Hold your horses, this is one hell of an unexpected ride.
In my effort to go through the books that have been unread for a long time, I "picked" this one up. Armed with just the overview, I thought that this was just a simple love and loss type of family story.
I was wrong.
The Story
Ellis made a mistake that would change her and her family's life forever. One afternoon in a parking lot, she left her daughter for a few minutes and she was gone.
It was the last straw to an already failing marriage and the last one to push Ellis over the edge. That alone was a wound that drove Ellis to her worst self. In order to save her other children from more damage and pain, she decided it would be best to leave them and/with her husband.
In a land from from home, Raven was growing up in a home isolated from the community and the rest of the world. She keeps her faith secret for she knew that the world would never understand. However, as Raven discovered the world beyond the walls of her faith, she began to started longing for more.
This is a story of family, love, loss and the beautiful ways that destiny brings people together.
What I think...
Before anything else, I think it is worth noting that in order to understand, appreciate and enjoy this book to its fullest, it is very important to approach this with a very open mind. That is also true for a lot of other books but I found that for this particular one, it is a necessity.
From the get go, when Ellis left her child at the parking space, I was dumbfounded. At the same time, I also did not have it in me to blame her. Her world was spiralling down and it was taking everything out of her to hold it together. You might have a different opinion, but from my point of view, I understood her choice of leaving her other children because there was no point being around when she did not have it in her to be a mother. I personally think a person can only be called a mother if she has the ability and will to play the role of one.
Another point of view in the book was Ellis' lost daughter now named Raven who grew up with a rather unusual upbringing. She was made to believe she is the daughter of a Raven spirit and was "gifted" to her mother by the earth. I always try to understand other people's beliefs the best way I can but I would also be lying if I said I did not feel any discomfort at all. The discomfort was only on the parts where I found the faith to be extreme. There were also parts where I was skeptical if it was all about the faith and it was not being used to control Raven. I mean strongly instilling a way of life or religion in a child's mind is not a new concept - we know even with the mainstream religion, that is also very common. However, I just really felt that the faith that Raven believed in was used to manipulate her into a specific way of thinking and to keep her from opening up to the world.
There are so many layers to this story that I think would be best for you to uncover if you choose to read this book. This strangely stood out from a lot of books that I have read for the past nine months in terms of plot, impact and characterisation. It was odd, but not odd enough to scare me off. The storyline although not divine, is also beautiful. It did not drag on and I felt really immersed with every page. I did not even find myself skimming through any part of it.
This is definitely one that I don't think I'll ever forget.
☆☆☆☆☆ | Young Adults and Adults | Newbie-Friendly: Not Really | Fast Read: Not Really
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