Review by shamayelnur -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Posted: 05 Oct 2020, 14:08
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is an adventure book with a soul-connecting storyline.
Tom was packing for a camp trip to Bob-Bob’s grave (his grandfather) with his friends, Myra and William. It was a stormy night, and Sarah’s arrival caught them off guard. Well, this was not the only surprise for the night. Sarah, who Tom didn’t know while ago, turned out to be his abandoned granddaughter, who’s left at his doorstep. Clearly, at first, no one was quite happy to see her. She was a girl with cranky attitudes and a troubled soul. Dispirited, Tom keeps up with the journey and decides to bring her along to the Washington State Olympic.
Myra remarks to Sarah, “This is a land of magic, history, and legend. A place of myth, ancient stories, ancient people.” But Sarah sees The Olympic Peninsula as the end of the earth. Moreover, after being reluctantly pulled into this camp for hiking, this 13-year-old is very irritated. But there is more to Sarah. Sarah is no ordinary child; she holds the soul of the strongest being. In a world with pre-teens being scared of roaches, Sarah is someone who fights bears with arrowheads.
In the wilderness of the valleys and forests, the group finds themselves on an adventure, an adventure that is uncanny. In this wild walk, Sarah is the one teaching the group all the essentials of life.
The novel uses the context of ancient times and archaeology, and this is the part I loved the most. It was commendable how deeply connected the protagonists were to the history and archaeology of the land they were walking. The description of legends and tales with factual context was intriguing and kept me drowned in the book. I enjoyed reading about the family heritage of Tom and the stories of the region, which dated back to the ancient eras. I recommend this piece to those who hold an interest in archaeology and ancient times.
I applaud Charlie Sheldon for his descriptive writing style. It was immensely engaging and managed to indulge me in the book. The descriptions of the scenes were vivid and succeeded in playing a vision on my mind. In a nutshell, the portrayal of the atmosphere and the views were beautiful.
In contrast, the illustration of the minds of the characters was not quite vivid in the book. I could connect to Sarah’s and William’s characters most, as their thoughts were described well on their journey. But I feel an elaborate representation of the minds of the other characters would have greatly enriched the novel further.
Though the portrayal of the character's thoughts was not entirely detailed, the writer managed to show how the protagonists got closer to each other throughout their expedition. The growth of emotion and affection for each other was evolutionary here. This was another aspect I liked about this book.
The downside of this novel would be the starting of the story. I felt it was slow-paced at the beginning, and the characters’ backgrounds and introductions were made late as well. However, this perspective might differ from reader to reader. Nevertheless, I don’t regard this as a significant drawback as the book gets more capturing. That being said, I rate this novel 4 out of 4.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is an adventure book with a soul-connecting storyline.
Tom was packing for a camp trip to Bob-Bob’s grave (his grandfather) with his friends, Myra and William. It was a stormy night, and Sarah’s arrival caught them off guard. Well, this was not the only surprise for the night. Sarah, who Tom didn’t know while ago, turned out to be his abandoned granddaughter, who’s left at his doorstep. Clearly, at first, no one was quite happy to see her. She was a girl with cranky attitudes and a troubled soul. Dispirited, Tom keeps up with the journey and decides to bring her along to the Washington State Olympic.
Myra remarks to Sarah, “This is a land of magic, history, and legend. A place of myth, ancient stories, ancient people.” But Sarah sees The Olympic Peninsula as the end of the earth. Moreover, after being reluctantly pulled into this camp for hiking, this 13-year-old is very irritated. But there is more to Sarah. Sarah is no ordinary child; she holds the soul of the strongest being. In a world with pre-teens being scared of roaches, Sarah is someone who fights bears with arrowheads.
In the wilderness of the valleys and forests, the group finds themselves on an adventure, an adventure that is uncanny. In this wild walk, Sarah is the one teaching the group all the essentials of life.
The novel uses the context of ancient times and archaeology, and this is the part I loved the most. It was commendable how deeply connected the protagonists were to the history and archaeology of the land they were walking. The description of legends and tales with factual context was intriguing and kept me drowned in the book. I enjoyed reading about the family heritage of Tom and the stories of the region, which dated back to the ancient eras. I recommend this piece to those who hold an interest in archaeology and ancient times.
I applaud Charlie Sheldon for his descriptive writing style. It was immensely engaging and managed to indulge me in the book. The descriptions of the scenes were vivid and succeeded in playing a vision on my mind. In a nutshell, the portrayal of the atmosphere and the views were beautiful.
In contrast, the illustration of the minds of the characters was not quite vivid in the book. I could connect to Sarah’s and William’s characters most, as their thoughts were described well on their journey. But I feel an elaborate representation of the minds of the other characters would have greatly enriched the novel further.
Though the portrayal of the character's thoughts was not entirely detailed, the writer managed to show how the protagonists got closer to each other throughout their expedition. The growth of emotion and affection for each other was evolutionary here. This was another aspect I liked about this book.
The downside of this novel would be the starting of the story. I felt it was slow-paced at the beginning, and the characters’ backgrounds and introductions were made late as well. However, this perspective might differ from reader to reader. Nevertheless, I don’t regard this as a significant drawback as the book gets more capturing. That being said, I rate this novel 4 out of 4.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon