Review by glkc9122 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
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glkc9122
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- Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Review by glkc9122 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart, written by Charlie Sheldon, follows the story of young Sarah, dropped off at her grandfather Tom’s door by her mother, left to stay with him for the summer. Tom, his friend William, and William’s daughter Myra, had been in the middle of planning a hiking trip deep into the nearby trails. With the addition of Sarah, they are forced to decide whether to call it off, or to bring Sarah with them. After deciding to bring Sarah, the four go on this trip together, and in addition to causing some trouble, Sarah reveals magic and history to them that they had never believed possible. What follows is an incredible story of persistence and family loyalties, as they attempt to uncover the truth about the history of the land they live on.
The premise of the story is somewhat jarring, you are thrown into it without any context of the characters or situation. In addition, the author’s to-the-point writing style can occasionally feel stiff or choppy. However, the dialogue is amazing in its flow and realisticness, and does an incredible job of smoothing it out and rounding out the characters’ personalities. Overall, I believe the story is slow to kick off, but as the plot and characters developed, I became much more interested in what was going on.
Despite the fantastical elements, the story feels brutally real at times, displaying the cruel harshness displayed by those who will stop at nothing to keep things in their favor. This aspect is what really dragged me into the story. It left me on the edge of my seat as I read, wishing I could help the characters, yet only being able to sit back and watch as the events played out.
Strong Heart is also quite informative, without being overly heavy on facts. Scientific and historical theories and information are woven seamlessly into the plot, adding to the realness of the story as well as providing very interesting details, without feeling like a school lesson.
At first I had been hesitant to enjoy the story, mostly due to the occasional stiffness to the writing, however now that I have finished it I can honestly say that whatever conventional flaws there were, were made up for entirely by the plot and character interactions. By the time I was a quarter of the way through the story, any choppyness that may have still been there was one of the last things on my mind as I read. I would personally give this story a final rating of 4 out of 4. This differs from what I had originally wanted to rate the book, 3 out of 4. This is because I realized by the end of the story that what’s more important is how greatly I enjoyed the story and how deeply I became invested in the plot, rather than conventional disagreements I may have had with the way it was written.
In my opinion, Strong Heart is incredibly unique, both in the writing style and the plot overall, differing greatly from any book I’ve read from the same or similar genre. This proved to be quite refreshing and interesting by the end. I would be quite happy to pick up another book written by Charlie Sheldon, and I would recommend Strong Heart to any reader who is both looking for something new and original, and is open to sticking to the story despite possible disagreements with the style of writing.
******
Strong Heart
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4 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart, written by Charlie Sheldon, follows the story of young Sarah, dropped off at her grandfather Tom’s door by her mother, left to stay with him for the summer. Tom, his friend William, and William’s daughter Myra, had been in the middle of planning a hiking trip deep into the nearby trails. With the addition of Sarah, they are forced to decide whether to call it off, or to bring Sarah with them. After deciding to bring Sarah, the four go on this trip together, and in addition to causing some trouble, Sarah reveals magic and history to them that they had never believed possible. What follows is an incredible story of persistence and family loyalties, as they attempt to uncover the truth about the history of the land they live on.
The premise of the story is somewhat jarring, you are thrown into it without any context of the characters or situation. In addition, the author’s to-the-point writing style can occasionally feel stiff or choppy. However, the dialogue is amazing in its flow and realisticness, and does an incredible job of smoothing it out and rounding out the characters’ personalities. Overall, I believe the story is slow to kick off, but as the plot and characters developed, I became much more interested in what was going on.
Despite the fantastical elements, the story feels brutally real at times, displaying the cruel harshness displayed by those who will stop at nothing to keep things in their favor. This aspect is what really dragged me into the story. It left me on the edge of my seat as I read, wishing I could help the characters, yet only being able to sit back and watch as the events played out.
Strong Heart is also quite informative, without being overly heavy on facts. Scientific and historical theories and information are woven seamlessly into the plot, adding to the realness of the story as well as providing very interesting details, without feeling like a school lesson.
At first I had been hesitant to enjoy the story, mostly due to the occasional stiffness to the writing, however now that I have finished it I can honestly say that whatever conventional flaws there were, were made up for entirely by the plot and character interactions. By the time I was a quarter of the way through the story, any choppyness that may have still been there was one of the last things on my mind as I read. I would personally give this story a final rating of 4 out of 4. This differs from what I had originally wanted to rate the book, 3 out of 4. This is because I realized by the end of the story that what’s more important is how greatly I enjoyed the story and how deeply I became invested in the plot, rather than conventional disagreements I may have had with the way it was written.
In my opinion, Strong Heart is incredibly unique, both in the writing style and the plot overall, differing greatly from any book I’ve read from the same or similar genre. This proved to be quite refreshing and interesting by the end. I would be quite happy to pick up another book written by Charlie Sheldon, and I would recommend Strong Heart to any reader who is both looking for something new and original, and is open to sticking to the story despite possible disagreements with the style of writing.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
