jolinsdell's reviews
400 reviews

Faith Awakened by Grace Bridges

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3.0

With her first novel, Faith Awakened, Grace Bridges takes us on a journey into a scary future where hope is lost and into the virtual world of faith. She cleverly mixes Christian and Science Fiction into a thought provoking tale.

Faith Awakened tells the story of two women, Mariah and Faith.
One lives in a world where an authoritarian Government rules and the Earths population has been all but killed off by a plague. Nobody can be of higher power than the government and The Awakened (believers in God) must practice in secret.
The other lives in a very different world where she enjoys the privileges of freedom. We are first introduced to her as a child and from here she starts her search for a special connection with God.
As the story unfolds we find that the two, although seemingly separate, are tied deeply with one another.

Although I don’t normally read this genre of book, I found it an interesting tale that left me wanting to know more about the characters. The plot twists along the way will keep you turning the pages. Although the biblical messages are a little heavy in some places the clever storyline and surprises along the way will keep any reader interested. Faith Awakened is a nice change from the ordinary. Grace Bridges shows she has what it takes with this great first novel.
Daughter of Mine by Laura Fabiani

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5.0

Title: Daughter of Mine
Author: Laura Fabiani
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 9-780595-478576


Reviewed by Jo Linsdell.

Daughter of Mine tells the tale of Tiziana Manoretti, who finding out that she was adopted, travels to Italy in an attempt to discover the truth about her birth and to search for her birth parents. The road to learning about her past is far from easy but she meets some interesting characters along the way that help her out.
As if the recent bomb about her adoption isn’t enough, Tiziana is also getting mixed signals from her best friend Christopher and starts questioning exactly how deep her feelings for him are.

Daughter of Mine is a real page turner and one of the best books I’ve read for a while. Laura Fabiani captures Italy beautifully as it follows Tiziana on her journey. The descriptions of the locations visited by the characters are wonderful and give a real feel for the setting. As do some of the Italian individuals that Tiziana meets along the way, who made me think of some real Italians I’ve met since I came to live here.

Relationships, love, family, friendship mixed with the stunning scenery of Italy. Daughter of Mine is excellently written and a very enjoyable read. I highly recommend this book.