Official Review: Finding Eve by Deborah McDonald

[Prisallen]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Finding Eve" by Deborah McDonald.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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While growing up, Eva’s best friend was her Christian mother, who charmed her with stories from the Bible. One story she recalled was of Eve eating the apple from the Tree of Life. Her mother passed away in the 1970s when Eva was ten years old. She encountered Misty on that day, and they became best friends. Eva’s father was not good at expressing his love and was emotionally unavailable. Because she possessed no other friends, Misty and the two horses that Eva frequently passed and fed prevented her from getting severely depressed.

However, Misty and Eva began growing apart as their personalities were vastly different. Misty started hanging out with other friends. Then, the horses were sold, and Eva felt anger developing inside of her. With no one to discuss her sadness with and nothing to look forward to, her resentment and depression kept growing until she started slowly spiraling out of control and losing control of her sanity. She blamed Eve for eating from the apple and bringing evil into the world, and she suffered from increasing nightmares about Eve. Just as Eva was about to give up any expectations for happiness, a ray of hope comes in from an unexpected source.

Finding Eve by Deborah McDonald is 312 pages, broken down into 36 chapters, an “Epilogue,” and a section titled “Bible References,” which lists the Biblical verses that are interwoven throughout the book. It is narrated from the third-person point of view, from Eva’s perspective. I felt like the story dragged a little at the beginning, but it soon became more fascinating and held my interest. The flashbacks in the novel are consistently in italics, making it easy to know the story is now in the past. It has excellent flow, and Eva’s character is well developed. The author’s descriptive and easy-to-understand prose immerses the reader in the novel, helping one to experience Eva’s emotions, her despair, and her happiness. Her ability to capture emotions is my favorite aspect of the book. The story offers inspiration to those people who have lost hope.

This poignant story has to do with mental illness, with underlying themes of the importance of family and friends and how God’s love is required in order to heal. Because God, Jesus, and scriptures from the Bible play a critical role in the book, it is more suited for those of the Christian faith. One of the refreshing things I appreciated about the novel was the lack of profanity and sex, with the sole exception of a rape that was alluded to.

Unfortunately, some formatting issues were encountered where the lines were not always indented the same. Additionally, I found a few too many grammatical errors. While these were not distracting, there were over ten. Therefore, it could use another round of editing. This was my least favorite aspect of the tale.

As I thoroughly enjoyed this poignant, character-driven story, it achieves a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. One star was taken away because of the slow beginning and the formatting and grammatical errors. Because the story took place in the 1970s and ‘80s near a small town named Havenville, it will bring back memories of the way life was for many readers who lived during those years. For people who were not born yet, it will offer them a taste of history. The novel is a wonderfully uplifting tale for readers of the Christian faith, giving hope to those going through hard times. However, if fast-paced, suspenseful books are your favorites or you don’t enjoy reading Christian literature, you might want to look elsewhere.

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Finding Eve
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[Claris L]

I do not often read too much fiction centered around the Christian faith or heavily influenced by the Christian faith, but I am interested in reading the book. Thanks for sharing this review!

[Erin Dydek]

A story about a young woman overcoming resentment, frustration, and depression sounds like a relevant tale for this year. I enjoy books that explore emotions in a realistic manner, and the formatting issues don’t sound too distracting. I might have to check this one out when I have a chance! Thanks for another fantastic review!

[Cecilia_L]

I considered reviewing this, and your excellent review has further piqued my interest. Thanks!

[Elvis Best]

Thanks for the thorough review. I tend to lean towards more fast paced suspenseful books. I think I might pass on this on.

[Amy Murdoch Coleman]

This sounds like a relatively unusual type of Christian literature, but it does appear to have an intriguing concept. Excellent review!

[AiLinA]

This was interesting to read but im not into religous related books,but it would be interesting to read for those who have religion class...

[Thea Frederick]

This sounds like such a lovely story! I love psychological and religious novels so this sounds like a good option for me. Thanks for the great review!

[Koltrast]

This seems a very sweet coming-of-age story. Thank you for the review!

[Marion Jepkosgei]

I am definitely going to read this. Mental health is something I want to understand in order to help others. Your review is smooth too. Keep it up.

[Csanchez67]

I can say that this book spiked my curiosity, eve did not eat from a apple but from.a forbidden fruit. I thought the book kept me interested. It was a good book

[Prisallen]

I do not often read too much fiction centered around the Christian faith or heavily influenced by the Christian faith, but I am interested in reading the book. Thanks for sharing this review!

I hope you get a chance to! Thanks for stopping by!

[Prisallen]

A story about a young woman overcoming resentment, frustration, and depression sounds like a relevant tale for this year. I enjoy books that explore emotions in a realistic manner, and the formatting issues don’t sound too distracting. I might have to check this one out when I have a chance! Thanks for another fantastic review!

I hope you do as I think you will enjoy it. Thanks for taking the time to read my review!

[Prisallen]

I considered reviewing this, and your excellent review has further piqued my interest. Thanks!

It is a wonderful character-driven story. Give it a try if you get the chance. Thanks for stopping by!

[Prisallen]

Thanks for the thorough review. I tend to lean towards more fast paced suspenseful books. I think I might pass on this on.

I can understand that. Thanks for taking the time to read my review, though!