Return to Me

Within the first fifteen pages, my attention was captured. I could see the opening scenario play out in my head. The author does an amazing job with expressing detail without giving the boredom of rambling. I fell in love with this fictional telling of parts of the Bible. I found my heart aching when Dinah's fear was becoming her reality in regard to her family splitting. It was beyond devastating to read about what happened to Iddo's family. The way Austin wrote this book, I was able to feel like I knew the characters personally. When they were sad, I was sad. When they were happy, I was happy too. Yael and Zechariah had a charming friendship that grew on me, and I was sad to see them drifting apart. It made me reflect on my friendships and reasons some drifted while others remained. I was pleased to see a change in Iddo about halfway through the book. My heart ached for Zechariah because I could feel how bad he wanted Yael to believe in God and witness his presence. I can not help but wonder what happened over the course of the ten year gap in the story, though. My heart was beyond broken for Yael during her time of confusion and grief. So much happened after the ten year gap, and I was eager to read more. The actions of Rafi caught me off guard, and I honestly was confused about everything by this point. In the end, everything came together, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Overall, it's a great book. I can't wait to read the second of this series.

Favorite quotes: “We'll name her Hodaya,” Dinah said. God be praised.”
“The eye of our God is watching over us”