Tamara M. (tammcelyea) reviewed on
I'll start by saying I've read all of Whitlow's other books, and though I am not what I'd call a "fan" I am familiar with his writing style. Having said that, I'll admit I did NOT enjoy this book. Most readers initially pick up Whitlow's work expecting some sort of legal drama...this book is ALL drama, with a handful of "legal-ese" thrown in.
If you're wanting a story about a young woman's struggle to adopt out her children...this is your book. If you're wanting a story about an older woman's divine luck in simply stumbling upon her missing children thrity years later without any effort on her part (or her kids' parts) and with not a single one of the characters having any kind of opposition to their seemingly spontaneous reunion as a family...this is your book.
A majority of the book focuses on the young woman's emotional struggle and mental debate on what to ultimately do about her unplanned pregnancy. All of which is a bit far-reaching for a man describing a young woman's interal struggle, but it is what it is. And even that much of it could have been reduced to a max of ten pages since 90% of that part of the story is mostly random, insignificant dialogue. You "sense" the young woman's struggle during that time, but you aren't drawn in to make a real connection with her, in my opinion. She is made no more relevant to reader than any other nameless teenager in the same predicament you hear about from your cousin's roommate's best friend's sister...if you catch my drift. But still she struggles, albeit it's very brushed over and superficial, she struggles. You may enjoy this story on that basis, but probably only on a surface level as I did. This story and it's characters are not going to blow your mind or stand out in your memory any longer than it takes to pick up the next book you're going to read. Even for a drama, it wasn't that impressive.
If you're wanting a real legal drama with the background of teenage pregnancy, adoption/abortion issues, and a little gritty crime thrown in (as it is advertised/presented to be)...don't bother with this book. Nearly 80% of the legal references aren't relevant to the actual story and are only thrown in to show the author's ability to correctly use his knowledge of legal jargon (I personally could care less what paper has to be filed for what action, etc. if it isn't important to the STORY and only added for dialogue purposes); and those cases and/or laws mentioned that are relevant are only skimmed over and losely applied to the story as a whole, which really doesn't give them much credit to the story at all. The reader is essentially left with 1/3 of the story involving lawyers as main characters, so given that you might as well give them big words and mention cases that the general public don't know about to make them sound like smart lawyers, right?
I'm not saying this book was horrible--I've read much worse, trust me. What I am saying is know what you're getting into before you decide to pick this up. It is a clean cut drama with the traditional zippity-quick, outta-nowhere, sudden happy ending where within three chapters at the end everything turns out perfect for the main characters involved and everyone goes on happily ever after. Basically, unrealistic, no matter how hard the author may have tried to make this story relveant to modern issues.
The book is categorized as Fiction/Christian/General...and that's all it is. Though I'd say it pushes the line of fantasy with how unrealisticly perfect and easy everything comes together in the end, this is a general fictional story that has no real depth, no real draw, and leaves no real long-lasting impression on the general audience. That's just my opinion, which you see differs immensely from the other reveiwer who posted. In the end, it's just not a book I'd hand to someone else--not even to those who may have gone through similar circumstances--and tell them, "You just HAVE to read this!" I'd be more likely to tell them instead to pick up something else...maybe even any other of Whitlow's books. Just not this one.
If you're wanting a story about a young woman's struggle to adopt out her children...this is your book. If you're wanting a story about an older woman's divine luck in simply stumbling upon her missing children thrity years later without any effort on her part (or her kids' parts) and with not a single one of the characters having any kind of opposition to their seemingly spontaneous reunion as a family...this is your book.
A majority of the book focuses on the young woman's emotional struggle and mental debate on what to ultimately do about her unplanned pregnancy. All of which is a bit far-reaching for a man describing a young woman's interal struggle, but it is what it is. And even that much of it could have been reduced to a max of ten pages since 90% of that part of the story is mostly random, insignificant dialogue. You "sense" the young woman's struggle during that time, but you aren't drawn in to make a real connection with her, in my opinion. She is made no more relevant to reader than any other nameless teenager in the same predicament you hear about from your cousin's roommate's best friend's sister...if you catch my drift. But still she struggles, albeit it's very brushed over and superficial, she struggles. You may enjoy this story on that basis, but probably only on a surface level as I did. This story and it's characters are not going to blow your mind or stand out in your memory any longer than it takes to pick up the next book you're going to read. Even for a drama, it wasn't that impressive.
If you're wanting a real legal drama with the background of teenage pregnancy, adoption/abortion issues, and a little gritty crime thrown in (as it is advertised/presented to be)...don't bother with this book. Nearly 80% of the legal references aren't relevant to the actual story and are only thrown in to show the author's ability to correctly use his knowledge of legal jargon (I personally could care less what paper has to be filed for what action, etc. if it isn't important to the STORY and only added for dialogue purposes); and those cases and/or laws mentioned that are relevant are only skimmed over and losely applied to the story as a whole, which really doesn't give them much credit to the story at all. The reader is essentially left with 1/3 of the story involving lawyers as main characters, so given that you might as well give them big words and mention cases that the general public don't know about to make them sound like smart lawyers, right?
I'm not saying this book was horrible--I've read much worse, trust me. What I am saying is know what you're getting into before you decide to pick this up. It is a clean cut drama with the traditional zippity-quick, outta-nowhere, sudden happy ending where within three chapters at the end everything turns out perfect for the main characters involved and everyone goes on happily ever after. Basically, unrealistic, no matter how hard the author may have tried to make this story relveant to modern issues.
The book is categorized as Fiction/Christian/General...and that's all it is. Though I'd say it pushes the line of fantasy with how unrealisticly perfect and easy everything comes together in the end, this is a general fictional story that has no real depth, no real draw, and leaves no real long-lasting impression on the general audience. That's just my opinion, which you see differs immensely from the other reveiwer who posted. In the end, it's just not a book I'd hand to someone else--not even to those who may have gone through similar circumstances--and tell them, "You just HAVE to read this!" I'd be more likely to tell them instead to pick up something else...maybe even any other of Whitlow's books. Just not this one.
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