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beulahv's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
thepaperbackqueen's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was unexpectedly hilarious, heartwarming and convicting in many ways.
I didn't expect to be so captivated but I definitely was.
One thing I love about biblical fiction is that it helps me humanise the people we read about in Scripture and it helps me answer questions I've had on certain people in the bible.
Pearl In The Sand is no exception. It helped me understand why the commander of Heavens Armies said he is neither for Israel or against it.
It helped me think about Salmone and who he could have possibly been in history. What was he like? How did he act? How did he end up marrying Rahab? All fun rabbit trails only made possible because of this book.
My faith in The Lord has strengthened because of the hope and faith Rahab had in God which inspires my own hope and faith in Him.
There's so much more I could talk about but I think I'll leave that for YouTube 😅
All I'm going to say is I'm in love with Joshua the Son of Nun
I didn't expect to be so captivated but I definitely was.
One thing I love about biblical fiction is that it helps me humanise the people we read about in Scripture and it helps me answer questions I've had on certain people in the bible.
Pearl In The Sand is no exception. It helped me understand why the commander of Heavens Armies said he is neither for Israel or against it.
It helped me think about Salmone and who he could have possibly been in history. What was he like? How did he act? How did he end up marrying Rahab? All fun rabbit trails only made possible because of this book.
My faith in The Lord has strengthened because of the hope and faith Rahab had in God which inspires my own hope and faith in Him.
There's so much more I could talk about but I think I'll leave that for YouTube 😅
All I'm going to say is I'm in love with Joshua the Son of Nun
aggressive_nostalgia's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars.
This book has a solid message about forgiveness, identity, and unconditional love – but oh, heck. It doesn't just convey that message; it relentlessly hammers it into the reader's skull with mountains of exposition. Every conversation in the book is loaded down with clunky paragraphs of people examining and explaining all their thoughts and feelings, constantly breaking up what should be consecutive lines of dialogue. Afshar could have cut out a third of the words she used to write this book and it would have made the story more effective, not less. Give your readers credit for being able to infer things; use a well-placed bit of body language or a few choice words to easily convey an emotion; don't ramble. It feels like these characters have to talk their way (mentally or literally) through doing practically anything at all. This might be okay in real life, I guess – communication for the win – but it kills the pacing and suspense of this novel stone dead.
I do have to give Afshar credit for doing her historical and scientific research. It's obvious she did tons of research and worked hard to present a culturally and historically accurate world and characters, and I really respect that. In most books, this would be a major redeeming quality. Unfortunately, her determination to relate everything she learned about things like ancient Middle Eastern treatments for liver injuries kind of kills the suspense, because again, she cranks up the exposition so scenes that should be tense just sort of lumber along instead. Comparing her with authors like Tosca Lee, who writes similar books but is a master of prose as well as a thorough researcher, I can't help but feel disappointed.
A more minor complaint (and the one place I feel Afshar's research failed her): the repeated use of the words "Jews" and "Jewish" to describe the Hebrews/Israelites, long before those words existed. The word "Jew" evolved from "Judah", as in the Kingdom of Judah, which won't exist until after Israel has established itself as a nation and then fallen apart again. Same with the word "Judean", which refers to someone from the region of Judea – which won't exist for centuries. None of those terms apply to the tribe of Judah as they are used in this book. The Judaic religion and Jewish culture are in their infancy during the time of this book, and hearing the words used here when none of the cultural connotations yet apply was jarring to me.
This book could have used a bit of editing for poorly constructed sentences like "One by one, she counted what was true." Other phrases weren't technically incorrect, but just struck me as weird: like when Rahab says things like "do you reckon?" (Did we wander out of ancient Canaan and into the American Old West when I wasn't paying attention?) Afshar's historical authenticity doesn't hold up during character dialogue; it often has a distinctly modern flavor, with characters using idioms like "hold your chariots" that were obviously shoehorned in from English equivalents ("hold your horses"). Also, by three-quarters of the way through, I could accurately and repeatedly predict the exact words Rahab and Salmone were going to say to each other when they were bantering – and I barely read romance novels. Dialogue is not in any sense Afshar's strong suit.
There were some genuinely moving moments, and the plot was less contrived and the characters more likable than in Harvest of Gold, so Pearl in the Sand gets two and a half stars instead of just two. But sadly, I think I'm probably done reading Tessa Afshar novels.
This book has a solid message about forgiveness, identity, and unconditional love – but oh, heck. It doesn't just convey that message; it relentlessly hammers it into the reader's skull with mountains of exposition. Every conversation in the book is loaded down with clunky paragraphs of people examining and explaining all their thoughts and feelings, constantly breaking up what should be consecutive lines of dialogue. Afshar could have cut out a third of the words she used to write this book and it would have made the story more effective, not less. Give your readers credit for being able to infer things; use a well-placed bit of body language or a few choice words to easily convey an emotion; don't ramble. It feels like these characters have to talk their way (mentally or literally) through doing practically anything at all. This might be okay in real life, I guess – communication for the win – but it kills the pacing and suspense of this novel stone dead.
I do have to give Afshar credit for doing her historical and scientific research. It's obvious she did tons of research and worked hard to present a culturally and historically accurate world and characters, and I really respect that. In most books, this would be a major redeeming quality. Unfortunately, her determination to relate everything she learned about things like ancient Middle Eastern treatments for liver injuries kind of kills the suspense, because again, she cranks up the exposition so scenes that should be tense just sort of lumber along instead. Comparing her with authors like Tosca Lee, who writes similar books but is a master of prose as well as a thorough researcher, I can't help but feel disappointed.
A more minor complaint (and the one place I feel Afshar's research failed her): the repeated use of the words "Jews" and "Jewish" to describe the Hebrews/Israelites, long before those words existed. The word "Jew" evolved from "Judah", as in the Kingdom of Judah, which won't exist until after Israel has established itself as a nation and then fallen apart again. Same with the word "Judean", which refers to someone from the region of Judea – which won't exist for centuries. None of those terms apply to the tribe of Judah as they are used in this book. The Judaic religion and Jewish culture are in their infancy during the time of this book, and hearing the words used here when none of the cultural connotations yet apply was jarring to me.
This book could have used a bit of editing for poorly constructed sentences like "One by one, she counted what was true." Other phrases weren't technically incorrect, but just struck me as weird: like when Rahab says things like "do you reckon?" (Did we wander out of ancient Canaan and into the American Old West when I wasn't paying attention?) Afshar's historical authenticity doesn't hold up during character dialogue; it often has a distinctly modern flavor, with characters using idioms like "hold your chariots" that were obviously shoehorned in from English equivalents ("hold your horses"). Also, by three-quarters of the way through, I could accurately and repeatedly predict the exact words Rahab and Salmone were going to say to each other when they were bantering – and I barely read romance novels. Dialogue is not in any sense Afshar's strong suit.
There were some genuinely moving moments, and the plot was less contrived and the characters more likable than in Harvest of Gold, so Pearl in the Sand gets two and a half stars instead of just two. But sadly, I think I'm probably done reading Tessa Afshar novels.
oestanfield's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tyhuze's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book is a bit too patronizing to be a meaningful story about relationships or faith.
jela_books's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
missbryden's review against another edition
3.0
2-3 stars. Something of a mix of historical novel, war drama, and romance. I was surprised how long it went on after the wedding, rather than ending with the wedding as some romance might. It dealt with the challenges of the marriage and also the idea of forgiving people that don't know they need to be forgiven.
ashconklin's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
farmfreshlisa's review against another edition
5.0
loved this retelling of the story of Rahab...great "what if" scenarios