Sixteen-year-old Faith has worked full time in her parents' Amish restaurant since she finished eighth grade. She loves her Amish community--and the recent romantic attentions of her longtime friend, Gideon. When her sister seems to be getting too friendly with Englischers, and her parents are in a buggy accident, Faith only wants to escape into her dream of joining the church and getting married.
But then a local newspaper runs a story about a child named Adriana who was kidnapped fifteen years earlier, and everything Faith has held true comes into question.
Suddenly the community Faith has known her whole life seems unreal. Can she even trust her own family? And how will she ever find home again if she no longer belongs in the world she knows best?
Before we go too far into this whole 'review' thing I have to tell you a story. I jacked up my good knee a couple of weeks ago (I know 'why are you telling me this' but I promise it has a point) and it's off and on stiff and swollen and hurt-y (is so a word!). Well, the other night my tablet was dying and I had two choices, I could charge the tablet and go to sleep and finish this book the next day OR I could lay across the bed with the tablet on the charger and continue reading. Obviously I chose the second option. And finished the book about 3 am-ish and fell asleep with my leg partly off the bed. So, obviously the next morning my knee was super stiff and sore and puffy because it was hyper-extended all night. But it was worth it! This book, this book was so worth reading to almost 3 in the morning with jackered (again, so a real word) knee to pay. So worth it!
Outside of providing you a new vocabulary of Fizzy-isms however I have to tell you about this book. It wasn't quite what I expected but everything I needed from a Ruth Reid book. It drew me in from the beginning and made me fall in love. I figured out part of the twist early on but I really think I was supposed to. Faith is very devout to her faith in the Amish at a young age. She's chosen to forgo her rumspringa in order to join the church and be baptized. While most young Amish join in anticipation of marriage she just feels it's the right thing for her, no marriage proposals in sight. That'll change but well how amazing to just know at 16 where your life needs to be. No desire to explore things outside that boundary, no urge to join in the English world, no need to not focus on faith and family and future. Sometimes I still need the idea of rumpsringa at my age, not ready to face the next 'adult' challenge heading my way.
There were some twists along the way that took me by surprise. But through the twists I saw coming and the side steps I went through with these characters I fell in love with this book. The characters were so well integrated into who they were and their settings and their roles in life through this story. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed at how everything was tied up, too neatly, at the end. I can't begin to imagine what Adriana's parents went through to start, how they felt when things worked out and the absolute heart-ripping decision they chose to make at the end. I can only say that I wish that was more included, it felt too neat, too easy and I have to say it couldn't have really felt like that and been like that for them.
I was blessed to receive a complimentary copy of this book from Ruth Reid through Thomas Nelson publishing and NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
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