Hey everyone! I'm here to bring you another book review. I had a hard time doing this review. This is one of those books that needs a lot of time before one can gather her thoughts about it. I'm reviewing a book by Michele Richard called 'Mocked by Faith'.I hope I can express how much this book affected me.
Author: Michele Richard
Category: Romance
Publication Date: August 25 2011
Pages: 221
ISBN (paper): 978-1-61213-054-5
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-61213-055-2
Synopsis:
For Alexia Cross and Justin McNear, things are not what they
seem. Both were born and raised in hidden, gated communities. A
place where time virtually stands still and marriages are arranged by parents
before a child’s 18th birthday.
Alexia is destined to be her community’s first spinster. In a last ditch effort, a husband is found. The only complication? He has no idea he has been betrothed. Will his history of dating outsiders help or hinder his relationship with his future wife?
Justin McNear searched outside his church for the woman of his dreams. Returning home after failing, he knows he needs to rectify his life and his faith. Can a woman he’s never met make him whole again?
Will this couple end up mocked by their own faith? Follow Alexia and Justin through the trials and tribulations of finding, falling, and surviving each other's love. It’s never easy saying “I do” to someone you don’t know.
Alexia is destined to be her community’s first spinster. In a last ditch effort, a husband is found. The only complication? He has no idea he has been betrothed. Will his history of dating outsiders help or hinder his relationship with his future wife?
Justin McNear searched outside his church for the woman of his dreams. Returning home after failing, he knows he needs to rectify his life and his faith. Can a woman he’s never met make him whole again?
Will this couple end up mocked by their own faith? Follow Alexia and Justin through the trials and tribulations of finding, falling, and surviving each other's love. It’s never easy saying “I do” to someone you don’t know.
My Thoughts:
Hmm.. Let me start with the plot
of the story. The plot is so different from any others I've read. You know,
I'll be honest, at first, I couldn't relate to it. It was so bizarre and
out of my reality. I mean, does that really happen? Growing up in gated
communities and getting married to someone you didn't know that was arranged by
your own parents before you turn 18? It was something I did not expect that I
was completely blown away! But along the way, as I read further and deeper, I
couldn't help it but be engrossed in the story. It completely sucked me
into it that I couldn't put it down. There was something in the way Miss
Michele Richard wrote the whole story that one can't help but give it their
complete and undivided attention. She made me think like I'm inside that
story, that I'm the one experiencing it! And that intensity is the one that
made me love this book.
I want to tell you about how I
felt about the characters. I had a love/hate kind of relationship with the two
main characters. Alexia Cross should have been the
typical teenager, self-conscious, awkward and emotional. But the thing that
made her different is that she grew up in a closed community where there are
rules that cannot be broken. She was anxious because her parents haven't picked
out the guy she should marry and she's almost 18, while her friends are already
engaged to be married. She's scared that she'd be an old maid. (You see why
I thought it was bizarre? She's just turning 18 and she's scared that
she'll be an old maid) She thought nobody wants
her.
She was relieved and happy when
suddenly Justin's parents arrived into their community from their sister
church, (another community like theirs but in a
different country) to talk to her parents. Alexia
was relieved that she's not going to be a spinster. Her parents chose Justin
for her. The only problem is that they haven't seen each other yet. She didn't
know anything about Justin aside from his name. She hasn’t even seen a picture
of him.
Justin McNear on
another hand is a teenager in his community that made a mistake. He strayed
from their beliefs.. not completely but enough to send him into a camp, like a
rehab to renew his faith and set his priorities straight. He dated other girls
outside their community hoping to find his love. He failed. He went home
devastated and filled with regrets. He did what his parents wanted. He let them
choose his bride for him.
And then the story gets really
interesting and intense!
As I've written above earlier, I
had mixed feelings of love/hate for the two main characters. Alexia and Justin
are both young and still in the process of growing up and that's why I said I
had a love/hate feelings for them. At times, I love them so much because they
were cute and sweet and there were times I'm so frustrated at their decisions
that I almost hate them (take note
of the word ALMOST because I didn't really hate them). Their
decisions and their actions in the story show how young they were. But the irony is, the things
that made me so frustrated about these two characters are the things that made
them so endearing to me. They were young teenagers who
grew up inside a community that has strong beliefs. They were married so
suddenly that they didn't have the time to really know each other. They didn't
have the time to really grow up and be mature in order to make the right
decisions and make the right actions. The whole story is about their journey in
growing up together as a young married couple.
The whole book is like a roller
coaster ride for me. There were times when I was feeling high because it
was so sweet, sexy and full of happiness and then there were times when it was
so intense and full of angst I hear my own heart breaking and I couldn't stop
my tears from falling. This is a book that defies logic and reason. It's
the kind of book you don't read with your mind but with your heart.
Miss
Michele Richard wrote a very unique and powerful story! One that would stay
with you, no matter how long ago you read it. And I'm looking forward to
reading the next one!
Where to Buy:
The Writer's Coffee Shop
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
Good news Book Lovers! My blog is included in
Mocked by Faith blog tour! Miss Michele Richard will be stopping by on September 30 2011. She will be telling
us more about herself and her book ‘Mocked by Faith’.
And that’s not all! She and her publisher
agreed to giveaway 5 eBook copies of ‘Mocked
by Faith. So mark your calendar and don’t forget to stop by on my blog for
a chance to win an eBook copy of an awesome book!
Some books really get you and make you want to throw the book one moment and pick it up the next. I often find these are the books we remember the most. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I agree with you that these kind of books are the ones we remember the most because they're also the ones that affected us the most.
ReplyDeleteI recently read a book I wouldn't have picked up on my own. The author asked me to review it. Can't say that I LOVED it, but it was intense. Powerful. Rated it 3 stars (The Little Universe)
ReplyDeleteI love books with a "far fetched" plot that draw you in and surprise you. Thank you for the review!
Thanks for posting your comment. Yes, this book is one of the books a reader would have mixed feelings.. Love it? Hate it? One thing I'm sure is that it's one book you wouldn't forget reading..
ReplyDelete