poetry by the best current writer in the Christian market heck in any market
a billion thumbs up!
Will be hosting Amanda for a Q and A sometime later this spring.
stars!
Characters: Yours is the Night follows five characters: Matthew, Mira, Jasper, George, and Henry, All were welldeveloped and had interesting backstories, George added a touch of humor,
Language: Clean.
Moral: The main morals in Yours is the Night were hope and light vs, darkness.
Plot: This novel had drama, romance, a bit of action, and plenty of character relationships,
Romance: Clean. Just a few kisses.
Writing: Amanda Dykes is a talented writer and has mastered the poetic style she uses, Personally, I prefer to read a more straightforward style, so I struggled a bit, Also, her writing style is heavy on character reflections instead of on dialogue, Again, this is just a personal preference, but I enjoy more dialogue in my reading,
Overall: Yours is the Night was an entertaining read, and I'd recommend it to those who enjoy Christian fiction, war stories, and historical romance.
“Sometimes theres a dark so thick you just know that the God who made light with His own two hands with just His words is going to plunge right into that dark to find you.
You remember that, Mr. Matthew. "
This book. This is a book I've wanted since I first heard about it because Amanda Dykes has earned her place as an autobuy author for me.
If you're looking forward to this one, and maybe, just maybe, wondering if the story can possibly live up to the hype in your mind, let me relieve you by saying Yours is the Night is, at the same time, all that we've anticipated and far more.
That hearttugging prologue lets us know that there's an emotional ending coming, But the journeythe JOURNEY is worth the tears, And isn't that just like life,
In that poetic way of hers, Amanda Dykes introduces you to the Seventeenth Band, Matthew, Jasper, Henry, George hilarious George, . . and Mira too, because she certainly earns her place in their band, As you walk with them in France, you find yourself in those WWI trenches, In a mysterious forest haunted by song, In the midst of hope and light to combat the night, To live with you in the night,
I was, of course, shedding tears by the end, but those tears were born from acknowledgement of the sacrifice others made long agoand still make today.
This isn't a story to be missed or skimmed, This is one to savor, line by line,
And the little nuggets sprinkled in from her other two novels are so fun!
Side note: I'd love to be a fly on the wall while Amanda Dykes writes because, man, does she have a talent that must be intuitive and Godgiven as much as attained through practice and study.
I'm in awe.
For transparency's sake, I'll tell you I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
But all this gushing is absolutely my own opinion! Yet another lyrical, hopeinfused story from Amanda Dykes, I will say that Whose Waves These Are and Set the Stars Alight are still my favorites I think it has to do with the difference between third person and first person.
At the same time, I was absolutely blown away by Amandas ability to keep five firstperson voices distinct from each other, I could tell who was narrating even if I missed the tag at the beginning of the chapter, That takes skill.
The characters were wonderful, George made me laugh so many times, I loved his narrative voice, and he was by far one of my favorites, In fact, all the characters had something that made me root for them and enjoy being in their point of view, The history was fascinating to me as well, It was hard reading sometimes but never became overwhelming, And Miras story was the best example I have ever seen of handling a terrible wartime abuse with grace and honorboth on Miras part and the authors.
Normally I love a natural, expertly woven faith element, but based on the few hints were given, I suspect Miras ancestral faith would not align with biblical Christianity.
I generally dont care what a character believes as long as its described honestly, and while I dont want to go into depth, I felt that that honesty was sacrificed here.
On the same note, I wish some of the pivotal moments in Georges life had been explored a little more deeply, as Christ himself did not figure into those moments much.
There was also a moment in the story when I felt a bit of author manipulation, but in so many other ways, this story held beautiful pictures of love, honor, and sacrifice that both inspired and challenged me.
It is a truly nasty trick to tell your readers in the prologue that somebody is going to die, And yet I knew that somehow I would be okay with it, because Amandas books are that way, Of course, by the time it happened, I forgot I was going to be okay with it, But when all was said and done, I was still okay with it, Its that hopeamidsorrow, lightamiddarkness talent that Amanda has,
I loved finding the tiny connections to the authors other books scattered throughout this one, Its a beautiful, lightfilled story, I wouldnt trust just anyone to write a book set in the Great War, but Amanda Dykes has given us yet another tale of wonder, honor, and heroism in the darkest of moments.
