Sunday, March 17, 2013

Review: Defiant Heart by Marty Steere

Title: Defiant Heart
Author: Marty Steere
Publisher: Penfield Publications
Year of Release: 2013 (This book has not yet been officially released to the public).
ISBN: 978-0-9854014-4-3
Source: A PDF copy of this book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Number or Pages: 382
In the spring of 1941, Jon Meyer's family dies in a tragic car accident, and he is sent to live in a small Indiana town. He arrives to find himself unwanted and shunned.
Mary Dahlgren is the mayor's daughter. A pretty girl, she could have her pick of the boys in town, including Vernon King, the star of the vaunted high school basketball team. To the chagrin of her friends, though, Mary has always been more interested in books than boys. That is, until she meets Jon.
But Jon and Mary are kept apart by an insidious campaign orchestrated by Mary's father, who perceives their relationship a threat to his political aspirations, and Vernon, to whom Jon is a rival for Mary's affections. For months Jon is subjected to painful ostracism. Then, just when the young man's earnestness and perseverance begin to win over many of the townsfolk, and it appears that love my conquer all, tragedy strikes. 
As the country is caught up in war, so too are the young lovers swept up in events beyond their control, leaving both fighting for their very lives. If, against the odds, they are to be together, each will need to find the strength, the courage and the resourcefulness that beat only in a defiant heart.
I'll be honest, at first I was a little hesitant to read this book, but I found it to be quite good and the author did a fantastic job with the story without turning it into a cheap romance novel. 
So, I did like this book. I enjoyed reading it and found some parts to be quite funny. From the beginning it was interesting and immediately caught my attention, which is always a good thing. Though I am not so much a fan of historical fictions, this book was quite good. 
Set in the early 1940's, World War II has begun and there is a lot of controversy regarding Hitler's intentions in this book. Having studied Adolf Hitler myself, I found Steere's portrayals of this topic very historically accurate.
What made the book even more interesting was the constantly changing point of views. The story alternates between the perspectives of many different characters, which is great because you get an insight into that character, but with this book, because there were so many, I found it a little difficult to keep up. Despite this, I do like reading books in this style of writing when it's done properly, and the author did a great job in this book. With most books written this way, it's usually just the main characters that we see POV's from. This book was different in this way, and that was really interesting! 
The author also went into quite a lot of detail in some parts of the book and this can be either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. Good because it paints a better picture of the scene in your head, but it can be bad as too much detail can make it boring, and the reader can lose interest quickly. 
In all honesty, I leaned toward the latter.
Other than this, I thought the plot of the story was incredible and well executed. It was an interesting change, as I don't usually read books of this genre, so the fact that I enjoyed it surprised me, and I would recommend it to people who are fans of historical fiction and/or romance. But that being said, I personally don't think I will be reading another book of this genre any time soon. 
A quick thank you to the author of this book for giving me the opportunity to read your book. Though there were a few things I thought needed work, the book was very enjoyable none the less. Thank you.
Defiant Heart will be released on April 15, 2013. 
Link:
Marty Steere's Webpage

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I'm not saying it wasn't a good book, I just don't think it was the right book for me as a reader.

      Delete