Waterfalls
Lisa T Bergren
After falling through time, modern-day Gabriel finds herself stuck in Dante-Era Italy, rescued by the most gorgeous knight she could imagine. Things are not all romantic and well, though, because her new crush is part of a long-standing land war with his neighbors, as well as being betrothed already. On top of that, she fears that her sister fell through as well and may have been taken in by the opposing side. Wishing she had paid more attention in history class, Gabi must navigate her way through the medieval Italian Courts, find her sister and get home, all the while wondering just how much she really wants to leave.
Two statements must be made here: The first is that this book has everything going horribly against it when cursorily examined. It's timebending fantasical romantic Christian teen fiction--FPN to boot! [That would be first person narrated, just saying.] With that excessive list in prelude of the novel, you might wonder how and why I read it in the first. To be honest, I did find myself wondering the same thing.
To be even more honest, however, I must admit that I have a severe soft spot for fish-out-of-water tales such as this, despite romantic overtones, Christian sourcing and unexplained time travel. I actually always have.
The story itself is pure, unadulterated, fluff. What it has going for it is that the author seems to make no pretense of it being anything else. There are no grandiose expositions examining time itself or comparing philosophies of the two presented eons. It is just the story of a girl [with fortunate parentage for the situation at hand], dealing with her problems as she comes to them. Yes, she falls in love with the soon-to-be lord of the castle, and he with her, but she is a teenager, the heroine and so on. To not do so might make the book completely unreadable, if not handled by a savant or something.
As for the narration, well, I'll go with the thought that it wasn't an offensive use of FPN, but it did get wearying at times. Her use of contemporary speech patterns was also a source of irritation to me, but no more than, say, holding a conversation with an honest-to-goodness actual teenager. What can I say? I've got an old [and somewhat crochety] soul. [Something did make me giggle like a ninny, though--at one point she makes a reference to hobbits. I'm a dork like that.]
What was worrying about the text, more so than the projected content, genre and style, was the fact that the book was "Christian." I'm unsure of whether or not this is claimed in any way on the book itself, but it was given to me to read by my manager at the Christian book story, and she had gotten it from a Christian Publisher's box o' stuff or something. If you have, by any chance, read my review of Died in the Wool, you will have gleaned my general opinion of contemporary Christian fiction is impressively low. I simply have not seen enough to credibly state that it is, as a whole, of any literary quality. I am certain that 80% is pure fluff and drivel [if my store's stock is any shallow indication], and all of it is some kind of suspect quality. However, I shall delight in being corrected [if you can], though this book is not the one to do it.
No, the writing is not vomitously amateur, but neither is it likely to win any shiny awards. To put it straight forward, the writing is high-end of fine. Some things that push it out of "meh" territory are the historical elements. I am no scholar, but Bergren manages to present an image of medieval times that is simultaneously gross [think potty arrangements and other basic hygiene] enough and romantic enough [the love interest is manly and smells so--apparently--but mostly like wood and fires and cinnamon...cinnamon is manly? Okay, sure.] to be tolerably realistic without disturbing our delicate modern sensibilities. What does set this book apart in its execution is that God is not shoe-horned into every page. The girls come from a strictly C&E household, so Gabi doesnt' really fall into the cloying female Christian role. Instead, surrounded as she is by the religious fervor of the period, she begins to test the waters. The prayers are quick and informal: thanks for safety, don't let him die, let her be okay. These are the kinds of things we pray without always realizing it. And it is because of this that I find a certain amount of respect for the book.
Sometimes you cannot just go full God when you are trying to reach someone. Full God mode can be scary and set off the fight or flight mechanisms of the brain. Inasmuch, I support when Christians are willing to make things that are on the border of the more out-right Christian media. It provides an access point for people who laugh at hymns and tracts. No, I'm not saying that this book will convert millions, but it might make a difference to someone who isn't sure about the God things but enjoys reading the book.
If you could not tell, I did really enjoy this book. I it seemed to drag on a bit more than necessary in places, and it is pure cheese...but I would [more or less] proudly add it to my library...if given it, like with the Ally Carter books. It is not for everyone, but it is for some of us.
[Post Script: Since I originally wrote this, the books arrived in my store. They're not expensive for their size--$9.99, I think. It was a bit of a temptation. But I held fast. I just need to get a hand on the sequels now.]
