AN ECHO IN THE DARKNESS
Francine Rivers
★★★★
FOUR POINT FIVE STARS
An Echo in the Darkness is a continuation of the biblical principles from book one. One of the main things that drives the story is the transformation that Hadassah, Marcus and Juliamust face both in the physical realm but also in spiritual realm. Their past transgressions bond them to their inner selves while not allowing them to be truly free. Life choices have come to collect their dues and left in the wake is regret and emptiness. A pilgrimage for answers on who this christian God is leads for a deeper and meaningful story.
I’m not sure what happened but it seems the author changed the name of one of the characters. I contacted KC right away to ask her who “Olympia” is because in book 2 it is mentioned that she introduced Julia to Calabah. Both KC and I remember it being Octavia who introduced her to Calabah. We both tried to “Nancy Drew” the situation and came up short. Maybe this “mistake”, if it is one, was put in the story like the Amish do with their quilts; “purposely plan a mistake into each of their projects because they believe attempts at human perfection mocks God.” So, I’m going to view this oversight as an allowance for a human touch on this book.
I was conflicted on how to rate this book because the first 75% of the book I liked it BUT didn’t love it. After reflecting on the story it dawned on me why I wasn’t connecting with it like I had the first one. My heart always craves the romance in stories and while this one does have that it took while for it to happen. The characters must first be right with God before they are free to romantically give their heart to another. I’m not a fan of the “romance couple” not being together for the majority of the book and that’s what happened here. It wasn’t until the last 25% of book when they were placed in the same situation did I begin to love the story. The last part of the book was definitely 5 stars for me while the other ¾ of the story was only 4 stars.
SERIES:
Book 1 & 2 continuing story. Book 3 is spinoff of a character from book 1.
