Nine by Rachelle Dekker, A Review

 

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Book Description

Zoe Johnson spent most of her life living in the shadows, never drawing attention to herself, never investing in people or places. But when a wide-eyed, bedraggled teenager with no memory walks into the diner where Zoe works, everything changes. Now, against her better judgment, Zoe, who has been trying to outrun her own painful memories of the past, finds herself attempting to help a girl who doesn't seem to have any past at all. The girl knows only one thing: she must reach a woman in Corpus Christi, Texas, hundreds of miles away, before the government agents who are searching for her catch up to them.

Award-winning author Rachelle Dekker throws you into the middle of the action and keeps the pressure on in this page-turning story that, asks Are we who the world says we are--or can we change our story and be something more?

Review

I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher. Here is my honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book; the title intrigued me and so I requested a copy to review.

The beginning was strong - lots of action and just enough mystery to grab my attention. Characters that were appealing and a basic premise of good vs. evil.

But about the middle, the story really slowed down and seemed to just be repeating the same problems or concerns. The characters became unreliable for me as they began to make decisions that were counter-productive to their goal.

Finally, the ending came out of nowhere, it seemed like. And the budding romance - makes absolutely ZERO sense.

There were elements to the story that make it clear Dekker knows how to craft a novel. But the character development and the rushed, confusing ending left me a little disappointed. The other major flaw I saw was that while this is published by a Christian publishing house, I don't see much faith elements to the story. Perhaps they were so subtle that I missed them.

I gave this book: ★★

★ = I did not like it     ★★ = It was okay     ★★★ = I liked it    ★★★★ = I really liked it     ★★★★★ = I loved it