Esther: Royal Beauty

I'm sure that we all know the story of Esther and her heroic move to save the Jews from Persian destruction, in fact it is possibly one of the most popular Old Testament stories told and told again. But every author who writes about Esther seems to get a different message from her story, and it was very interesting to read Angela's take on Queen Esther. Though Angela has a gorgeous writing style and her characters were engaging and entertaining, I did find it difficult to actually get into the story. The way Angela wrote the story is in a two-person point of view, so it goes back and forth between two characters, Hadassah and Harbonah, both of which are recorded in first person, and I love this! You can feel with each character and relate back and forth between the two sides of the story, but because it was in first person, the author had a tendency to tell the story rather than showing it. This was the main reason that I had trouble engaging with the book; I already know the story of Esther and how it ends, so in reading this book I wanted to watch it pan out with enticing scenes and maybe a slight new twist here and there, but that is not what I got.

I still loved this book and will willingly give it 4 out of 5 stars, but I'm afraid that the author could have done a better job at showing the story instead of just retelling it. She could have done so much to make it unique and stand out (of course the cover alone does that! It's gorgeous!)! However, if you do not know the story of Esther, or are only slightly familiar with it, then I encourage you to pick up a copy of Esther by Angela Hunt, it is very informative and enjoyable to read!

“I received this book from the author/publisher for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.”

You can read this review, as well as many others, on my blog at http://acceleratethejesusmovement.wordpress.com