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"The Reason" is found in the "Christian fiction" section of your local bookstore and I think it fits accurately in that category. William Sirls entwines the lives of several characters from a church and hospital to weave a story that hopes to inspire interdependence, faith and give enlightenment to those who are not yet fortunate enough to benefit from the comfort a strong faith in God can give you. The characters have various different perspectives and backgrounds including Jim (James) Lindy, a blind and aging pastor with a relentless belief in God's will and Zach Norman, an egotistical man of medicine skeptical of religion and those who choose to use it for answers. These characters are brought together by an introductory conflict of a large cross, landmark of the church of St. Thomas in Detroit, is hit by lighting and ultimately destroyed. Alex, a six-year old boy, starts showing signs of an impending illness and regular visits to the hospital follow. Through these events, some emotionally-charged, faith is renewed in those who believe and faith is restored in those who had lost their way until now.
Personally, I avoid books that fall under a fictional category due to my belief that there are so many other literary options that offer a perspective on equally interesting subjects, but on subjects that are generally experienced firsthand by the author or at least documenting a real life occurrence. I chose to give "The Reason" a chance because fictional books generally have more emotion sprinkled throughout and are a nice change from dry facts. Firstly, I want to point out that Chapter 13 is missing and since it is a conventionally unlucky number, it makes me wonder if it is deliberate. Secondly, I want to state that my lower rating of the book might be due to partial bias in two areas. One; I am not a particular fan of fiction books as it is and two; I found the author's background to be somewhat disagreeable to me and felt impartial to the book at times because of this. However, something I liked about the book was the beautiful character development. I found Sirls was brilliant at the introduction of the characters and gave appreciated insight of each character through the reader being able to read into personal feelings in first-person of each character at different times throughout the novel. Certain things I disliked about the book include some simple metaphors that seemed to take away from the seriousness of the book and somewhat insulted the intellect of the audience. One metaphor that I highly disliked was the apple and the worm and felt it was very elementary and poorly explained considering it a prevalent theme highlighted in the book several times.
In all honesty, I would not recommend this book to anyone. I do not say this because I find it to be a "bad" read but as an avid reader, I have read many better books than this one and would be more likely to suggest these as options first. This book was not painful to read, in fact, at times I felt emotional and took this to be a sign of good writing, however it did not cover themes I felt attached to as a reader.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed are my own.
A constant victim of verbal, physical and sexual abuse and forced into endless child labor, Fran Grubb recounts her version of "childhood" as she witnessed her family unravel to its undoing and followed her path to freedom. Grubb transports her readers to the threateningly dark depths of her abusive childhood, yet delivers the story in the voice of a curious, young girl that never loses sight of hope or her compassion for others. Having to endure a life of hardships from a tender age, "Cruel Harvest" is an emblem that evidences one person's innate ability to overcome and therefore, can inspire that dormant compulsion we all have to survive.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoy reading memoirs because of the refreshing insight an author gives on the influential events that occur in their respective lives. "Cruel Harvest" did not disappoint me in this category, and I consumed the book cover-to-cover. Although the themes in the book are graphic by nature, Grubb does not obsess over the details of these situations. Instead, she focuses on the faith she had in overcoming her plight and communicates to her readers her renowned faith in God's will. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys some light reading since it was interesting to say the least. However, I highly recommend it to people who have faith in a higher power and come from a fragmented or broken family. It definitely inspires one to be grateful for what one has and accept it for what it is - or at least inspired me in that way.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed are my own.
