lilyruth_the_janeite's review against another edition
It tried to be well written, engaging, and insightful and failed on all accounts
doxamully's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
casswiebe's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
elizakp's review
5.0
this book was so fun to read, i didn't think i would like it as much as i did when i first read it years ago, but i totally did. really makes you want to go live in a remote part of the smokies. apart from all the parts where it doesn't. such as the typhoid plot. as cringe as it may be to say, i now have a new appreciation for the experience of going though a disease outbreak. my only critique is that david absolute is such a flop. dr macneill is a top tier love interest though, so that makes up for it. despite all of the quaker theology (and there's a lot of it) this book is still a compelling, yet breezy, read.
also, i just gotta say. absolutely iconic of miss catherine marshall to write fanfic about her own parents. except, the love interest that resembles her father is the flop of the love triangle, which is quite hilarious.
also, i just gotta say. absolutely iconic of miss catherine marshall to write fanfic about her own parents. except, the love interest that resembles her father is the flop of the love triangle, which is quite hilarious.
bookclubtrivia's review against another edition
4.0
This was really good, but it was so long and really dragged. There's some important dramatic threads running through it, but a lot of side-stories that don't directly contribute to that plot.
Anyway, the good things:
I'm not religious, but this was a very sweet and realistic look at Christianity/doubt/conversion. The conversations the characters have are real conversations, not the kind of made-up conversions Karen Kingsbury comes up with. You can tell the author has asked these questions, herself, and has met others who asked good questions.
I also feel like this is a great book for librarians to read. Christy goes to this small town to be a teacher at a mission. Her goal is educating children and spreading religion... but that's only like a third of what she actually ends up doing. She's a nurse, a cook, an adult-educator, a mother, a friend. Her role is helping the community in all the ways that they need help, and a lot of that is informal. It feels much more like a librarian role than a teacher's--rather than following a curriculum, she finds a need and she serves it. I love that.
Some of the scenes were so heartbreakingly-tragic that I had to put the book down and walk away. But the ending is very sweet.
Anyway, the good things:
I'm not religious, but this was a very sweet and realistic look at Christianity/doubt/conversion. The conversations the characters have are real conversations, not the kind of made-up conversions Karen Kingsbury comes up with. You can tell the author has asked these questions, herself, and has met others who asked good questions.
I also feel like this is a great book for librarians to read. Christy goes to this small town to be a teacher at a mission. Her goal is educating children and spreading religion... but that's only like a third of what she actually ends up doing. She's a nurse, a cook, an adult-educator, a mother, a friend. Her role is helping the community in all the ways that they need help, and a lot of that is informal. It feels much more like a librarian role than a teacher's--rather than following a curriculum, she finds a need and she serves it. I love that.
Some of the scenes were so heartbreakingly-tragic that I had to put the book down and walk away. But the ending is very sweet.
jbethke's review
5.0
It took me 3 months to finish this fabulous book (I have the library fines to prove it), and that's ok. The almost 500 pages of this story are dense with thoughtfulness and wisdom, so my slow reading worked well to soak in the beauty.
This book was suggested to me when I was looking for something that takes place in the Smokies, where we took our family this year. I was expecting a lovely backdrop to help imagine our trip, but not the wisdom and truth that was contained in this story.
In short, Christy is a novel based around the concept of going where few people want to go in the Christian Life, to places of squalor, darkness, and human stubbornness. It does not make light of suffering, doubt, or trials, but welcomes them as part of the journey of faith. The characters are not flat or stereotypes, and there was not a time I picked up this book that I was not blessed by it.
This book was suggested to me when I was looking for something that takes place in the Smokies, where we took our family this year. I was expecting a lovely backdrop to help imagine our trip, but not the wisdom and truth that was contained in this story.
In short, Christy is a novel based around the concept of going where few people want to go in the Christian Life, to places of squalor, darkness, and human stubbornness. It does not make light of suffering, doubt, or trials, but welcomes them as part of the journey of faith. The characters are not flat or stereotypes, and there was not a time I picked up this book that I was not blessed by it.
bartag82's review against another edition
5.0
Picked this up because I remember watching (and loving) the miniseries with my mom when I was barely a teenager. The book is even better. I’m not a religious person so I was afraid that a book like this would be too preachy for me, but it wasn’t at all. It’s a beautiful story, one I wish had a sequel, to be completely honest!
wombat_88's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
emsmeat's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was recommended by my mom and given to her by my grandma. It's a sweet little pioneering type story. The blurb is wrong, it is most definitely not a love story with a love triangle. David sucks anyway so the triangle is more of a line. It's pretty heavy on some Quakerisms and religion of the times but the story was generally interesting. Boring ending though! 3.0