. I’m not sure if it necessarily fits the character that spoke it, but I appreciate the playfulness that was sprinkled in.
I do agree with some other reviewers that it was often hard to keep everyone straight. Even though there was a cast of characters at the beginning, I kept forgetting if Seth was her husband, her dad, or her grandpa. Seth is not a dad or grandpa name. The father should have been something like Ron and the grandpa should have been Herbert. Seth is a husband name… like Jack. Anyway, just some naming suggestions for future character names.
I also agree that this isn’t really a mystery you could necessarily solve on your own. You learn about the missing boat, corpse cart, bird carvings, boots, etc., but you don’t really even know what the world is like anymore so the reader’s observations have no legs. Which makes sense because observation requires eyes.
Recommendation
So what do we do with this book?
I land on this: I do recommend this book if you enjoy murder mysteries and aren’t afraid of some ambiguous weirdness.
If you’re like: a wall of people-eating fog and some super old scientists that are kinda jerks and I’m supposed to care that one of them died and somehow these people’s memories can be wiped??? Then yeah, probably not the book for you.
Is that helpful?
[Content Advisory: I don’t recall any swearing in this book; no sexual content; some violence (because HUMANS!!!!!)]
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“That’s part of our trouble. Thinking things are inevitable. Not believing change is possible.”
This is the second prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, the sequel to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
BoSaS was kinda a weird prequel because it was President Snow’s ‘origin’ story and so you aren’t sure how to feel sometimes while reading, knowing what he turns into.
But Sunrise on the Reaping is Haymitch’s story— a beloved character— and so there are no mixed feelings, just rooting for him. And I liked it more for this reason. Everyone wants to love the hero.
Again, we know he doesn’t die and that he wins his Hunger Games, but we also know he turns into an aimless drunk. So what happened to him that leads to that?
The tension is definitely there because he seems like the perfect hero and this, the perfect opportunity, to make a change in Panem. But if there’s anything people in the districts have internalized, it’s pessimism:
“‘Where there’s life, there’s hope.’ But from where I’m siting, hope seems a lot like white liquor. It can cook you in the short run, but like it or not, you’ll end up paying for it twice.”
I guess the ironic thing for Haymitch is that at the age of 16 he is a bootlegger. He doesn’t really drink it but it’s a source of income/trade for his family. It becomes his ‘persona’ in the games— the rascal.
What was once a source of life for him eventually erodes him.
One of my favorite things about this book were all the familiar faces showing up! It’s set 24 years prior to the first Hunger Games book and 40 years after BoSaS but there are crossover characters from both segments.
Haymitch’s love, Lenore Dove, is from the Covey and two of her uncles were in BoSaS. Haymitch’s best friend is Burdock Everdeen— a bowhunter who is in love with Asterid, the town apothecary— so yes, Katniss’s parents. I loved getting a glimpse into Katniss’s dad and what kind of man he was since he has died by the time the trilogy starts.
We also see faces from the future like Wiress, Mags, Beetee, Effie, and Plutarch Heavensbee. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another book written that comes after this one that follows Heavensbee more. We know what eventually happens with him; at the time of this book he’s working for the Capitol, assigned to District 12, but making comments to Haymitch that allude to his desire to rebel and almost egging him on to be the one to instigate it:
“‘Why do you submit at all? When you consider the sheer difference in numbers…’”
It was interesting to look at some of the parallels between Haymitch’s Games and Katniss’s Games and how similar they are, even in their personalities. (I’ll try not to spoil anything.)
Haymitch’s name is not pulled to compete, but something happens to the boy whose name was pulled and so they needed another tribute. During the chaos Haymitch steps in to protect Lenore but finds himself in trouble with a Peacekeeper who ‘volunteers’ Haymitch as tribute. On, by the way, his birthday!
He also has a younger tribute that he cares for just like Katniss with Rue. And their names even rhyme. They both rebel against President Snow. They both lost their fathers.
Haymitch is also involved with a mockingjay pin.
The difference, we already know, is that in ways that Haymitch fails, Katniss succeeds. In ways that Haymitch’s story is tragic, we find ways Katniss’s finds redemption. Haymitch is the precursor and Katniss is the exclamation point. She is the completion to what he started.
It makes me want to go back and re-read the Hunger Games trilogy to revisit Haymitch and see him and his relationship to Katniss (the daughter of his best friend) in a new light.
