A Light on the Hill

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A Light on the Hill
Connilyn Cossette
Bethany House

After being branded during the battle of Jericho, Moriyah has had no prospects for marriage--until now. She hopes to please the man, but things go horribly wrong and she is forced to flee for her life. Seeking safety at one of the Levitical cities of refuge, she is unprepared for the dangers she faces, and the enemies--and allies--she encounters on her way.

     Yikes. I have no idea what to say about this book. Part of that might have to do with the fact that the blurb didn't really give me a good idea of what the story was about. In one way that was good, because everything was a surprise. On the other hand, I was expecting most of the story to take place in the city of refuge, but almost the whole novel is about the journey getting there. I'm not usually a fan of "travel" novels, so I admit I felt a little disappointed when I realized this. Also, Moriyah's journey involved using a lot of deception, which, understandable though it was, I had mixed feelings about. It's not out of line with the behavior of a lot of Biblical figures, but I still wasn't entirely comfortable with it. (although mainly this may have been because it seemed so out of character judging by how she was portrayed at the beginning of the book- although I assume that's somewhat the point).

     At the same time, this book got legitimate emotion out of me, in a way that not even some of my favorite Christian fiction has. I also liked the focus on the cities of refuge: I've never read a novel centering on that before. The years during Joshua's leadership of Israel (and the whole judges period, to be honest) are really great for storytelling, and I'm surprised more authors haven't tackled that era. The prose was well-written (better, even, than the author's last series, I think) and it definitely had some redeeming qualities. This one didn't quite make it to my favorites list, but I have a feeling I'm going to like the subsequent books in this series better, so I fully intend to keep reading.

(also, I'm looking forward to the next book, because it's about Eitan, who I grew very much attached to in this one.)

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

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