Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell

Sunday, 11 December 2016

Carole's Sunday Review: The Shack - William Paul Young

Author: William Paul Young

Title: The Shack

Genre: Christian Fiction

Pages: 248

First Published: May 2007

Where I Got It: My Shelf (Xmas gift a while back)

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his "Great Sadness," Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

This has been collecting dust on my shelf for a bit. My aunt got this for me. I've avoided it because I knew this was going to be a crier and this did not disappoint. Also, this is technically a "Christian Fiction", so not normally something I grab, but sometimes I'll stumble upon one that looks good.

Let's go back to the crying-ness. There some sad tears and some happy tears. Mostly sad tears. Ugh....I can't imagine having to deal with this...not at all. I do not have children of my own yet, but I have children in my life I care about. Just...horrible.

Now, this book is about Mack (the father of the child) and his journey to self-forgiveness and coming to peace with what tore his world apart. It is also a book about Mack finding his way back to God and self-love.

I didn't expect what the author did when Mack got to shack. Crazy and different. This was the part that got very heavy handed with the religious talk. It was interesting to read the author's view on Christianity. Now, I must applaud the author for not shoving Christianity down the throats of reader. This can be read by those who are not Christians.

The ending was good. It made me cry. But it was happy tears.

There is more I would like to say, but there are a lot of spoilers. I will say that I loved Mack's (and even his family's) road to recovery and being able to move forward. I loved the message that was given about forgiveness. Forgiving is important, but one won't ever forget what happened. Forgiving someone who did you ill is not necessarily for the person who did the bad thing...it is a way for the wronged to be able to move forward and not be stuck in the past and wrongs.

In the end, this was certainly worth the read even though it was a Christian Fiction and made me cry. I liked the characters. The religion was poured on a little thick, but that is my bias. I shall stamp this with 4 stars.

Friday, 29 March 2013

Rameau Friday: Unrivaled - Siri Mitchell

This is a sweet story.

Yes, it tells about two rivalling families making candy to the point where you start to drool reading the descriptions—or was that just me?—but it also tells about overcoming past mistakes and accepting second chances. Forgiveness. Things Christian fiction revolves around.

I know, it’s shocking, but sometimes I try to read out of my comfort zone and anything to do with religious fiction is way, way out of my comfort zone. Sometimes it pays off, other times it doesn’t, but look at that blurb:

Lucy Kendall always assumed she'd help her father in his candy-making business, creating recipes and aiding him in their shared passion.

A young woman wanting to go into business with her father and to make little bites of heaven? Yes, please.

But after a year traveling in Europe, Lucy returns to 1910 St. Louis to find her father unwell and her mother planning to sell the struggling candy company. Determined to help, Lucy vows to create a candy that will reverse their fortunes.

So here’s the conflict. Not only is her father unwell, Lucy lives at a time when when women in business were frowned upon. At least if you were of a certain social class it was a no no. There are also other more personal obstacles than figuring out the recipe for the next best candy or how to sell it. She has the spirit but is it enough to succeed?

St. Louis newcomer Charlie Clarke is determined to help his father dominate the nation's candy industry.

I was surprised to see that Unrivaled was told from two alternating point of views and that of the two, I liked Charlie’s voice better. In a way it was indistinguishable from Lucy’s voice, but his actions didn’t make me sympathise with the “bad parent” or want to pull my hair out like Lucy’s did.

Compromise is not an option when the prize is a father's approval, and falling in love with a business rival is a recipe for disaster when only one company can win.

I don’t think this is quite true. For someone who isn’t willing to compromise Charlie goes along with his parents’ plans and lets his life be turned upside down without a word of protest. Nor is his father’s approval the top most thing on his mind. Charlie’s more interested in learning why he left in the first place.

The rivalry itself was quite fun. Lucy especially did a few callous things to sabotage her competitor.

Will these two star-crossed lovers let a competition that turns less than friendly sour their dreams?

If you can’t guess the answer to that, let me introduce you to Agatha Christie, an author who’ll blow your mind. But in all seriousness, as long as we’re talking about the future in candy making their dreams look to be quite safe even if not in a way they imagined. As for the romance riddled with insta-love, the outlook isn’t as bright. I wasn’t exactly moved by the sweetness of that side of the novel, but that’s better for my teeth anyway.

It is a sweet story and I’m glad I read it but I’m ready to go back to darker themes.