I know not everyone has liked the Covey songs and poems that have found their way into these prequels, but I actually do. Just like Lucy Gray voiced her opposition to the Capitol in her music, Haymitch’s love, Lenore does as well.
“Lenore was less interested in pretty melodies, more in dangerous words. The kind that lead to rebel acts.”
They also share similar last names— Gray and Dove (a shade of gray). The Covey’s first names come from a ballad or poem, the last name from a color.
Lenore’s name comes from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, The Raven. I’ve recently revealed in different review that I have read very little poetry, so no, I’ve not read or studied The Raven. But it is a pretty big piece of Haymitch’s story and really the whole poem is printed in this story— I had to go do a little more research.
I love how Collins wove Haymitch and Lenore’s story within that poem.
“Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—”
The poem is about a man who loses his love, Lenore. And then a raven shows up at his house and repeatedly says one word— Nevermore. Throughout the poem the man talks to the raven and we see his slow progression into losing his grip on reality and giving in to despair and grief. The poem depicts how powerful love can be, even after death.
As you can see, the poem has a strong connection to Lenore and Haymitch.
We see the beginning of his descent into his future self when he reflects on what he has to look forward to:
“I can’t say I have no future, because I know that every year for my birthday, I will get a new pair of tributes, one girl and one boy, to mentor to their deaths. Another sunrise on the reaping.”
As is the theme with this whole series, it’s more commentary on power and influence and ways that people are manipulated and lied to using propaganda and violence.
“The Gamemakers must have been scrambling like crazy to control the narrative by this point. Whatever the case, the audience here in the auditorium has embraced this version, cheering and jeering on cue. Their lack of discernment transforms the recap, validating it as truth. I hope those in the districts can still see it as the piece of propaganda it is, but no telling what they’ve been fed.”
You can’t read that and not think of the ways the media functions like this. Maybe they’re reporting everything honestly, but you never know who is really pulling the strings or the purse strings. ‘Controlling the narrative’ is a core principle for every political party or group in power of any amount of people.
Lack of discernment validating something as truth. We see this all the time. Just because a voice is loudest or more prevalent doesn’t make it true. We need better discernment and critical thinking so we can see past the modern day propaganda we’re no doubt consuming in some way.
So what are the naysayers saying?
BoSaS had its own group of haters. Most completed series with added books typically do. Some are purists who never needed more information. Some love the nostalgia and are always in for more.
There’s a lot of people that admit their love of Haymitch is largely founded on Woody Harrelson’s portrayal and I can’t say I disagree. Once you see the movie version it’s really hard to remember the version you had imagined in your head while reading.
There’s debate— did we need this one? Does it really add anything or is it just a regurgitation of the same formula from the trilogy? I can’t really argue that the formula is different. BoSaS had a new angle but I can see how Sunrise on the Reaping feels very similar to the others. I guess for me, personally, I didn’t mind or really have other expectations. I think to tell Haymitch’s story and to compare it to Katniss’s you kinda have to follow the formula.
There are people who complain that there was too much about Haymitch’s love for Lenore when she wasn’t really even part of much of the story. They would have rather had more Maysilee Donner than Lenore. I can understand that sentiment. It’s hard to feel like you really know Lenore like we got to know Lucy Gray but in some sense, Lenore IS Lucy. And if we’re truly to understand Haymitch’s descent after the Games we have to know how much he loved Lenore. I did like Maysilee a lot; her character had a lot of depth and her spunk and rebellion against acting like an animal was a good angle to pull in. I wouldn’t have been diappointed with more of her.
Of course, you also have the haters that lament how Collins is adhering to the Capitol’s rules (capitalism) by putting out more books— appeasing the fans and accepting the money. That seems like a silly stance to take. She’s an author and her livelihood is selling books. She created a world that people love so she’s going to keep writing about it. I doubt her main purpose in writing this series was to try to overthrow capitalism in America so let’s stop pretending she’s failing at a mission she never accepted.
All in all, I understand some of the criticism but overall, as a fan (not a superfan) of Hunger Games, I’m happy with this book and really enjoyed reading it.
One other bit of advice: when you read the chapter where Haymitch meets President Snow at Heavensbee’s house, don’t be eating. It’s a pretty gross encounter and I made the mistake of eating lunch during that situation.
Recommendation
If you’ve never read the Hunger Games books but are curious, I would recommend getting involved. If you don’t plan to or don’t care for it, then you’re probably not even reading this review.
