Review by DragonLight877 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

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DragonLight877
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Review by DragonLight877 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

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[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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After reading Strong Heart, by Charlie Sheldon, I would definitely recommend others read this book as well. I was fully invested from the first few pages. The characters all felt so real, and the imagery of the Washington forests, cliffs, and wildlife is wonderful to imagine. As a person who lives in a more rural, forested place, I loved all the backwoods imagery.

The book follows the main character Tom. One-night, Tom is getting ready for a camping trip with his friend William, and William's adult daughter Myra. Suddenly, someone unexpected knocks on the door. When Tom opens the door, he sees a woman named Ruth and a thirteen-year-old girl. Ruth tells Tom this girl, Sarah, is his grand-daughter, and that Sarah will be staying with him for a while. Not wanting to cancel their long-planned trip, William suggests Sarah comes along as well. And so, the next day they set off into the Olympic State Park.

This book had me captivated. What I liked most about the book was the Native American stories and legends. The book is full of stories about the Indian people, as well as the family history of the characters. Along with some other crazy stories. It felt like sitting around a campfire, listening closely to what your elders were saying. I also enjoyed how real the hiking and traveling felt. There was a lot of detail put into what actually happens when you go on long hikes: the sweat, the need to rest often, the toll on your bodies. I could tell the author has been on these long hikes before. I enjoyed the authenticity in how difficult this sort of hiking can actually be.

Now what I disliked the most. I did not appreciate when certain characters would be contradictory, just because they could be. I do understand the book needed to have some sort of conflict, but some characters in the book seemed unnecessarily rude or even hostile.

Overall, I found this book to be an excellent read. I give this book 4 out of 4 stars. The characters were complex and well thought out, and each one just felt so real, like I know them in my real life somewhere. The story was inviting, and the stories within the story were complex and old. It really felt like you were hearing ancient history, all while the characters were discovering who they were, and where they really came from.

******
Strong Heart
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