I don't like being blunt, but I did not like this piece.

I respect the novel as religious fiction, but I found the narration too preachy. As a secular reader, I found the themes abrasive, a fact which negatively impacted is my experience of the narrative and made it impossible to get lost in the story.

I was equally disappointed with the simplictic manner in which the American Civil War was painted. The content felt watered down and I could not appreciate the lack of authenticity that created.

Camellia was okay. I didn't really care for the characters and the storyline didn't hold my interest. I'm glad I finally read the book, but it is not something that I will most likely remember.

I liked how the characters from the first book were in this one. It was nice to see how things were going with them.

All in all, I liked this book, but don't have any plans on rereading it.

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This book was well researched but it didn't fly off the page for me. I found myself slogging through and eventually abandoned.

All that said, the authors deserve credit for their historical aptitude and the book's "hook' which lured me to request it in the first place.

have to say, Camellia kind of rubbed me the wrong way at first. Her character is someone that I kind of wanted to shake (at least at the beginning) and ask what was wrong with her. Maybe it's just the times, but I really don't like people who are so obsessed with image that that's all they focus on when going through life.

Once she started looking at the war from Jonah's POV and through the eyes and Word of God, I warmed up to her (not that I was cold to begin with, but I liked her a lot more).

Her spiritual journey was very inspiring and I'm glad she realized what the difference was between the two sides of the war. I'm also glad she realized where her heart truly lay :)

Maybe it's just me, but I did feel like I was able to identify more with Lily's book than this one, but that could be because personality-wise I'm more like Lily's character anyway...

Either way, great read. I highly recommend it!