Review by millyweb19 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

[millyweb19]

[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 follows mainly a third person perspective of a man, Tom, living in the Olympic Peninsula with his friends (William and Myra), about to take a journey when his granddaughter whom he’s never met enters his life. The narrative does shift back and forth to a first-person perspective from the granddaughter Sarah. This follows Sarah’s own personal journey when she goes missing from the group. The narrative change is a little jarring as a reader, but since the initial story follows Sarah coming to stay with her grandfather, you are warmed to her character.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I am giving the novel this rating because there were few errors, which were mostly typesetting/editing errors. The narrative was gripping, and I did not want to put it down. This book gave me physical reactions at points in the plot, like sweaty palms, which marks an intriguing storyline.

Some of the sentences in minor parts of description were not necessary or could have been streamlined into one sentence rather than two. This makes the writing seem quite simple in parts of the story. This and the mild ‘bad’ language make the demographic for this book difficult to pinpoint. I would say this book definitely fits into a teenage, fantasy realism genre. Sarah as the main character being 13 enforces this, especially when reading the sections from only her perspective. Strong Heart has a lot of themes, it is historical and cultural, but also deals with the complexities of growing up and becoming a woman.

Furthermore, there were some repeated descriptions and a few discrepancies in continuity. For instance, the writer describes the character ‘Thin Hair’ as “His eyes were black and piercing.” But then says his son “looks just like his father except his ears stuck out far. His hair curled, and his eyes were black and wide apart.” ‘Thrower’ having black eyes cannot be an exception if his father has them too. Also, at the beginning of Sarah’s first-person narrative, she has given nicknames to describe her captors and the native people she encounters. However, when those people talk to each other or refer to one another they also use these nicknames. Is this from Sarah’s re-telling (unreliable narration) or a discrepancy between those being their names and Sarah saying she made them up?

My favourite parts of this novel were the intricate description and how emotive the language is. Also, there was a good use of foreshadowing and contrast between the third person perspectives and the first-person sections. There was personification used to describe the nature around the characters, a key part of the story. There are some parts where the characters talk a lot about what will happen after they finish their journey, and there is a lot of uncertainty. However, we as the reader never get to know what happens after the journey is completed, which is disappointing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and really hoped there would be more! The description was vivid and emotive. Although it was quite simple in places, this is due mainly to the demographic for the novel. I think the themes in this novel were really comprehensive and researched very well. I would definitely recommend Strong Heart.

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Strong Heart
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[Espie]

Like you, I've also read, loved, and reviewed this piece. The wait for what's next shouldn't be for long now as the sequel (and even the third instalment) of this story had been announced. Thank you for your descriptive review.