This has officially joined the list of my favorite books EVER, Augh, my poor heart. The themes are so powerful, The characters are each so lovable and distinct, The prose is poetic and gorgeous, has such a unique flair, Why didn't I listen to my sister when she first read it months ago and kindly ordered me to read it too I glanced at it and never made the decision to actually read it till now! Well, I suppose that brings me to my one slight complaint: it took a wee bit to get into the book, but once I picked up the book with the intention to actually read it and not just glance through it to decide if I should read it.
. . oh, my. I fell in love.
Matthew Petticrew. How can I express my LOVE for this guy!!! He's so brave, His personality, his quietness and the way he deliberates on things, describes things, . . all of it. I adore him. He was probably my favorite character, And his darling sister Celia, . . ahh! I love her! Can I just say I'm utterly thrilled about who she ends up with!!! Which brings me to Henry Mueller.
THIS BOY. "Wet Rag," who is anything but, This darling journalist who has a powerful way with words, who's bashful yet has such heart, Wow. He's the most endearing and wonderful side character ever to have existed, yes this is a dramatic statement but I mean it, in the moment, anyway Maybe I just love cute shy guy characters, Is that a thing
And George Piccadilly, . . let me tell you, this book NEEDED him, Needed him, and I mean that, He had me laughing so often with his quirks, his oddities, his lovable weirdness, He's such a dear fellow, And his spiritual arc was perfect!!! Those three guys clicked so PERFECTLY together, their quirks and all, So unlikely, yet perfect.
Jasper Truett. What can I say His spiritual arc had me in tears, I loved the poor guy, So. Much. His sacrifice I really don't have the words right now to explain how much I loved all of it and how much his arc affected me.
The last person, FAR from least, is dear, sweet Mira, I'm kind of saving the best for last, bundles her in a hugs that might be too tight but I think she appreciates it She's one of the strongest, bravest heroines I've ever read about.
The way she saw such light and life and beauty in the brokenness, how she clung to hope when she could have given up in despair at what had been done to her.
. . that's not common. And it's so inspiring.
I just LOVED LOVED LOVED Matthew and Mira's romance!! I loved their dynamic, Matthew's quiet understanding and protectiveness, the unexpected proposal, the way they helped heal each other from the traumatic emotional wounds they both suffered from.
The messages are unapologetically Christian, As you might imagine from the title, the biggest overarching theme is that even the night is the Lord's, That He is the light in our darkness, The motif if that's the right phrase with
the fireflies really stuck with me, and same with the matchbox, Several of the scenes illustrating this message hit me really hard, such as when Mira was comforting Matthew from his nightmare, So, so good.
Overall, this tore me up and put me back together, better than I was before I read it, The style of this book may not be for everyone beautiful, poetic prose full of metaphors gets me every time, but that's not the case for all readers, and same with the richly characterdriven, slower pace although WOW, there are some killer action scenes, don't get me wrong!.
. . but I think everyone would benefit from reading this and soaking in its message, I can't wait to read more books by Amanda Dykes!
Favorite quotes:
A flash of light skitters loose, circling the lantern once.
. . twice vanishing away into the night, A solitary firefly, leaving the safety of this place,
This is what it was born for, To rend the darkness.
"He begs the question of me, and perhaps of each of uswhat if what we believe to be our shortcomings, our oddities, are actually purposeful quirks that suit us for the moments we were made for"
note: can I just point out that both these quotes are by Henry SEE HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE HIMstars/hearts.
I dont know how to write this review, which is why Ive avoided it for so long, I dont know how to give this book the praise it deserves, how to express what it did to me,
To begin, the writing style is phenomenal, I rarelyvery rarelysay that for a modern writer, But Amanda Dykes writing here was breathtaking, It was so sweet, so deep, so vividit said so much with so little, hinted so gently at many wonderful things, Matthews voice, and Miras, were both so different andyes, gorgeous, Yet even Hanks, Georges, and Truetts were beautiful, And the aestheticfire amp fireflies, churches amp meadows, rivers amp abandoned mansions, forest cottages amp French villages, sunsets and rainfalls a beautiful mixture of Natures and mans masterpieces while the WWI France setting brought in the poignant horror of humanitys curse.