Lisa T Bergren
After falling through time, modern-day Gabriel finds herself stuck in Dante-Era Italy, rescued by the most gorgeous knight she could imagine. Things are not all romantic and well, though, because her new crush is part of a long-standing land war with his neighbors, as well as being betrothed already. On top of that, she fears that her sister fell through as well and may have been taken in by the opposing side. Wishing she had paid more attention in history class, Gabi must navigate her way through the medieval Italian Courts, find her sister and get home, all the while wondering just how much she really wants to leave.
Two statements must be made here: The first is that this book has everything going horribly against it when cursorily examined. It's timebending fantasical romantic Christian teen fiction--FPN to boot! [That would be first person narrated, just saying.] With that excessive list in prelude of the novel, you might wonder how and why I read it in the first. To be honest, I did find myself wondering the same thing.
To be even more honest, however, I must admit that I have a severe soft spot for fish-out-of-water tales such as this, despite romantic overtones, Christian sourcing and unexplained time travel. I actually always have.
The story itself is pure, unadulterated, fluff. What it has going for it is that the author seems to make no pretense of it being anything else. There are no grandiose expositions examining time itself or comparing philosophies of the two presented eons. It is just the story of a girl [with fortunate parentage for the situation at hand], dealing with her problems as she comes to them. Yes, she falls in love with the soon-to-be lord of the castle, and he with her, but she is a teenager, the heroine and so on. To not do so might make the book completely unreadable, if not handled by a savant or something.
As for the narration, well, I'll go with the thought that it wasn't an offensive use of FPN, but it did get wearying at times. Her use of contemporary speech patterns was also a source of irritation to me, but no more than, say, holding a conversation with an honest-to-goodness actual teenager. What can I say? I've got an old [and somewhat crochety] soul. [Something did make me giggle like a ninny, though--at one point she makes a reference to hobbits. I'm a dork like that.]
What was worrying about the text, more so than the projected content, genre and style, was the fact that the book was "Christian." I'm unsure of whether or not this is claimed in any way on the book itself, but it was given to me to read by my manager at the Christian book story, and she had gotten it from a Christian Publisher's box o' stuff or something. If you have, by any chance, read my review of Died in the Wool, you will have gleaned my general opinion of contemporary Christian fiction is impressively low. I simply have not seen enough to credibly state that it is, as a whole, of any literary quality. I am certain that 80% is pure fluff and drivel [if my store's stock is any shallow indication], and all of it is some kind of suspect quality. However, I shall delight in being corrected [if you can], though this book is not the one to do it.
No, the writing is not vomitously amateur, but neither is it likely to win any shiny awards. To put it straight forward, the writing is high-end of fine. Some things that push it out of "meh" territory are the historical elements. I am no scholar, but Bergren manages to present an image of medieval times that is simultaneously gross [think potty arrangements and other basic hygiene] enough and romantic enough [the love interest is manly and smells so--apparently--but mostly like wood and fires and cinnamon...cinnamon is manly? Okay, sure.] to be tolerably realistic without disturbing our delicate modern sensibilities. What does set this book apart in its execution is that God is not shoe-horned into every page. The girls come from a strictly C&E household, so Gabi doesnt' really fall into the cloying female Christian role. Instead, surrounded as she is by the religious fervor of the period, she begins to test the waters. The prayers are quick and informal: thanks for safety, don't let him die, let her be okay. These are the kinds of things we pray without always realizing it. And it is because of this that I find a certain amount of respect for the book.
Sometimes you cannot just go full God when you are trying to reach someone. Full God mode can be scary and set off the fight or flight mechanisms of the brain. Inasmuch, I support when Christians are willing to make things that are on the border of the more out-right Christian media. It provides an access point for people who laugh at hymns and tracts. No, I'm not saying that this book will convert millions, but it might make a difference to someone who isn't sure about the God things but enjoys reading the book.
If you could not tell, I did really enjoy this book. I it seemed to drag on a bit more than necessary in places, and it is pure cheese...but I would [more or less] proudly add it to my library...if given it, like with the Ally Carter books. It is not for everyone, but it is for some of us.
[Post Script: Since I originally wrote this, the books arrived in my store. They're not expensive for their size--$9.99, I think. It was a bit of a temptation. But I held fast. I just need to get a hand on the sequels now.]
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