"In a world where everything is measured, calculated, sometimes we miss the biggest blessings of all."
"The tides do come and the tides do go."
"Time is truth's keeper."
I cannot tell you how excited I was to write this review upon finishing this imaginative, creative, folklore that took me to a fantasy world in which I disliked leaving.
So much so, that I refused to stop reading it even while getting hungry and skipping a weekend lunch to do so ...for those who don't realize the importance I eat more than I should so that's saying plenty. LOL...
I literally sat with my 20 yr old son discussing this book and trying to put into words the emotions I had felt while reading it and yes, even the epilogue and subsequent author notes have moved me to tears.
Sometimes, when I watch tv talent shows like AGT, the judges will give the 'golden buzzer' to certain contestants while noting, "he/she has that 'it' factor." Well, Amanda you have that 'it' factor.
I was absolutely blown away by this wonderment, this land of enchantment, this make believe world in which I felt like a kid going to 'Disney World' to climb aboard for the 1st time on the Peter Pan ride after reading the folktale.
It was that type of amazement, perplexity, radiating hope to the miracles that we all have but don't often utilize. Those who express gratitude do so not for notoriety or fame but because they recognize those blessings and continued happiness.
I began this project not knowing truly what to expect-as I never heard of this author prior to this reading- and the last person you'd catch reading Christian Romance in a pandemic would've been me.
Upon me placing my preconceived notions to the side I began to fall in love...
This story bounces from two time frames-1811 and current with ease in order to solve the mystery surrounding the Jubilee at Hurd's Deep aka the English Channel.
This prison ship was an invite to explore...to recreate...to imagine something bigger than who we all are at a time when we desperately needed to escape reality but even for a split second.
The characters made me feel as though I was along for the ride which all praise goes to Amanda for the setting supported such actions stupendously.
MadKit Bill is just one set example in which he was a robber who escaped the shackles on Jubilee or did he?
As the story goes a man named "Killian Blackberry" was more than what was originally viewed as a 'phantom writer' as he was a master of poetry and a sailor during the Napoleanic wars.
Dashel Greene was a love interest of Lucy our main character and story teller who took off her cape and had us fly with her literally to oversee this imaginative world that was lit up by stars from above.
"MatchstickGirl" as she became known to him was the perfect compliment to "Lost Boy" as this pairing never stopped enticing and pushing the boundaries of love, fear, hope, and courage.
Could Killian Blackaby be Mad Kit Bill?
Did he go out of his way to help a traitor?
Dashel went to interspace station during this time as a member or the primary crew but he never lost sight of his love. He was a genius. A charmer. A man full of dreams, ambitions, and lofty goals.
Jubilee was known simply as the Ship of Doom with two main individuals to compliment the theme.
Elias and Frederick truly stole the show in both senses (literally and figuratively).
Nothing could ever keep Elias Flint from Juliette the love of his life and the reason for his utter existence.
Nothing that is until he was suddenly killed on a mission to bring back the documents...
Elias you see was delivering papers for Killian to a smuggler in France and was shot during a time his Juliette needed him most.
She was pregnant and in need of a midwife to deliver their baby girl but hope was not at all lost....
Hope never dies...nor does love...not with light aboard...
To a watchmaker -life was one great magic riddle-so too to many normal people living ordinary lives.
The questions that remains," Do you ever wonder what one life could mean?"
"What if you never fully lived life? Can you estimate a single life?
Would you hear the cluster of stars singing that have become trapped with songs only to produce extravagant light in its place?
Dash never gave up hope...as he scoured the Earth , sent emails, wondered about Lucy all while homesick, all while out in space, all while in college...
Yet, as they note," Nothing 's impossible."
The marriage was enticing yet we wonder...what ever became of Frederick?
Frederick the man who vowed to be a 'blood brother' in essence to Elias...who would never harm, nor leave, nor forsake this friendship...a man who would do anything for anyone including Juliette, a man who fell in love.
He must surely realize that taking on a marriage, a child, and a new life will be challenging?
She was the sun and he was her moon.
The ballad of Killian will live on as he returns to sea..
But what of this Rivers family history?
As we set back in time we wonder who are the Rivers?
Ever wonder back to the time of Mary giving birth in Bethlehem?
How that setting, that situation, might compare to what we now have illustrated so eloquently here?
"Juliette took flight where there was no sky to an impossible place."
Old salt mines were often used in the 1800's for storage of library books. Tunnels were being utilized for war rooms, shelters, and hospitals.
It was in essence a time of great uncertainty and unrest.
Yet, we wonder what is the significance of this 'crow's nest' we find nestled on the warship's lookout?
To be loved as he was loved ...what a gift.
Carvings were located along with paintings, and a bible, and many other artifacts so what could be their significance to this plot?
If we attempt to relocate these significant historical pieces will something subsequently happen?
"The world is dark, so dark we sometimes forget the stars-we need only fight to see these places of brilliant light, these echoes of the truest story."
A bright future is upon us. We have been given what we need for our journey. The story is ours to tell...
Be a 'radical thinker' for Galileo never was afraid to explore the world.
Thank you to Amanda, the pub, NetGalley, and Amazon Kindle for this was a pure joy to read.
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