Little website note - I decided to move my book reviews into my blog as just a type of blog post here. Some of what I had to say just felt more ... bloggy. But the 3-Word review format will carry on!

Persistence — This word doesn’t fit neatly as one of my 3 words for the review, but it’s one I’m going to throw in here anyway.

I’ve had this thing — this little quirk — for a while now. I’ve wanted the books I read (and tv shows and movies I watch) to be fluff and only fluff. I’ve wanted them to be an escape from life, not a reminder of the harsh realities of the world.

So I picked this book up. I read the first few chapters. I was gutted by what happened and I promptly set the book down and ignored it for several months.

But … I loved the concept and the time period. The reviews were all so good. And the cover is so inviting — such a nice, woodsy shade of green. I love that shade of green.

I picked it back up. I persisted. And I’m so glad I did.

This book gave me more of an escape than almost all the fluff over the last year or two combined — and it was because of the high stakes. Because I knew what the author was willing to put her characters through.

So I’ve made a belated New Year’s resolution because of this book. From this point forward, I will no longer avoid the nitty, the gritty, and the emotion comes when things go badly for characters I love. I will go back to reading the kinds of stories that made me fall in love with books in the first place. And this book certainly falls into that category.

So why not a 5?

There were, admittedly, a few plot points that made me raise an eyebrow and a few slogging bits that felt like they really could have been shorter, tighter, or less repetitive. That being said … I read every book like I’m editing my own writing, so I may be overly critical at times.

That’s another personal problem I’ll overcome another day.

For now (after much ado — thanks of hanging in there). My 3-Word review:

Gripping

When this story was intense, it was intense in all the right ways. Great battle scenes. Really cool warrior women who made me feel like I was battling right alongside them.

Articulate

In other words: great dialogue. The main characters sounded like a king and a queen who had seen some things. Well spoken, but down-to-earth. Witty, yet controlled — and only losing grip on that control, just a little, around each other. Really well done.

Faith-filled

I think the author struck a good balance here, infusing elements of Faith without being too heavy-handed or preachy. The characters felt their faith deeply, struggle with at times, but stayed true. This is a really hard balance to strike — too much can feel inauthentic. Too little and then you risk alienating readers for, well, too little.

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