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A review by bethpeninger
Beneath the Night Tree by Nicole Baart
4.0
This was a lovely book, if not fairly predictable. And I didn't notice that it is actually the third, and final, book in a series by Baart. However, I didn't feel lost at all so Baart did a great job at making this book, at least, feel like a stand alone. Since it is a book 3 I went ahead and searched out books 1 and 2 as well, they'll land on my 2014 bookshelf. :)
Julia is a 24 year old single Mom to Daniel and big sister turned into Mom to Simon, her 10 year old brother. They all live with Julia's Grandma who basically raised her. In the first couple of pages of the book, and our introduction to Julia's life there were a few paragraphs, or phrases, that resonated so loudly with me that I have been thinking about them ever since. Baart has a beautiful way of phrasing the reality of life. We also meet Julia's boyfriend, Michael, and as the reader I wondered when the turn would come from this idyllic life Julia seemed to have. I didn't have to wait too terribly long. Michael drops a bombshell and Daniel's birth Dad resurfaces. This is where the story gets predictable. Not that I didn't enjoy reading it still. As it always does a loose "love triangle" forms and causes Julia some heart angst along the way. Her son and her brother are struggling without a consistent male figure in their lives and her Grandma is aging more quickly than anyone would like or wants to admit. And she's only 24 in charge of so much more than she ever imagined she would be.
What I appreciate about Baart is she doesn't get all preachy and Christianese in this book. Yes, the book is a Christian one but it isn't sickening, if you know what I mean and some of you do know what I mean. *grin* She does have a lovely way of writing and all of her books are marked "to-read" on my list so it seems I'm a fan of her writing style, storylines, and characters. Each that I just mentioned are well developed and make reading her books easy and a pleasure.
Julia is a 24 year old single Mom to Daniel and big sister turned into Mom to Simon, her 10 year old brother. They all live with Julia's Grandma who basically raised her. In the first couple of pages of the book, and our introduction to Julia's life there were a few paragraphs, or phrases, that resonated so loudly with me that I have been thinking about them ever since. Baart has a beautiful way of phrasing the reality of life. We also meet Julia's boyfriend, Michael, and as the reader I wondered when the turn would come from this idyllic life Julia seemed to have. I didn't have to wait too terribly long. Michael drops a bombshell and Daniel's birth Dad resurfaces. This is where the story gets predictable. Not that I didn't enjoy reading it still. As it always does a loose "love triangle" forms and causes Julia some heart angst along the way. Her son and her brother are struggling without a consistent male figure in their lives and her Grandma is aging more quickly than anyone would like or wants to admit. And she's only 24 in charge of so much more than she ever imagined she would be.
What I appreciate about Baart is she doesn't get all preachy and Christianese in this book. Yes, the book is a Christian one but it isn't sickening, if you know what I mean and some of you do know what I mean. *grin* She does have a lovely way of writing and all of her books are marked "to-read" on my list so it seems I'm a fan of her writing style, storylines, and characters. Each that I just mentioned are well developed and make reading her books easy and a pleasure.