sorry about my silence...

I had an Audit test, sue me. Not that that's really any excuse...I have an unreal amount of time on my hands. Essentially, I have a schedule that most college students only dream about. I just procrastinated for my test, so I was swamped. What else is new?

With this extra time, I've had the opportunity to read new books! I'm really excited about that, especially because the books I've been reading are incredible.

Let me start by saying that I don't typically read Christian books, and this was the first time I had read Christian fiction. To be honest, I really didn't know what to expect. But one of my best friends adamantly recommended it, and although we sometimes have differing tastes, I trusted her enough to give it a chance.

I'm so glad I did. The books are part of a series, three in all. Set in the first century in the aftermath of the Roman conquest that conquered Jerusalem, they follow a young Jewish girl named Hadassah and a German warrior named Atretes.

My goal for this post is to not ruin any major plot points for people who haven't read these books yet. I will say, however, that watching Hadassah cling to her faith in the Lord in the face of unspeakable tragedy is incredible to say the least. Taken prisoner when Jerusalem fell, she watched her entire family die and was then sold into slavery upon her arrival in Rome. Atretes, on the other hand, belonged to a tribe of natives in Germany and was captured while Rome was attempting to conquer their lands. He was then sent to the arena where he fought as a gladiator. That's the basic premise of the books, and I don't want to go beyond that.

As I was nearing the end of the second book in the series a few nights ago, I was on the edge of my seat trying to predict what was going to happen to one of the characters. Then it dawned on me. These books don't have to follow the rules. Being the kind of girl who usually sticks to the historical fiction genre, it's a general rule of thumb that love conquers all, everything works out in the end, and although I may not be able to see how that will happen, I can trust in the fact that it probably will. Those are the rules, and I like happy endings. But in this series, it's God's will that wins out in the end, whether that makes for a happy ending or not. That being said, I was literally at a loss as far as predicting the outcome of this book. I also knew that there was a third book of which I knew nothing about, and that didn't exactly help as I anticipated every possibility. Needless to say, I finished the book quickly, and can't wait to begin the third.

So everyone should read these, because they're some of the best books I've read in a while. These are the kind of books that you can't put down, with characters that you love until the very last page.