Review of Strong Heart

Daniella Oconnor · Post by **Daniella Oconnor** » 28 Jul 2021, 10:57

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

4 out of 4 stars

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Imagine finding yourself in a very different world from the one today. Sarah found herself captured by rough hunter-gatherers. She's traded with another group as a wife for razor-stone. Charlie Sheldon's Strong heart takes you through the journey that Sarah takes. Eventually, she finds herself in a hollowed-out tree trunk on the Bering Sea. Her hands are blistered and bleeding from taking her turn at the oar. The adventures they have on the stops they make returning back to the razor stones group homeland. They encounter wild animals, and you see how they protect themselves and make blankets and robes from the hides they collect. Back in the present day, she has been missing for eight days. Her grandfather and his friends are combing the mountain. She turns up bedraggled and soaked through. She has a great story to tell.

I liked this book. It was straightforward to read. You never get bored of it as there is always something happening. There are three layers to this story with some twists you don't see. I also enjoyed the fact that my imagination worked. Each person's personality came out during the story. I also found that when reading it, it moved between present-day and thousands of years go smoothly. At the beginning of the book, there are maps of the regions so you can orientate yourself. I enjoyed reading about the whole hunter-gatherer thing, learning how they ate and how they protected themselves—also, the hierarchy within the group. You realize how the women in the group have to be as challenging as the men to survive. You get a perfect contrast between modern-day and thousands of years ago. It does seem a much simpler way of life as a hunter-gatherer, but it is also a much harder one.

I felt a little frustrated that Ruth and step grandfather's storyline wasn't finished, but then there is an excellent opening for a second book. Other than that, I can't say anything negative about this book.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. There were no mistakes, and it was very fluent. There wasn't any profane language or awkward romantic scenes, so this was a great story to lose yourself.

This book is in the other fiction genre, but I can't help feeling it would be great for all those of us who enjoy sci/fi fantasy as we go to another place and time.

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Strong Heart
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