Thursday, May 23, 2013

Interrupted: Life Beyond Words

Title: Interrupted: Life Beyond Words Author: Rachel Coker Publisher: Zonderkidz Copyright Date: 2012
Rachel Coker is an inspiration. Published at sixteen years old, with two books on the market now, and writer of this uh-mazing blog, I was eager to read her first work, Interrupted: Life Beyond Words.



Alcyone “Allie” Everly is a mature yet somewhat cold fourteen-year-old growing up on the eve of World War II. When her mother, who suffers from brain cancer, dies, Allie is forced to move to Maine, into the home of a middle-aged woman named Beatrice Lovell. Allie, angry with the world and taught to hate Christians and the God they serve, refuses to accept Beatrice’s loving outreach. She finds a friend in Charlotte “Charlie” Cooper, and when her old friend Sam Carroll comes to the coast of Maine to live with his aunt for the summer, the ice around her heart threatens to crack.



Interrupted is one of those sweet and simple love stories that I adore. They require little thought, they require little time. I found the central characters in this novel beautifully well-done (the secondary characters were less “knowable”): likeable, funny, relatable (I still don’t get why that isn’t a word). The plot began originally, but became cliché in the middle. It was especially predictable toward the end. The Christian message is good, but I disliked a (certain) Christian boy’s love for and intention to marry a (certain) girl who was not a Christian, which is clearly against the BiblicalDo not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14, NKJV).

Overall, Interrupted was a very pleasant read. One that kept me awake last night, in fact. 

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. 

11 comments:

  1. Great thoughts, Hannah. Rachel's sophomore novel was beyond brilliant (so unique) so for sure I want to read her debut novel at some point. Glad to know it's a great read! :)

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    1. I just started Chasing Jupiter today, in fact! I like it thus far (I'm only two chapters in, however), and am interested to see where it leads.

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  2. I've read great things about both of her stories. I must get to them someday soon! Nice review. :)

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    1. Thanks, Kara! You should definitely read this one. I'm on Chasing Jupiter right now, and I like it, though it is much different from Interrupted!(Which is good, of course.)

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    1. Oh, I know, especially after having so much trouble finding a *good* book this year. Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson and Interrupted by Rachel Coker (throwing aside The Lord of the Rings) have been the only two books out of fourteen that I've really *enjoyed* this year, I believe.

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    2. You've only read fourteen books this year?!?!?! I've read seventy something!!!!!

      Layla.

      P. S. Glad to read your reviewview, I'm probably going to start this after I finish Invincible Louisa... though I might read Northanger Abbey first...:)

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    3. Hi Layla! I'm glad you liked the review. I'm sure you'll enjoy this book, and rip through it quite speedily ... if you read anywhere near the rate of my speed-reading friend, you'll finish it in two or three hours.

      As much as I wish it wasn't so, I am an extremely slow reader. In comparing myself to others, I'm surprised and slightly embarrassed by how slow I read. It can be frustrating, because you have no idea how much I'd like to be able to burn through seventy-some books on my reading list within five months. But this year I've forced myself to read The Pickwick Papers--the least enjoyable classic I've read in a very long time, maybe in my whole life--and read through The Lord of the Rings for the fourth time, which was also less enjoyable than usual. This winter I took two college classes, and this spring I took driver's ed, which may or may not have impacted my reading schedule more than usual. It's probably amazing to you and to others who follow my blog, but reading is certainly not my favorite thing to do anymore. And this year it's often been more of a drag than a good hobby.

      Congratulations, anyway, on finishing those seventy-some. You need to start keeping a list! I love lists.

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    4. I'm sure I read as fast as your speed-reading friend, considering that I read Jane Eyre in less than twelve hour's:) By the way, I realized I was no longer following your blog, you just disappeared so I came to follow again and I was told you blocked me from following this blog!?!? Help????????

      Layla.

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  4. Sounds like a good, clean read! I will keep in mind.

    Rebecca

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    1. It is really good and really clean. Lovely book :)

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