If you have been a fan of the Hunger Games books and/or movies, then I would definitely recommend this book. It didn’t feel like an afterthought-prequel that tries to shove itself into a pre-existing story. It read like I had just read the books out of order. It fit in well; it made sense; it sucks you back into the world and alongside the beloved characters.
There is just something about the world of Panem that somehow has a beauty to it even amidst the tragedy and the violence. Somehow Collins keeps us coming back for more, even though we know we’re in for feeling sad and angry.
I guess we just need to adopt this super-helpful mantra as well:
“I try to keep a positive attitude, since that’s ninety-seven percent of the battle.”
[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content; some gruesome deaths]
This is the second prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, the sequel to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
BoSaS was kinda a weird prequel because it was President Snow’s ‘origin’ story and so you aren’t sure how to feel sometimes while reading, knowing what he turns into.
But Sunrise on the Reaping is Haymitch’s story— a beloved character— and so there are no mixed feelings, just rooting for him. And I liked it more for this reason. Everyone wants to love the hero.
Again, we know he doesn’t die and that he wins his Hunger Games, but we also know he turns into an aimless drunk. So what happened to him that leads to that?
The tension is definitely there because he seems like the perfect hero and this, the perfect opportunity, to make a change in Panem. But if there’s anything people in the districts have internalized, it’s pessimism:
“‘Where there’s life, there’s hope.’ But from where I’m siting, hope seems a lot like white liquor. It can cook you in the short run, but like it or not, you’ll end up paying for it twice.”
I guess the ironic thing for Haymitch is that at the age of 16 he is a bootlegger. He doesn’t really drink it but it’s a source of income/trade for his family. It becomes his ‘persona’ in the games— the rascal.
What was once a source of life for him eventually erodes him.
One of my favorite things about this book were all the familiar faces showing up! It’s set 24 years prior to the first Hunger Games book and 40 years after BoSaS but there are crossover characters from both segments.
Haymitch’s love, Lenore Dove, is from the Covey and two of her uncles were in BoSaS. Haymitch’s best friend is Burdock Everdeen— a bowhunter who is in love with Asterid, the town apothecary— so yes, Katniss’s parents. I loved getting a glimpse into Katniss’s dad and what kind of man he was since he has died by the time the trilogy starts.
We also see faces from the future like Wiress, Mags, Beetee, Effie, and Plutarch Heavensbee. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another book written that comes after this one that follows Heavensbee more. We know what eventually happens with him; at the time of this book he’s working for the Capitol, assigned to District 12, but making comments to Haymitch that allude to his desire to rebel and almost egging him on to be the one to instigate it:
“‘Why do you submit at all? When you consider the sheer difference in numbers…’”
It was interesting to look at some of the parallels between Haymitch’s Games and Katniss’s Games and how similar they are, even in their personalities. (I’ll try not to spoil anything.)
Haymitch’s name is not pulled to compete, but something happens to the boy whose name was pulled and so they needed another tribute. During the chaos Haymitch steps in to protect Lenore but finds himself in trouble with a Peacekeeper who ‘volunteers’ Haymitch as tribute. On, by the way, his birthday!
He also has a younger tribute that he cares for just like Katniss with Rue. And their names even rhyme. They both rebel against President Snow. They both lost their fathers.
Haymitch is also involved with a mockingjay pin.
The difference, we already know, is that in ways that Haymitch fails, Katniss succeeds. In ways that Haymitch’s story is tragic, we find ways Katniss’s finds redemption. Haymitch is the precursor and Katniss is the exclamation point. She is the completion to what he started.
It makes me want to go back and re-read the Hunger Games trilogy to revisit Haymitch and see him and his relationship to Katniss (the daughter of his best friend) in a new light.
I know not everyone has liked the Covey songs and poems that have found their way into these prequels, but I actually do. Just like Lucy Gray voiced her opposition to the Capitol in her music, Haymitch’s love, Lenore does as well.
“Lenore was less interested in pretty melodies, more in dangerous words. The kind that lead to rebel acts.”
They also share similar last names— Gray and Dove (a shade of gray). The Covey’s first names come from a ballad or poem, the last name from a color.
Lenore’s name comes from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, The Raven. I’ve recently revealed in different review that I have read very little poetry, so no, I’ve not read or studied The Raven. But it is a pretty big piece of Haymitch’s story and really the whole poem is printed in this story— I had to go do a little more research.
