A story within a story

Discuss the October 2017 Book of the Month, Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon.

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Lest92
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Re: A story within a story

Post by Lest92 »

I understood it's a metanarrative but we slipped into Strongheart's story without warning. I enjoyed it, but as others have said, a better handling of the beginning and end would have improved the book.
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Angela Stripes
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Post by Angela Stripes »

When the captives got to the boat, I really liked the past story. I thought it could have been developed and expanded into its own book, especially because the vibe clashed with the camping side of the story. Both were interesting, but each side needed the other to add mystery all around.
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Post by Kat Kennedy »

I found myself more drawn to the story of Sarah's journey. I really wanted to learn more about her trip and the customs of the Native Americans, so I'm hoping there will be more coming in the sequel. The sadness of the losses they endured was so real! Well done.
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Post by mratdegraff91 »

I definitely enjoyed reading about Sarah's vision more so than the actual story itself. I felt that it was part of the main focus, in particular on the return trip. Between the two parts of the story, I felt that the present day action was a filler.
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Post by Jeinzy Danica Nunez »

That moment when Sarah reveals her self as a grand daughter of Tom was the start of a never ending amazement journey. It's a great story with an adventure, scientific inquiry, a tinge of mystery.
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Post by Jan Moraa Onsomu »

I totally enjoyed Sarah's story! It's the one thing that made this book truly enjoyable. Initially, it was hard trying to keep up with the many characters, but once I realised they were mostly inconsequential, I enjoyed the read. It also implied that Sarah stood out from her peers and was chosen to go to the marking place. Also, she sort of fell in love, and I wish I'd heard about that as well. The best plot twist was that her imaginations or whatever that was are what saved them all in real life when they were surrounded by the forest fires.
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Post by walter7 »

-- 03 Oct 2017, 23:53 --

I enjoyed sarah's story it was twisting at the first but when I got the pace it was sweet
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Post by BoyLazy »

I find the past more interesting. It has more adventures and it gave us some experiences that we could only imagine.
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Post by Steph K »

The transitions between the storylines could have been smoother, but I liked it. I did find the Native American storyline more interesting though.
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Post by ananya92 »

The idea of a story within a story never fails to impress me. In this book, I liked the camping story better, mostly because of the narration.
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Post by Anjum »

I liked both sections of book. I think both the sections are equally important to develop Sarah's character.
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Post by Snowflake »

Kat Kennedy wrote:I found myself more drawn to the story of Sarah's journey. I really wanted to learn more about her trip and the customs of the Native Americans, so I'm hoping there will be more coming in the sequel. The sadness of the losses they endured was so real! Well done.
I'm with you Kat Kennedy on this one. I thought the language and the descriptive flow of Sarah's journey were amazing. I felt like I was on the journey too and I would love for there to be more of that in the future.

I didn't have any issues with the transitions between the parts of the story and actually found it easier to sort out who everyone was in the camping story after the first narration of Sarah's vision. It took me a good while to sort out Tom and William within the camping story. It seemed easier as I went through the book.
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Post by BoyLazy »

Snowflake wrote:
Kat Kennedy wrote:I found myself more drawn to the story of Sarah's journey. I really wanted to learn more about her trip and the customs of the Native Americans, so I'm hoping there will be more coming in the sequel. The sadness of the losses they endured was so real! Well done.
I'm with you Kat Kennedy on this one. I thought the language and the descriptive flow of Sarah's journey were amazing. I felt like I was on the journey too and I would love for there to be more of that in the future.

I didn't have any issues with the transitions between the parts of the story and actually found it easier to sort out who everyone was in the camping story after the first narration of Sarah's vision. It took me a good while to sort out Tom and William within the camping story. It seemed easier as I went through the book.
Sarah's part was the best. I want to read more.
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Post by meteku4 »

I think I enjoyed both. It is enjoyable to see virtually everyone distrust Sarah, and then she growing into her character to the amazement of her family.
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Post by jwalker73 »

I enjoyed the camping story the most as I enjoyed the dynamics between the characters and watching the formation of bonds. I also liked the story of Strong Heart, but I am unsure if this was because this story was more descriptive and the characters seemed a bit more well-developed. I did, however, feel that aspects of this story were a bit tedious at times.
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