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[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]

An adventure story of a teenage orphaned girl Sarah and her estranged grandfather Tom, strong heart by Charlie Sheldon, is a book full of mystery, mythology, and native American history. The book belongs to the fiction genre, and revolves around its central character Sarah.

Sarah finds herself in her grandfather’s home when he is getting ready for a hike in Olympic national park with his native friends. Tom is perplexed to meet his granddaughter for the first time, when he has had no clue about her existence before today. They decide to take Sarah with them and let her visit the grave of Bob-Bob, her great grandfather, on this trip.

Over the strenuous route in the mountains and bad weather, Sarah acts as the raging, whining teenager as if she has been kidnapped by her own grandfather. She has no bond of love or trust to rely on and when she shows her drawing of a short faced bear she claims to have seen near the river, Tom does not believe her. She leaves the camp hurt and angry, and is gone missing for a week. And when at last she returns to camp, she shares an unbelievable adventure she had while gone.

The author beautifully describes the hiking trail with all its natural beauty and the adverse conditions. The maps provided at the starting help us to understand the description of their trail. Once Sarah shares the story of her journey, when she has gone missing, the book takes a very interesting turn. It becomes impossible to keep down the book without finishing this thrilling part.

It was laborious for me to get through the initial chapters but the fiction picked up its pace eventually and kept me glued till the end. I was able to follow the hiking trail description though with some difficulty, nonetheless the historical and scientific talks of human evolution was invigorating. The suspense, adventure and mystery together made this book a memorable read.

The author has beautifully developed the main characters though the other characters could have been described in more details. I could easily relate to Sarah’s loneliness and her desperate need to belong to a family. True happiness and confidence of an individual develops immensely with the love and support of near and dear ones.

I could not find any major flaws in editing and there was no sexual or vulgar content whatsoever. The book is suitable for people of all ages and religions. I would rate the book 4 out of 4 stars and am looking forward to read the next book in the strong heart series.

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Strong Heart
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Sarah's development as a character was well done. I also enjoyed the descriptive sections of the story. The author did a good job of creating vivid pictures for readers. Great review!

kdstrack wrote: ↑23 May 2020, 22:15 Sarah's development as a character was well done. I also enjoyed the descriptive sections of the story. The author did a good job of creating vivid pictures for readers. Great review!

Thank you for your response.

I loved how the author portrays the character of Sarah. She's a quirky personality. I also liked William's character. It was an enjoyable read. Beautiful review!

book_fanatic_ wrote: ↑27 May 2020, 10:19 I loved how the author portrays the character of Sarah. She's a quirky personality. I also liked William's character. It was an enjoyable read. Beautiful review!

Thank you for appreciating my novice effort as a reviewer. I agree that Walleye was an interesting character.

I've read quite a number of reviews concerning this book and I must confess that yours helped me a lot in getting the big picture. Thanks for the detailed review.

moowshiri wrote: ↑01 Jun 2020, 13:31 I've read quite a number of reviews concerning this book and I must confess that yours helped me a lot in getting the big picture. Thanks for the detailed review.

Thank you for the appreciation.

I like books about American history. This will suit me. Thanks for the review

I enjoyed this book, too, and agree with a lot of your review. I want to read the next book, Adrift, once it's available to review, as it felt like there were some unanswered questions at the end of Strong Heart.

JM Reviews wrote: ↑02 Jun 2020, 02:13 I like books about American history. This will suit me. Thanks for the review

You will definitely enjoy it.

ThomasCShearman1976 wrote: ↑02 Jun 2020, 02:18 I enjoyed this book, too, and agree with a lot of your review. I want to read the next book, Adrift, once it's available to review, as it felt like there were some unanswered questions at the end of Strong Heart.

If you want you can download Adrift, from smashwords for free. And yes I'm also waiting for this next book to become available for review on OBC.

Thanks for the tip! I think I'll wait for it here, so I can finish the book and the review, too

How interesting that the book has a mythological touches as well! Sounds like a solid thriller, I would like to check this one out Thank you for a great review!

Ellylion wrote: ↑04 Jun 2020, 05:28 How interesting that the book has a mythological touches as well! Sounds like a solid thriller, I would like to check this one out Thank you for a great review!

Thank you.

In sampling this book, I had a hard time connecting with the story. It’s good to know that it picks up after the beginning. Great review!