Book title: The Chosen One
Author: Carol Lynch Williams
4.5 out of 5 Stars
Plot Background:
Thirteen year old Kyra lives in a polygamist community that is very isolated from the world. Her father has three wives and she has more than twenty brothers and sisters. She is in love with a boy named Joshua, a forbidden romance as the prophet has decided that she is to marry her sixty year old uncle, a man who already has 6 wives. She wants so badly to be able to chose her own life, her own husband, but as one of the "Chosen Ones" she must obey what the prophet declares.
With so many things forbidden to her, and so many things declared a sin she still decides to visit a mobile-library-on-wheels, and starts to read, and realizes that things are not the way they should be. Soon the spark of her hatred for the prophet grows into a raging flame, threatening the lives of the ones she loves, and creating an internal battle of whether being with her family is something she can risk losing for freedom.
My Thoughts:
This book was something that I was very wary of reading at first. Everyone, at some point or another, has either seen someone in their own town, or seen pictures or even a TV special on polygamist communities, or the polygamist lifestyle (not the same type of polygamy as you will see on "Sister Wives" on TLC, this is a more fundamental, french braid wearing type of polygamy)-- but this has always been such a closed off set of people, that it is hard to imagine the daily lives of these women and men. I was worried that I would not be able to relate to these characters, and worried that it was some kind of sales pitch for the polygamist lifestyle-- I couldn't have been more wrong.
The first line of the book will get you hooked, "If I was going to kill the prophet...I'd do it in Africa." and within the first 2 pages you see that Kyra's hatred for the prophet is so deep, a thirteen year old girl describing how she would leave his body next to an African termites nest so that nothing of him would be left.
Instantly I felt a connection with Kyra. Her character is so strong for someone so young-- granted in her community she is at prime marrying age-- but she is still so naive at the same time.While reading this battle, I could feel her torment inside, the author did a really fantastic job at exposing the pain of risking never seeing your family again while still exposing the raw fear of having to be forced to marry someone who is, not only your blood relative, but someone who is more than fifty years older than you. All of this fear inside the community and she still is insecure and different outside the community, outside she is just a young girl who is stared at and alienated because of her religion. The conflicts in this book were very clear, and in turn the character development in Kyra was magnificent. Who she is on page one is not who she is on the last page, which makes her feel so real.
Another strength in this book was simply the exposure of this type of community.
***Sort- of Spoiler alert***
As I mentioned before, Kyra is a "chosen one", and she is going to marry her much older blood relative. I felt sick to my stomach when I read this. Whats worse, is that there is mention of babies with birth defects being born and killed because birth defects are a sign of an "unpure mother"- among other murders for various infractions. These children are not born with the help of doctors, get no birth certificate, and in essence can be born and killed without any written or official record of their existence. Women are not supposed to read, which is why Kyra could, and does get into, a huge amount of trouble for going to the mobile-library-on-wheels. People are beaten and subdued by these "prophets" who, by the way, are part of the law enforcement! I am literally becoming outraged just writing this and reliving the emotions I read in this book, so I will stop there and let you all experience it for yourself. My point is, that the author did an awesome job relating these emotions in the novel without sounding tattle-taley.
The only reason I didn't give this book that fraction of the last star is this: the ending! (I promise I am not an ending snob!!!) I only wish this book had followed Kyra a little longer in the end. The climax of the story is so fast paced, so edge of your seat, and then, it feels like it just, well, ends. There wasn't a lot of wind-down, or a lot of resolution time. Having said that, I will say that the ending made me relieved none-the-less.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It is not something you should read, however, if you are not a fan of reading emotionally, or if you are looking for a light book, as this will leave you feeling very heavy inside.
As always here is a link the the Kindle ebook, or you can also use the Amazon search box on the right hand side of the page. Happy Reading!!!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Chosen-One-ebook/dp/B002ASFPUA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1340161442&sr=1-1&keywords=the+chosen+one
Krista, this books seems very intense. Somewhat heavy, yetseems like it holds the interest. Was this based on real life, or is it novel based on what could and obviously does happen? I am reading another series right now. But I plan to check this book out for myself sometime in the future, especially based on this review! Thanks for sharing your insights.
ReplyDeleteKrista, great review. Yes, it does seem intense, but seems very enlightning. Sometimes it's great to climb into a book like this and let it take you where it's going. Keep up the great reviews.
ReplyDeleteIt was a fiction based on the colony that was led by Warren Jeffs. It was very intense, it was a short book, a little over 200 pages and definatly a heavy heavy read, but also something that will just carry you away. :-)
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this review, I bought it on my Kindle. I finished it in two days, I couldn't tear myself away. It was a very emotional book, but worth the read. I agree that it ended too abruptly, though. Thanks for the review!!
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