The Light Through the Leaves

3.5 rounded up because the writing is very good.

4 Stars for this book!

I'm not going to lie, at first I was very disgusted with the character of Ellis and just how selfish she was but she redeemed herself and when we got the full story I fell in love with the story. For this reason I only gave this book 4 stars.

This is the story of a guilt ridden mother and her abducted daughter. Ellis is the mother of three in a marriage that is falling apart. One day as she takes her twin boys and her newborn daughter to the pond after seeing her husband kiss another woman she inadvertently leaves her newborn in her car seat in the parking lot. When she realizes her mistake she immediately turns around but it's too late and her baby is gone. Ellis can't take the guilt of leaving her child and finally leaves her family completely with no phone or contact with them (do you see why I hated her?). Eventually Ellis finds herself in need of a friend and she finds that in a local park ranger Keith. With this new friendship Ellis is finally able to see the error of her ways an come to grips with her new reality.

While we get Ellis's story we are introduced to seven year old Daughter of Raven who is being raised “off the grid” in a lovely log cabin on acres and acres of forest. She is being raised to be one with nature and has not had any doing with the “outside” world. She eventually stumbles upon some boys on her land and they befriend her. She decides to fight for her right to go to school and we see Raven blossom into an intelligent and witty woman...albeit with many irrational concerns due to her abductor whom she knows as mom. When she finally is told the true story of her background Raven makes the hardest decision and forges forward with her new found family.

I'm glad that I picked this book to read and I would recommend.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Perfection...utter perfection! One of the best books I have read so far this year!

I'm not sure what I think...The story took such a turn, as did the characters. I didn't find it all believable and did not buy into all of the transformation of the characters. I feel the author tried to shove too much into the plot line and I found much of the dialogue “clunky.” However, I did like the nature settings and the premise that nature can be healing.

Excellent Read

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Really compelling characters along with great story telling. As I was reading I become very involved in these people's lives. Not my usual type of book to read but I highly recommend.

Excellent Read

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Really compelling characters along with great story telling. As I was reading I become very involved in these people's lives. Not my usual type of book to read but I highly recommend.