Daniel Dydek

I knew going into this that there was going to be some kind of fantasy or supernatural element to it, given the premise of the fire with the mysterious force behind it—though that mysterious force wasn't nearly as much of a mystery to me as it seems to be to everyone else in the story. With some time and context eventually given, it became apparent that Rae-Anna wasn't terribly well-versed in the Bible. In the end, though, what I realized is that this book is quite a bit more show more fantasy/supernatural than I was expecting, and quite a bit different in those elements than I prefer.

The story moves fairly slowly for maybe half the book, as Rae-Anna tries to understand what the fire wants from her and the Sisters treat her terribly because of it. Then it takes a sudden sharp turn into more of a horror story. I don't want to give too much away, but I think it's fair to warn any potential readers that there's some zombie/skeleton action in this book, especially since it is not billed as that kind of story whatsoever. It's really not my preference in fiction, and especially not something I look for in Christian fiction. In the end, (I think) I understood the underlying message the author wanted to get across with this book, but it felt a lot like two completely different stories were mashed together here—the fire that roots out the evil hearts of seemingly pious people and the undead battle that doesn't really have a message at all, that I could see. And then after the climax of the battle is over, we have a longer wrap-up than felt necessary and an ending to the story that, again, felt like it worked with the fire plot but was completely unrelated to the minor zombie apocalypse we went through.

The author does a good job with the writing, making the story and characters sound and feel like they're set in some vague historical time before cars, though I could not tell you where the story was meant to have taken place, even in the broadest terms. I don't know if that mattered much, though. There are a few moments where the dialog sounds a bit more modern, but overall, I could easily imagine Rae-Anna living in this convent with nuns. This is also not something that is familiar to me, though, so it's another reason that I felt like I wasn't quite the right audience for the book. I mostly found myself wondering why it seemed like the characters had never heard of the Holy Spirit and the tongues of fire in Acts. But in the end, I believe there is an audience for this book and any that follow it; I just don't think I'm that audience. If it sounds interesting to you, though, please do check it out.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. show less