Review of Strong Heart
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Venus Isar
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- Favorite Book: Strong Heart
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Review of Strong Heart
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
After Sarah’s grandmother, Ruth, dropped her off on her Grandfather's door that one stormy day, she thought she will be another house filled with old nuts people. And she was right, in the beginning. Being dragged off to the mountains, ‘slave- driven’ by her grandfather, Tom, and two local neighbors, taking the trip to lay her Great-great grandfather’s soul to final rest; a ruckus with a mining investor and a threat from her grandmother and step- grandfather to call family services to prove Tom that he’s not capable of taking care of a teen, her life couldn’t get any worse.
But her own journey just started, after falling into an abyss, and an animal as a compass, the months-long trip scaling the ancient waters, learning ‘living’ again, picking a potential husband and waking up missing half of a finger, was she the same teen like before? With the tale that changed her life forever and those who holds the history of their place, a thread from her journey that could potentially be the proof That Olympic National Park is a place of history, myth, legends and magic.
Strong Heart written by Charlie Sheldon is a modern adventure fiction fantasy set in the wilderness of the Olympic National Park in Washington. It is a standalone other fiction novel packed with a teenage to young adult to adult thriller, it also contains a tiny bit of political interest, but majorly history and science- specifically archeology and anthropology.
The book is hard to wrap your head on about what’s exactly going on in the beginning. The plot is scattered in different directions, but it gradually fused into one grand plot as the story progressed. The raw, building-up plot almost feels like I’m reading an adventurous fiction version of To Kill a Mockingbird. I loved the character development of each major character, and the detailed immersive surreal narration of the author that has me feeling like I am seeing and experiencing the events through the eyes of the main character, Sarah.
I also love the fact that the author also divided the book in the middle using flashback technique from time to time. I keep guessing the events that’s about to happen in the next page, when there is a flashback only to be proven wrong again and again. I admit I have a knack for predicting the plot, but Sheldon really did a good job at keeping me on edge.
My only critique is the character development of one supporting character, although I know it shouldn’t be as highlighted as the main character’s, but I feel that one supporting character is under-developed, because I’ve only read one side of him and he plays a major part in shaping Sarah’s tale into believable reality, and I feel that there is more to his personality than what meets the eye, like the persuasive romantic side of him that is still raw. That could use a little more polishing, in my opinion.
But to wrap it up, the books seems to be well-polished and exceptionally well-edited. It does contain mild violence, but it’s not explicitly detailed so I can still recommend it to mature teens, mature young adult and adult readers who seeks to immerse themselves in an adventurous tale and learn at the same time.
I hereby give Strong Heart four out of four stars for its exceptionally surreal journey, and its compelling narration that has me staying up late at night to read. The words are easy to comprehend, and the plot events are predictable; however, the flashback part was another story for you will be thrown in a whirlwind of adventure. It’s a great book to reckon with.
This book would be more appealing to mature young adults and adults who are impartial about history, anthropology and archeology through an adventurous tale. If those subjects are not very appealing to you, then I suggest you move on to your next book of choice. As for me, I’ll be spending more late nights reading this again, and hopefully another book like this from Charlie Sheldon.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
After Sarah’s grandmother, Ruth, dropped her off on her Grandfather's door that one stormy day, she thought she will be another house filled with old nuts people. And she was right, in the beginning. Being dragged off to the mountains, ‘slave- driven’ by her grandfather, Tom, and two local neighbors, taking the trip to lay her Great-great grandfather’s soul to final rest; a ruckus with a mining investor and a threat from her grandmother and step- grandfather to call family services to prove Tom that he’s not capable of taking care of a teen, her life couldn’t get any worse.
But her own journey just started, after falling into an abyss, and an animal as a compass, the months-long trip scaling the ancient waters, learning ‘living’ again, picking a potential husband and waking up missing half of a finger, was she the same teen like before? With the tale that changed her life forever and those who holds the history of their place, a thread from her journey that could potentially be the proof That Olympic National Park is a place of history, myth, legends and magic.
Strong Heart written by Charlie Sheldon is a modern adventure fiction fantasy set in the wilderness of the Olympic National Park in Washington. It is a standalone other fiction novel packed with a teenage to young adult to adult thriller, it also contains a tiny bit of political interest, but majorly history and science- specifically archeology and anthropology.
The book is hard to wrap your head on about what’s exactly going on in the beginning. The plot is scattered in different directions, but it gradually fused into one grand plot as the story progressed. The raw, building-up plot almost feels like I’m reading an adventurous fiction version of To Kill a Mockingbird. I loved the character development of each major character, and the detailed immersive surreal narration of the author that has me feeling like I am seeing and experiencing the events through the eyes of the main character, Sarah.
I also love the fact that the author also divided the book in the middle using flashback technique from time to time. I keep guessing the events that’s about to happen in the next page, when there is a flashback only to be proven wrong again and again. I admit I have a knack for predicting the plot, but Sheldon really did a good job at keeping me on edge.
My only critique is the character development of one supporting character, although I know it shouldn’t be as highlighted as the main character’s, but I feel that one supporting character is under-developed, because I’ve only read one side of him and he plays a major part in shaping Sarah’s tale into believable reality, and I feel that there is more to his personality than what meets the eye, like the persuasive romantic side of him that is still raw. That could use a little more polishing, in my opinion.
But to wrap it up, the books seems to be well-polished and exceptionally well-edited. It does contain mild violence, but it’s not explicitly detailed so I can still recommend it to mature teens, mature young adult and adult readers who seeks to immerse themselves in an adventurous tale and learn at the same time.
I hereby give Strong Heart four out of four stars for its exceptionally surreal journey, and its compelling narration that has me staying up late at night to read. The words are easy to comprehend, and the plot events are predictable; however, the flashback part was another story for you will be thrown in a whirlwind of adventure. It’s a great book to reckon with.
This book would be more appealing to mature young adults and adults who are impartial about history, anthropology and archeology through an adventurous tale. If those subjects are not very appealing to you, then I suggest you move on to your next book of choice. As for me, I’ll be spending more late nights reading this again, and hopefully another book like this from Charlie Sheldon.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Dark Matter Empire (Book 1) by Alex Zadeh
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Nomalungelo Mathe
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 27 Jan 2022, 06:37
- Bookshelf Size: 0
This book is so nice got to figure it out using logic. It is adventurous. It is very appealing. My kind of books. I love it. I'll be absolutely reading it again and again. So nice