I love how Collins wove Haymitch and Lenore’s story within that poem.
“Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—”
The poem is about a man who loses his love, Lenore. And then a raven shows up at his house and repeatedly says one word— Nevermore. Throughout the poem the man talks to the raven and we see his slow progression into losing his grip on reality and giving in to despair and grief. The poem depicts how powerful love can be, even after death.
As you can see, the poem has a strong connection to Lenore and Haymitch.
We see the beginning of his descent into his future self when he reflects on what he has to look forward to:
“I can’t say I have no future, because I know that every year for my birthday, I will get a new pair of tributes, one girl and one boy, to mentor to their deaths. Another sunrise on the reaping.”
As is the theme with this whole series, it’s more commentary on power and influence and ways that people are manipulated and lied to using propaganda and violence.
“The Gamemakers must have been scrambling like crazy to control the narrative by this point. Whatever the case, the audience here in the auditorium has embraced this version, cheering and jeering on cue. Their lack of discernment transforms the recap, validating it as truth. I hope those in the districts can still see it as the piece of propaganda it is, but no telling what they’ve been fed.”
You can’t read that and not think of the ways the media functions like this. Maybe they’re reporting everything honestly, but you never know who is really pulling the strings or the purse strings. ‘Controlling the narrative’ is a core principle for every political party or group in power of any amount of people.
Lack of discernment validating something as truth. We see this all the time. Just because a voice is loudest or more prevalent doesn’t make it true. We need better discernment and critical thinking so we can see past the modern day propaganda we’re no doubt consuming in some way.
So what are the naysayers saying?
BoSaS had its own group of haters. Most completed series with added books typically do. Some are purists who never needed more information. Some love the nostalgia and are always in for more.
There’s a lot of people that admit their love of Haymitch is largely founded on Woody Harrelson’s portrayal and I can’t say I disagree. Once you see the movie version it’s really hard to remember the version you had imagined in your head while reading.
There’s debate— did we need this one? Does it really add anything or is it just a regurgitation of the same formula from the trilogy? I can’t really argue that the formula is different. BoSaS had a new angle but I can see how Sunrise on the Reaping feels very similar to the others. I guess for me, personally, I didn’t mind or really have other expectations. I think to tell Haymitch’s story and to compare it to Katniss’s you kinda have to follow the formula.
There are people who complain that there was too much about Haymitch’s love for Lenore when she wasn’t really even part of much of the story. They would have rather had more Maysilee Donner than Lenore. I can understand that sentiment. It’s hard to feel like you really know Lenore like we got to know Lucy Gray but in some sense, Lenore IS Lucy. And if we’re truly to understand Haymitch’s descent after the Games we have to know how much he loved Lenore. I did like Maysilee a lot; her character had a lot of depth and her spunk and rebellion against acting like an animal was a good angle to pull in. I wouldn’t have been diappointed with more of her.
Of course, you also have the haters that lament how Collins is adhering to the Capitol’s rules (capitalism) by putting out more books— appeasing the fans and accepting the money. That seems like a silly stance to take. She’s an author and her livelihood is selling books. She created a world that people love so she’s going to keep writing about it. I doubt her main purpose in writing this series was to try to overthrow capitalism in America so let’s stop pretending she’s failing at a mission she never accepted.
All in all, I understand some of the criticism but overall, as a fan (not a superfan) of Hunger Games, I’m happy with this book and really enjoyed reading it.
One other bit of advice: when you read the chapter where Haymitch meets President Snow at Heavensbee’s house, don’t be eating. It’s a pretty gross encounter and I made the mistake of eating lunch during that situation.
Recommendation
If you’ve never read the Hunger Games books but are curious, I would recommend getting involved. If you don’t plan to or don’t care for it, then you’re probably not even reading this review.
If you have been a fan of the Hunger Games books and/or movies, then I would definitely recommend this book. It didn’t feel like an afterthought-prequel that tries to shove itself into a pre-existing story. It read like I had just read the books out of order. It fit in well; it made sense; it sucks you back into the world and alongside the beloved characters.
There is just something about the world of Panem that somehow has a beauty to it even amidst the tragedy and the violence. Somehow Collins keeps us coming back for more, even though we know we’re in for feeling sad and angry.
I guess we just need to adopt this super-helpful mantra as well:
“I try to keep a positive attitude, since that’s ninety-seven percent of the battle.”
[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content; some gruesome deaths]