Review by AmySmiles -- First Family by Alice Langholt

[AmySmiles]

[Following is a volunteer review of "First Family" by Alice Langholt.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Imagine a perfect world where you experience no pain, and all the beauty life has to offer. The bad things we experience today, even the smallest things like being pricked by a thorn didn’t exist for Adam and Eve until they ate the fruit from the tree that God instructed them not to eat. They ate the fruit and changed their lives and the lives of all humanity forever.

The Bible gives us very little detail about the world and the lives of Adam, Eve and their sons Cain, and Abel. In Alice Langholt’s book, First Family, she gives us a much broader view of what happened. She tells how Adam felt when he was the only person in the garden, and then the excitement when Eve joined him. She also details the relationship between the brothers and what led to Cain killing Abel. The author puts real-life emotions to a dry, emotionless story from the Bible.

This book is classified historical fiction. We don't know just how these events actually happened; all we have to go by are the few chapters of the Bible. Alice Langholt does a great job filling in the blanks where the Bible falls short. Since this is a fiction book, however, it does tend to be more of opinion based rather than fact. While I didn’t always agree with how the author conveyed some of the ideas, it was in no way upsetting to my belief.

I like how the author took the story from the Bible and added human emotions. It helped me realize that Adam and Eve are just like us, and they had feelings similar to our own. The story is told from each character's perspective. The different sections are titled by who is telling the story. I enjoyed that part because it felt like you got to know the exact thoughts from that character.

There isn’t anything I didn’t enjoy about this book. There were just a couple of grammatical errors dealing with a misspelling and incorrect verb tense, but they did not distract my attention from the book at all. I rate First Family 4 out of 4 stars. The writing is excellent, and it is a very entertaining read. Anyone who enjoys biblical stories and doesn’t mind creative elaboration will enjoy reading this book. Those who find this writing style to be offensive will want to pass on this one, but I feel like they would be missing a great read.

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First Family
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[Bonnie Shelby]

I like how the author took the story from the Bible and added human emotions. It helped me realize that Adam and Eve are just like us, and they had feelings similar to our own.

This makes the book seem entirely worth the read. I've always thought it was hard to feel a connection to the people in the Bible, but when an author can re-write their stories with authenticity and human emotions, you can get so much more out of it.
So thank you for your review - I appreciated reading it!

[AmySmiles]

I like how the author took the story from the Bible and added human emotions. It helped me realize that Adam and Eve are just like us, and they had feelings similar to our own.

This makes the book seem entirely worth the read. I've always thought it was hard to feel a connection to the people in the Bible, but when an author can re-write their stories with authenticity and human emotions, you can get so much more out of it.
So thank you for your review - I appreciated reading it!

Thanks for commenting!

[Jackie Holycross]

I like when an author uses the Bible to create a fuller version of the story. This sounds interesting.

[AmySmiles]

I like when an author uses the Bible to create a fuller version of the story. This sounds interesting.

Me too, thanks for commenting!

[kfwilson6]

An interesting concept of the book to fill in more details about the story of Adam and Eve. I'm glad to know you enjoyed it and weren't offended by it. It sounds interesting, but I'm not anxious to put it at the top of my reading list.

[AmySmiles]

An interesting concept of the book to fill in more details about the story of Adam and Eve. I'm glad to know you enjoyed it and weren't offended by it. It sounds interesting, but I'm not anxious to put it at the top of my reading list.

Thanks for stopping by.

[Helen_Combe]

The story is Adam and Eve us so well known, it could use a fresh retelling. Great review.

[AmySmiles]

The story is Adam and Eve us so well known, it could use a fresh retelling. Great review.

It really was refreshing, I'd like to read more bible stories in this manner.

[Kibet Hillary]

This is amazing. I enjoy reading the Bible stories and I am sure that this one will not disappoint as well. Thanks for your nice review. I enjoyed reading it. I like the approach of the author whereby the story is told from the different character's points-of-view.

[AmySmiles]

This is amazing. I enjoy reading the Bible stories and I am sure that this one will not disappoint as well. Thanks for your nice review. I enjoyed reading it. I like the approach of the author whereby the story is told from the different character's points-of-view.

Thanks for commenting. I'm sure you would enjoy this book.

[Supergirl1]

I love bible stories, because there is always something worthwhile to learn from each one. I think it’s sweet that the author would retell the story of the first family with emotions. I would like to “meet” them! Thank you for an interesting review.

[AmySmiles]

I love bible stories, because there is always something worthwhile to learn from each one. I think it’s sweet that the author would retell the story of the first family with emotions. I would like to “meet” them! Thank you for an interesting review.

I too would love to meet them. Thanks for commenting.

[Fu Zaila]

Though this book is far from my religious beliefs, I like the concept of fictionalizing Biblical characters and showing the emotional aspects of Adam and Eve, whom we know to be the first people on earth. Thank you for your insightful review

[AmySmiles]

Though this book is far from my religious beliefs, I like the concept of fictionalizing Biblical characters and showing the emotional aspects of Adam and Eve, whom we know to be the first people on earth. Thank you for your insightful review

Thanks for commenting