And the beautiful, delicate French language scattered throughout only heightened the charm and the authenticity of the setting, I was delighted to find only two mistakes and I am so grateful to the author for seeking help in translation instead of only winging it as so many do.
I wasnt sure, at first, what I thought of the characters, I loved Jasper Truett from the firstbroken, loving man, drowning in guilt and fighting to make amends, He was a hero from start to finish, And then Matthewtender, patient, understanding Matthew, always ready for every sacrifice to protect others, Mira, brave, strong, loving Mira, determined to remain sweet and beautiful in spite of the tragedy that surrounded her, George took some getting used to, but I ended up loving the malapropos, flippant young man who struck out from the shallows into the deep.
Hank was a dear, good, sturdy boy to lean on, and Celia was his female counterpart, only more lively,
The plot was astonishingutterly different from any WWI novel I have ever read, delightfully so! I enjoyed seeing the boys escort Mira to safety and struggle with the decisions of what was the safest place.
I loved the gradual way everything was explained, while the characters continued to face up to their strengths weaknesses, made mistakes and rose again.
Their journeys were so beautifully woven together, It wasnt an adventure or an action novelit was a story of discovery of self and of God, and I loved the slow, gentle pace with its sudden thrills of danger as the war pressed close upon them.
And it was a lovely tribute to the men and women that passed through the Great War, With a deep understanding, sympathy, and love that I have seldom seen, Amanda Dykes showed the agony and fearfulness of war, but she also reminded us how beauty is still there.
This novel was an exquisite, heartwrenching portrayal of the humanity of history,
It was the message that spoke most to me, You might know I love the symbolism of light vs, darkness, and this book was full of the many variations of that message, But the overarching message was this: The darkness shows Gods Light, and He watches over the nightyou can rest, You need not fear the night, It was soft, threaded through the novel and gently repeated at the needed times, so much deeper than I expected, I cant even say how deeply engrained it was in the plotit continually shone through in many different ways, I feel that I need to reread this book many more times to extract all that can be taken from it, And I know I did not do it justice, But I am so glad I read it, and I look forwards to revisiting it again and again,
Content: a main characters amp their sibling are illegitimate and their parents backstory is briefly explained another main character is rped and falls pregnantnothing onscreen, everything barely hinted at.
The author added because its a part of war and she does a splendid job showing how the child mother are both blameless and God can take the most horrible experiences amp use them for good.
A Favourite Quote: “Listen,” I said, “Everything you men have done up till now is impossible, Not one of you could have imagined the front a year ago, But here you are. Youre doing it. And youll do this, too, Yes, it might be impossible, But one second at a time will get you there, One second at a time is not impossible, ”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “Ah, Paris,” Grandpère used to say, “La Ville Lumière ” His voice held a fondness as he spoke of its streets, of the strength of such a city, of the River Seine flowing through it like a messenger of life.
“The stones, they tell stories, ”
“Happy stories, Grandpère”
He grew somber, “Every kind of story, Mira, ”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “You know about the Fontinelles” he said, turning suddenly as if he had come to life, wet rag that he was.
Why, there appeared to be a beating heart within that bookbrain, after all,
“Fontinelles,” said I. “A family of cheeses known for their dull taste, Relatives of yours, are they”
“The Fontinelles are not cheeses,” said the wet rag, with the most disdain Id heard from him yet.
“Theyre people. Or were, rather. Until they disappeared. ”
“I dont like all this talk of wealthy people disappearing,” I said, “First this cheese family”
“Theyre not cheeses,” Jones said,
“then the children of the tsar of Russiawho is next A fellow doesnt like to wonder these things, but for all that is good, is it going to be me Money makes one a target, you know.
” Sound pious. “Money is the root of all evil,” I whispered, infusing great gravity into the phrase, The two gawked at me, This was probably one of those moments Mother was always speaking of, urging me to rein in my tongue, Well, Mother, if you think it, say it, Thats what I always say,
“Youre hardly one of the Romanovs,” Jones said, .