Roxann A

• Rated 5 stars

“If you are suffering grief and loss and asking God why... you may find comfort and direction in this book. I did, tremendously.”

Roxann A wrote this review Sunday, March 24, 2013. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Real and challenging and refreshing and quotable. Mostly.”

Roxann A wrote this review Friday, October 5, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Great snapshot of Liberia from the eyes of an American working there. It doesn't have a Christian world-view, but is highly accurate none the less.”

Roxann A wrote this review Saturday, September 25, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I used this book as a daily devotion tool with my kids because they were so into Lord of the Rings. It's short chapters with references to Lord of the Rings, scriptures, and a "take away" point worked well for that. Excelllent book.”

Roxann A wrote this review Saturday, February 6, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“Maggie's amazing and seemingly effortlessly beautiful descriptive scenes that pull you into them continue in Book 2 of this series. As do her vivid characters and their mulitple and believable points of view. But I like the plot even less than the first one. My main issue is that the parents- who were conveniently, artistically absent in the first book- are the main villians in Linger. In Shiver the main obstacle to Sam and Grace's happiness is the fact that he changes into a wolf when it is cold. In Linger, it is Grace's "illness" - and her parents. The artistic but generally benign parents from Shiver, decide to be a part of Grace's life in Linger, but because they have been absent and oblivious for so long, there attempts to parent Grace now put them in the antagonist role. It's too bad this was such a big part of the plot of this potentially awesome book and series. This writer is amazingly talented and fresh. Just wish she hadn't fallen into the teen fiction cliche of making the parents the bad guys who don't understand and are therefore the enemy of all happiness and true love and deserve to be written off and ignored. And it wasn't just Grace's parents who are villified in this book- her friend Isabel's parents are even worse, and, we are reminded again from the back story of the first book- Sam's parents tried to kill him. In fact, other than a brief scene with Sam's kind employer in the book store where he works, every adult in these two books is more or less portrayed as ignorant or mean. I'm still turning pages, still admiring Maggie's writing, but hoping she changes this trend in the series so that I can actually recommend them.”

Roxann A wrote this review Saturday, February 6, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Great story! The descriptions leap off the page and pull you into the scenes- you can see, smell, hear and feel what the characters do. And the characters- totally believable. The plot- a story of a teenaged boy who changes into a wolf and the high school girl who loves him- is a little weak in spots, but you don't care because you are THERE and the characters are REAL. Only major reservation I have- the morality. Aformentioned girl and boy (who aren't married) sleep together. Yes, I know it happens, but this is the one thing that would keep me from wholeheartedly recommending it for tweens and teens. But it sure kept me turning pages.”

Roxann A wrote this review Saturday, February 6, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“I believe this book is highly biased, but I actually got a lot of it anyway. It is written from a "pro-Communist" perspective- which I disagree with- but it is a great window into the midset.”

Roxann A wrote this review Saturday, June 13, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“One of the most misunderstood Bible characters has finally been given a voice.
Havah is Eve's story of Creation, the Fall, and life after the Fall.

Poignant and poetic, this book will satisfy readers looking for something edgy and fresh as well as ones who insist on Biblical accuracy. Amazingly, the author has taken a familar Bible story we all think we know well, and made it a page turner.

Especially haunting are the author's descriptive contrasts of life before and after sin enters the world, and how it changed the earth, the animals, and most heartbreakingly, relationships.

Havah is well-written and well-researched, and takes Biblical fiction to a new level of excellence. A must read.
”

Roxann A wrote this review Saturday, November 29, 2008. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“This is the second book in the Twilight Saga, and my favorite.

While celebrating her birthday with the Cullen family, Bella accidently gets a paper cut opening a present. Panic ensues, with Jasper in particular going beserk at the smell of Bella's blood. This incident leads Edward to the conclusion that Bella is constantly in danger as long as she is with him. He tells her he and his family are leaving, convinces her that he is tired of pretending to be human and wants to move on, and promises never to return so she can have a normal life.

Bella goes into shock, and shuts down all emotion for months. The one who finally helps her come out of it, is Jacob Black. Bella come to consider Jacob her best friend, while Jacob totally falls for Bella.

Bella, however never "gets over" Edward. She finds she can hear his voice in her head when she does reckless things, which leads to try more and more dangerous stunts, until one day she goes cliff diving, setting a disasterous chain of events in motion.

This book has a lot of depth, as the author develops her characters that were introduced in Twilight. Bella's pain is vividly real, and the resolution very satisfying.”

Roxann A wrote this review Saturday, September 6, 2008. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 2 stars

“I have a lot of respect for the author, and the various causes he is involved in.

This book, although fiction, is written very much like the author's non-fiction. The plot is thin, and on almost every page there are unrealistically long speeches by characters or articles supposedly written by them about everything from abortion, homosexuality, bias in the press, unethical medical practices, mulit-culturalism, political correctness, handicapped children, discrimimation against Christians in media...it took me a very long time to get through it all.

While I agree with the author's point of view on most things, I found it cumbersome and unnatural to have it presented this way, packaged as Christian fiction. I cannot imagine it winning over anyone who didn't already agree with the author, for that reason. If he had just chosen one issue to work into the plot, it would have come across much better.

I did like the spiritual depth that comes through some of the author's scenes in heaven.

I would still recommend it- but it isn't a page turner. It's more of a "read a little at a time" type book.”

Roxann A wrote this review Tuesday, August 19, 2008. ( reply | permalink )