Scan barcode
kriska_82's review against another edition
5.0
Love this book. I own the sequel, but haven't read it yet. I'll probably reread this one first, though.
court20mm's review against another edition
4.0
One of my favorite stories in the Bible. And one of my favorite retellings of it. Brilliant. This story fills you with all the range of emotions. And will leave you completely satisfied in the end.
katybarlowe's review against another edition
4.0
This is my second time through this one and although I didn't enjoy it as much as the first time, it was still great! It's a beautiful portrait of how to approach marriage and general trials of life. It also really makes you think about the story of Esther and all that she went through and how faithful God is!
ktbgoodwin's review against another edition
4.0
To be clear, this isn’t the first time I’ve read this book. It’s not even the second. I read this all the time when I was younger, and it’s been wow... at least five years, so I decided to pick it up again. I really enjoyed it, and understand it better now than I did then, I think. Great retelling of Esther.
braucruze's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the best theology books for Christians, the way it analyzes and interprets the book of Esther is impressive, this book helps you understand in the best way possible how this story happened and all the meanings of the rituals and things that happened to this woman.
Esther is my favorite book of the entire bible thanks to this impressive work by Tommy Tenney.
Esther is my favorite book of the entire bible thanks to this impressive work by Tommy Tenney.
emiwan_kenobi's review against another edition
1.0
This book came highly recommended, and as I love historical fiction and the story of Esther has always been one of my favorites, I couldn't resist.
Unfortunately I was highly disappointed. I won't go in to the long, long list of things that bothered, frustrated, or downright ticked me off, as other reviewers have done it much better than I could, but I will name a few.
First, the language was far too modern. The majority of the story is supposed to be copied from a scroll write by Hadassah herself, several thousand years ago. As such, you wouldn't expect to hear many of the modern phrases and uses of language that make up the entire story. (There were several examples of this, but to list just one: at one point Haman literally uses the phrase "Blah-blah-blah" in the middle of his dialogue). Language like that in a manuscript that is supposedly thousands of years old felt misplaced and awkward, not at all like you were reading an ancient tale written in "----- BC" and it continually jerked me out of the story.
Second, the use of the "twisted cross" (swastika) made absolutely no sense. While the symbol existed long before the Nazi's adopted it, as far as I know it was never a symbol of hatred against Jews before that time. To me tossing it in there felt like a lazy use of a convenient plot device and was proof that no actual effort or research went into designing that aspect of the story.
Lastly, I felt that the characters were rather bland and two-dimensional. Haman was your typical insidious villain, Mordecai the overprotective but well meaning father-figure, Esther a flawless heroine, and Xerxes a handsome, dashing, heroically flawed king. And Jesse was... I can't even think of what to say about him. He had so little character that his most telling moment was when he was devastated and mourning the "loss of his manhood" (something that was lamented so many times I got sick of it--especially since the loss of "what made him a man" was treated as more of a tragedy than the fact that Hadassah was going to be forced to have sexual intercourse against her will, which was quickly defended as okay because she was "doing it for the king"). I couldn't get attached to any of them.
As far as books go, One Night With the King wasn't awful. At best I'm indifferent towards it (it was neither good enough for me to like or bad enough for me to hate). It's not something I think I'll ever read again, or recommend, however. And there are definitely far superior examples of historical fiction to be found.
Unfortunately I was highly disappointed. I won't go in to the long, long list of things that bothered, frustrated, or downright ticked me off, as other reviewers have done it much better than I could, but I will name a few.
First, the language was far too modern. The majority of the story is supposed to be copied from a scroll write by Hadassah herself, several thousand years ago. As such, you wouldn't expect to hear many of the modern phrases and uses of language that make up the entire story. (There were several examples of this, but to list just one: at one point Haman literally uses the phrase "Blah-blah-blah" in the middle of his dialogue). Language like that in a manuscript that is supposedly thousands of years old felt misplaced and awkward, not at all like you were reading an ancient tale written in "----- BC" and it continually jerked me out of the story.
Second, the use of the "twisted cross" (swastika) made absolutely no sense. While the symbol existed long before the Nazi's adopted it, as far as I know it was never a symbol of hatred against Jews before that time. To me tossing it in there felt like a lazy use of a convenient plot device and was proof that no actual effort or research went into designing that aspect of the story.
Lastly, I felt that the characters were rather bland and two-dimensional. Haman was your typical insidious villain, Mordecai the overprotective but well meaning father-figure, Esther a flawless heroine, and Xerxes a handsome, dashing, heroically flawed king. And Jesse was... I can't even think of what to say about him. He had so little character that his most telling moment was when he was devastated and mourning the "loss of his manhood" (something that was lamented so many times I got sick of it--especially since the loss of "what made him a man" was treated as more of a tragedy than the fact that Hadassah was going to be forced to have sexual intercourse against her will, which was quickly defended as okay because she was "doing it for the king"). I couldn't get attached to any of them.
As far as books go, One Night With the King wasn't awful. At best I'm indifferent towards it (it was neither good enough for me to like or bad enough for me to hate). It's not something I think I'll ever read again, or recommend, however. And there are definitely far superior examples of historical fiction to be found.
rlbasley's review against another edition
5.0
I remember hearing the story of Esther very vaguely in passing when going to church as a teenager. This made it more understandable and also explained why Madonna would have chosen that as her new name as well.
murah24601's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.25
deb_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
kristinrob's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure about this one. On one hand, Hadassah is the poster girl for perseverance, and making he best of a negative situation. On the other hand, she is a poster-child for Stockholm syndrome, by embracing and adoring her captors.
She lives a regal life in a brutal time, and her faith carries her far in helping her, her family and her people live.
She lives a regal life in a brutal time, and her faith carries her far in helping her, her family and her people live.