Review of Amora

[Amy Murphy 3]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Amora" by Grant Hallstrom.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Amora by Grant Hallstrom is a story that follows the life of a wealthy girl in Ancient Rome who marries young. Her journey to womanhood is affected by tragedies that have her questioning the status quo. These questions lead her to find Christianity in a time when Christians are persecuted for their beliefs. Amora is based on a true story told by one of the first recorded defenders of Christianity and inspired by the author’s own personal tragedy. Hallstrom gives life and personality to historical figures and events.

Hallstrom sets out his reasons for writing Amora and the importance of forgiveness for him and his family in the preface of his book. He clearly sets up that he aims to send the message of forgiveness to the reader through his telling of Amora's story and those of other characters she has influenced through her life choices. Hallstrom achieves this multiple times throughout the journey of each character. It is thoroughly enjoyable to read a story that realizes its aims. Another positive aspect of the story is Hallstrom’s care to ensure his writing was as historically correct as possible. Right down to trivial things like using the correct terminology for items of clothing and even the fact that Ancient Romans had access to mirrors and scissors are included in his story.

The primary aspect of the story that I struggled with the most was developing a relationship with the characters. The first chapter hooked me in. I was excited to meet the main characters that Hallstrom introduced. However, during the early chapters, I felt like I was reading a regurgitation of necessary facts about the main character, Amora. These facts provided a foundation for her later choices but covered a lot of time and events and left little room to develop a relationship with Amora and the other characters. As a result, I found the character development lacking throughout and struggled to empathize with them during their struggles.

I would rate Amora 3 out of 4 . I give this rating because character development is important to me. While the book has been professionally edited and reads well, it is also very repetitive. Some sections read more like a Christian minister's sermon and do little to further the story. These lengthy passages occur in the latter half of the book.

Amora is a story that delivers a message of forgiveness and love using religion as its primary vessel. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a strong Christian message about finding forgiveness through faith. If a non-Christian reader can look past the lengthy religious passages they may also find it an enjoyable story.

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Amora
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