Book Blurb

Your soul will remember…

As a woman who wasn’t born to wealth or privilege, Abigaia has mastered the art of thievery. And she’s come to hate it. Not only is she plagued by guilt, but her shadowed upbringing and silent ways cause most of her town to question her sanity.

Yet, Abigaia’s eccentric father always taught her to be proud of her heritage. Her ancestry lies across the sea, in a prominent realm she’s read about but has never seen.

The man who desires Abigaia’s hand in marriage doesn’t share her hope of seeing the Eubeltic Realm. But disaster erupts in their path, and Abigaia’s dream may have a greater purpose—if that famed domain of her ancestors is now in crucial need of her.

I received this book for free from the author. All comments and opinions are entirely my own, and I am writing a voluntary review.

AnnaScott’s Review:

This was a fascinating book. I have reviewed two of Nadine’s other books (Reviving the Commander and Embracing the Outcast), and this one was equally as delightful!

Let’s start with the characters. My absolute favorite part of Nadine’s writing is that she creates these characters that are all a bit different than your standard fantasy hero or heroine. In this story, we have Abigaia, who becomes mute after a traumatic event in her childhood and eventually begins learning sign language. As the story progresses, she meets people who also use sign language for various reasons, and so we get a glimpse into their lives as well. I just really love that these characters still live full lives, and that Nadine subtly uses their experiences to touch on so many of the stereotypes and challenges that this community faces. Each character was well developed, and I loved and disliked each one accordingly.

The second thing that I love about Nadine’s writing style is that it has clear Christian messages, but it never becomes preachy. The plot is the top priority, and so the story is always engaging. While I walk away thinking about Christian themes and concepts, they are beautifully woven in so that they are a natural extension of the story instead of an awkward insert.

Moving forward, I really only have two complaints. First of all, I wish it had been longer. Some of the scenes felt a bit skipped over, and I would have loved to see Abigaia interact more with some of her friends and other characters throughout the book. I said this about Nadine’s other books as well, though, so I feel like the length is probably an intentional decision on her part since they are consistently around the same length.

Lastly, I was a bit thrown off by the description. I went in expecting Abigaia to be a Flynn Rider type – a ‘bad girl who comes to see the error in her ways.’ While Abigaia and her friends were pickpockets, it was more Robin Hood than Flynn Rider, as she did it to help feed her starving family. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just wasn’t what I was expecting initially.

Overall, it was such a good book. Everything was clean, enjoyable to read, and contained an important message for readers to take away. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

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