Review of Strong Heart
Posted: 07 Feb 2022, 21:48
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
Strong Heart begins with a stormy night in May, where the main character, Tom Olsen is about to leave with his friends to visit his grandfather’s grave in wilderness. Whilst preparing, he hears a knock at his door to find his ex-wife bringing in his 13-year-old granddaughter. Sarah Cooley is Tom’s daughter – Becky’s child who remained a secret all these years. Sarah doesn’t seem to enjoy the new place she was abandoned at, as it is surrounded by forest and tall trees. Tom was astonished and felt trouble was rising. He wanted to cancel the trip as he sees no way out with Sarah’s presence, but was later persuaded by his friends to bring Sarah along with them, to the trip. This backpacking trip brought all these 4 individuals- Tom, Sarah, William and Myra closer by the end of it. The trip helped in character development through a spiritual journey for the characters and readers. Sheldon’s story amazes the readers, yet it brings in new challenges for us to think.
Sheldon has written an interesting story and his characters were well developed, through the chapters. I was curious to learn more about the characters’ individual traits, and find out how their interaction will be seamlessly connected in the next chapters. The story touches upon spiritual journey by adding in historical facts, past legendary stories, historical facts. What a journey it has been with this story? This story is packed with minimal level of suspense but wrapped with an emotional roller coaster. It flows through how 4 different people with 4 different experiences come together in a journey which happened to be spiritual through story sharing, emotional exchanges, varies in opinions.
It is hard to speak about the story in negative point of view as the story is written in a great way. However, there are certain parts that I wished could be developed better. The story has picked up suspense but dies down without a "drama". Passive aggressive note to the story and character development. Characters build to show anger but it dies down as soon as it starts to grow. There are certain chapters that were hard to understand, and I had to reread to understand and get on the flow. The ending seems to lack a proper closure.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. It has a great story with good spiritual journey, however this would not be a book that I would read again. There were a few editing errors and some negative points in the story which I would not be able to give full stars.
This book would be great read for readers who could understand native myths, legendary stories, rituals and have special love for sociology.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Strong Heart begins with a stormy night in May, where the main character, Tom Olsen is about to leave with his friends to visit his grandfather’s grave in wilderness. Whilst preparing, he hears a knock at his door to find his ex-wife bringing in his 13-year-old granddaughter. Sarah Cooley is Tom’s daughter – Becky’s child who remained a secret all these years. Sarah doesn’t seem to enjoy the new place she was abandoned at, as it is surrounded by forest and tall trees. Tom was astonished and felt trouble was rising. He wanted to cancel the trip as he sees no way out with Sarah’s presence, but was later persuaded by his friends to bring Sarah along with them, to the trip. This backpacking trip brought all these 4 individuals- Tom, Sarah, William and Myra closer by the end of it. The trip helped in character development through a spiritual journey for the characters and readers. Sheldon’s story amazes the readers, yet it brings in new challenges for us to think.
Sheldon has written an interesting story and his characters were well developed, through the chapters. I was curious to learn more about the characters’ individual traits, and find out how their interaction will be seamlessly connected in the next chapters. The story touches upon spiritual journey by adding in historical facts, past legendary stories, historical facts. What a journey it has been with this story? This story is packed with minimal level of suspense but wrapped with an emotional roller coaster. It flows through how 4 different people with 4 different experiences come together in a journey which happened to be spiritual through story sharing, emotional exchanges, varies in opinions.
It is hard to speak about the story in negative point of view as the story is written in a great way. However, there are certain parts that I wished could be developed better. The story has picked up suspense but dies down without a "drama". Passive aggressive note to the story and character development. Characters build to show anger but it dies down as soon as it starts to grow. There are certain chapters that were hard to understand, and I had to reread to understand and get on the flow. The ending seems to lack a proper closure.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. It has a great story with good spiritual journey, however this would not be a book that I would read again. There were a few editing errors and some negative points in the story which I would not be able to give full stars.
This book would be great read for readers who could understand native myths, legendary stories, rituals and have special love for sociology.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon