Review of Strong Heart

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Kymberly Cordier
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Review of Strong Heart

Post by Kymberly Cordier »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is a tale of adventure, terror, distant lands, treacherous seas, and a girl learning about her bloodline and family. Following Sarah, Myra, Tom, and William into the beautiful wilderness of the Olympic Peninsula will bring many ups and downs. Learning she has a grandfather she has never met before is a hard notion to process for young Sarah. Once dumped with Tom, by her grandmother who no longer wishes to look after her, Sarah is taken unwillingly into the Olympic National Park.

The journey they take starts with a grumpy Sarah, who would prefer to be anywhere else but in the national park. Complaining most of the way in, eventually, Sarah finds that she enjoys the park and, secretly, the people she is with. An encounter with a giant bear and learning about an ancient fossil her great grandfather had in his possession before he dies up in the park, piques Sarah's interest. Unfortunately, Tom does not believe that she saw the kind of bear she is claiming to have seen. Because of this Sarah runs off, taking the ancient fossil with her. A search ensues with little luck at finding her, Tom, William, and Myra do not give up. Eventually, Sarah makes her way back to their camp, however, she is not the same girl she was before running off. Trapped and alone, Sarah has a vision of a time long before the one she exists in.

For Sarah, this vision is more than just a vision. For Sarah, everything she went through was real, and she has the scars to prove it. Tom starts to worry about Sarah after she reappeared at the camp, as she has strange injuries and is not acting like herself. Sarah insists that they walk back out of the park instead of having a helicopter come get them, while on their journey back, Sarah tells the others what happened to her over the eight days she was missing. The story she tells is unbelievable and seemingly impossible however, William does not doubt that what Sarah saw was real, and her story was in fact, the truth.

At first, I was not completely sure that I would be able to finish reading this book, the story was slow, and I found that I could not relate to the main character, Sarah. However, my husband convinced me to push through and finish the book. I am very grateful that he did and that I persisted to finish it. I ended up lobing this book. The local legends, the journey Sarah had taken in her vision, even the terrible workers who attacked Sarah and her friends, all of it kept me on the edge of my seat. I found the style of writing to be fluid, and easy to read and follow. I enjoyed the story within the story.

There are only two things I did not like about this book. The first thing is that the story starts very slowly and the second is that the book ended. I only found 1 or 2 errors in the book which makes me feel like this book is professionally edited. I look forward to continuing this series and am excited to jump right into book 2.

I give Strong Heart 4 out of 4 stars because there are minimal errors, and the story is an incredible adventure I never thought I would enjoy but ended up loving.

I would recommend this book to any reader that enjoys adventure novels as well as anyone interested in a book that follows ancient tribal legends and stories.

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Strong Heart
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