Hello Everyone :)
I pray today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
I'm Kirby, and as always, I'm excited that you've decided to stop by my little ole blog for some fun book talk.
As December seems to fly on bye, I've definitely been in the mood for Christmas reads, and thankfully I've managed to find some time to read a few of them.
Today's review is from a title that I'd had on my TBR for quite sometime. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all, and keep on reading below for my full review.
A Horse for Elsie by Linda Byler:
Source: Library
Publisher: Good Books
Publication Date: October 9th, 2018
Genre: Christian Fiction/Amish Fiction/Christmas Read
Synopsis:
Elsie is desperate for a horse of her own, but her family barely has enough money to get by as it is—she knows they can’t afford to buy a horse, never mind pay for the grain and hay to keep it fed through the winter. With her father injured, it’s up to Elsie to help earn money for the family—while going to school and helping Mam with the other kids. So she buries herself in the daily tasks at hand and tries to forget her longing. But when her classmate Elam invites her to visit his family’s horse farm one afternoon, she willfully forgets her responsibilities at home and follows him. Exhilarated by the strong, sleek Morgans and the musty smell of the barn, her passion for horses is reignited.
As Elsie spends more time at Elam’s farm, it becomes harder and harder to be the responsible young woman her parents expect her to be. Why should she have to work as a maud to earn money for her family when Elam gets to spend every afternoon riding? It isn’t fair, and to make matters worse, now she’s expected to go to singings and play games with the other youth who are old enough to start dating, when all she wants is to be out riding. It’s a waste of time, she figures—it’s not like any of the boys will want a poor, rebellious girl like her anyway.
As she struggles to reconcile her anger and frustration with the obedience her Amish faith requires, she also starts to have confusing feelings for Elam. She’s determined not to like him in that way. After all, he only sees her as free labor, someone to muck out stalls and work the horses. Doesn’t he?
When tragedy strikes in the Amish community, Elsie is forced to let go of her teenage angst and grow up quickly. But sometimes letting go of one’s desires has a way of allowing one to accept something even better. A tale of longing, desperation, and finally hope, this is a heartwarming Christmas tale to be remembered.
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
As someone who loves both Amish fiction and Christmas stories, I honestly expected to love this one. I was especially intrigued by the fact that the author is a member of an Amish church herself, as I thought it might bring an interesting perspective to the story. However, it ended up being nothing like what I was expecting, and I honestly struggled to get into the story.
The one component I did really enjoy was the fact that the story takes place over a number of years, and the reader gets to watch Elsie growing up, and how strong her desire to own her own horse continues to be. Unfortunately, I have to be honest and state that I didn't enjoy the plot, the writing style or the characters that much, and it actually took me quite awhile to get through this one, despite how short of a story it truly was.
The story didn't flow well, and a lot of the passages felt disjointed as the story went on. I also couldn't sympathize with a lot of Elsie's frustrations, as she came across as extremely juvenile and petty throughout a lot of them. The romance wasn't personally believable to me, as it seemed to come out of nowhere, and then the story abruptly ended at an awkward spot that really didn't answer a lot of the questions I had.
I also have to mention how strange I thought it was how much of this book focused around material things. I'd never seen so much of it an Amish fiction title before, and it seemed kind of different and strange from the usual.
Overall, I liked the idea of this one, but the execution wasn't quite what I was expecting, and I never did really connect to either the plot or the characters.
Final Rating: 2/5.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Are you currently reading any Christmas reads this month?
If so, I'd love to hear which ones! Let me know in the comments below, and have a great rest of your day :)
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
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