Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

www.biblegateway.com


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Esther - Royal Beauty Book Review

A Dangerous Beauty Novel
Book One

SUMMARY:  When an ambitious tyrant threatens genocide against the Jews, an inexperienced young queen must take a stand for her people.
     When Xerxes, king of Persia, issues a call for beautiful young women, Hadassah, a Jewish orphan living in Susa, is forcibly taken to the palace of the pagan ruler.  After months of preparation, the girl known to the Persians as Esther wins the king's heart and a queen's crown.  But because her situation is uncertain, she keeps her ethnic identity a secret until she learns that an evil and ambitious man has won the king's permission to exterminate all Jews - young and old, powerful and helpless.  Purposely violating an ancient Persian law, she risks her life in order to save her people . . . and bind her husband's heart.

REVIEW:  When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure I was going to like it.  Hadassah was very superficial, seemingly only concerned with herself and how she could get Mordecai and his wife Miriam to be more lenient.  It's seem that a lot of her focus was on her looks (or the lack thereof, in her opinion) and wanting to be queen because then she would be known as the most beautiful woman in the world.  It was also written from two viewpoints - Hadassah/Esther's and Harbonah, the chief eunuch in King Xerxes' palace. The switch up took some getting used to, especially if I set the book down for a few hours.  But, once I remembered the author was writing from the viewpoint of a teenaged girl, I understand the preoccupation and the story started making more sense.  
     Some of the incidences and timelines in this book do not follow what most people consider common knowledge about Esther's story.  I like the author's explanation given at the end of the book.  She looked at historical records and biblical records, and tried to keep the story as historically accurate as possible.  While the timeline was different from other stories I've read, I found the information to flow easily.  This book is interesting and one I recommend to check out.

This book was provided by Bethany House for review without compensation.

Angela Hunt has published more than one hundred books.  She's the New York Times-bestselling author of The Tale of Three Trees, The Note, and The Nativity Story.  Angela's novels have won or been nominated for several prestigious industry awards, such as the RITA Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Christian Book Award, and the HOLT Medallion Award.  Romantic Times Book Club presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.  In 2008, she completed her doctorate in Biblical Studies and is currently completing her Th.D.  Angela and her husband live in Florida, along with their mastiffs.  For a complete list of the author's books, visit angelahuntbooks.com.

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