I know I’m in the minority on this one but it just felt forced and I didn’t care for Gabriel. He was a little too pushy for me and obsessive. It was also really hard to figure out the timing on this. There wasn’t much indication on how long their friendship/pre-dating phase was until they started calling it “months”. I was a little surprised by that because it wasn’t explained well and made it feel more rushed until I read that.

I heard Louie peach this sermon at our church (Elevation Church) years ago during Code Orange Revival and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s a sermon God reminded me of continually during my 2nd battle of cancer a couple years ago when God put Psalm 23:5 on my heart to remind me of how he was taking care of me in the middle of the suffering. Any time I was struggling with my perspective, I kept seeing Louie’s sermon illustration of the table and the food in my mind, as God reminded me not to let the enemy eat the food God was trying to give me at my table, and that my enemies being there didn’t mean he wasn’t providing for me.

I liked the book but I did feel like the sermon was more impactful than the book. Maybe it was just the visual, and the straight forward way the sermon was, I’m not sure. Still a good book but for sure listen to the sermon, especially if you’re dealing with your faith because of suffering and trials.

Side note, the audiobook has an interview at the end with the Wolf’s with Hope Heals and Louie’s sermon which was really great, so highly recommend that version.

I didn’t dislike the book, but I didn’t love it either - it was just very dark and heartbreaking. By the time I got to the end, that small section of total turnaround just felt not completely believable for me after it being one massive blow after another. There were parts of the book I felt dragged and didn’t necessarily add to the story, but overall it was well written and emotionally evocative. You were for sure totally invested in Demon, and his situation, wishing someone would just step in and be there for him.

While it’s a modernized remake of Charles Dickens’, it brings out very real and devastating side effects of poverty. The setting being the Appalachian area of Virginia, and bringing the story to life with a focus on Demon in the broken foster system and then drug addiction.

The book paints such a vibrant and emotionally jarring picture thru Demon’s life, that you just want to jump in and help the poor kid so many times. It was devastating to realize no one in his life really valued him as a person - or at least let him know he was valued - no strings attached, outside of Angus, and it’s no wonder he struggled like he did because of it. He didn’t feel he had any value. It makes you think about how much kids need to hear that.

Not a fan of the writing style at all. It read more like a second hand play-by-play or rehash of a story, rather than a first hand immersion. Also a lot of repetition…

Very interesting progression of the story. I enjoyed the snippets of the plane process interspersed with the aftermath of Edward’s story. Loved the friendship and companionship he and Shea had and the strength he drew from her as well as how everyone around him grew and was stretched when Edward started embracing his life and loss.

The Jacobite Chronicles is one of my favorite series so this was a nice addition to flesh it out, tho I would not recommend reading it before the series since it would spoil some of the characters identities that are a mystery in the first book.

The beginning of this was a little slow at first but didn’t take too long to really get you invested, especially after being invested in the characters in the main series. I think what makes this all so interesting to me is the sense of intense loyalty and sacrifice the men and women of the clan had for each other and the emotional fearlessness they all had.

The writing and historical description was also so well laid out that it wasn’t laborious but painted a fantastic scene.

Well written and intriguing. I loved the relationship between the 3 sisters and how they had each others’ backs no matter what. The repercussions of mental/emotional abuse once in adulthood I thought was very well portrayed and described, but the fact that they had this forever connection I thought was so important and vital to their survival.

While much of the foster situation was intentionally disturbing, it was very well written and really well done. Miss Fairchild was a fantastic villain - I couldn’t stand her her which was the whole point. Each situation felt realistic and had me wanting to know what was going to happen next. I wouldn’t say it was super thriller-ish but it did have some good mystery and great character development. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy do this book. All opinions are mine.