BOOK REVIEW ~ 5 Gigantic Stars for The Girl I Left Behind, Historical YA (Civil War) by Author Stephanie Bain

The Girl I Left Behind by Stephanie Bain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everyone and their mother should read this book. Historical YA fiction regarding a young woman who's twin brother is KIA Civil War. She dons his uniform and poses as a male cousin and goes to war in his place. The most enjoyable tale I've read in years, and the author has done her homework. The historical elements are perfect. HORSE LOVERS will rejoice at how the mounts are mentioned and considered during the course of the telling. It only makes sense - a horse was a person's car and pet, so when your life depends on how well it performs, it will be part of your thought stream!

I want to buy a bunch of these and give them as Christmas gifts! Don't tell my family!

View all my reviews

LOVE LETTERS to My Readers

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1) You encourage me to keep at it. You have no idea how much it means to me that you took the time out of your busy day to tell me to GET GOING ON THE NEXT NOVEL!! Thank you, and I promise to get busy!

2) You send me emails when you're moved by the characters. Thank you! I love hearing how they come alive for you!!

3) You share my books with others because they meant so much to you. Thank you! I love your enthusiasm for my "babies"!

 4) When my books move you spiritually, you take the time to write and let me know. I've written thrillers that can frighten some people to pieces, but the spiritual undercurrent is always there to feed and move your soul.

5) You "liked" and visited my Facebook pages so often that I feel loved and supported even when my next book is a long time coming. Thank you, Facebook friends!! (If you haven't, please click HERE to come over and "like" my page! I have a new novel coming out this summer and will have tons of giveaways!)

6) You take the time to post reviews for me on Amazon. You may never realize how important this is. These reviews really push sales because of the customer-oriented algorithms exclusive to Amazon.com. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! (Click here to see or buy on Amazon!)

There are so many more that this blog could go on forever.  The bottom line is that without you, I'm only a writer. You make me an author because you read what I wrote. I am sending you a zillion cyber hugs and when our arms are tired of hugging, let's collapse in a pile of books together. I love books as much as you do!


HUGS and blessings,


Ellen C Maze
http://www.ellencmaze.com
ellenmaze@aol.com

NEWEST BOOK REVIEW of Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider !!

Hello Rabbit Chasers!

I am very excited about this terrific review of Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider. I want to share it with you! And please follow the link to the reviewers blog and check out all of her reviews.

~Ellen

Curling Up By The Fire -- Book reviews by Stephanie
My Thoughts 4.5/5 Stars
When I first started reading this novel, I had absolutely no idea what it was about. To my surprise, it had a supernatural element to it, and was about vampires. Then I thought it would be another stereotypical novel about vampires, glorifying their race (not that there's anything wrong with that, but I was looking to read something different at that time). I was pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns of this novel and how different it was from the normal take on the vampire themes we have seen lately.

I love it when an author can take a legend or mythological idea and twist it so it becomes something new and interesting. This is definitely what happens in Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider. Ms. Maze creates her own unique vampire race, the Rakum, with Fathers, Elders, clans, always keeping the amount limited to 100 000 in the world. Vampires in the novel are not created from humans, but are born from the Fathers with a human mother and are raised in one of the Elder clans. Their gifts are nurtured and developed and they are educated in their beliefs from the time they are small; each Rakum have to pass a series of difficult tests in order to be initiated as full adult Rakum. Interestingly, there are no female Rakum. Their world is ordered, civilized, and controlled.

Beth turns all this on its feet with her new book. She is converting hundreds of Rakum over to her cause just by the Rakum having read her book and beginning to question their existence and asking questions about God. Jack Dawn, worried and anxious about his race, tracks Beth down and marks her as his Rabbit, believing her to be a traitor to his race. Beth is shocked when she discovers from Michael why this has been done to her and Michael is astounded when he discovers that Beth is the Rabbit he is sensing. He senses something wrong about the whole thing and becomes her protector. The relationship between Michael and Beth develops slowly and as events throw them together, they are forced to depend on one another more and more. Michael especially begins to question why he is going against his brethren and everything he believes in to protect a human woman who is about to turn his world upside down. As we are led down Michael's path, we learn many truths about the Rakum and about Michael himself. Michael becomes Beth's 'Knight in Shining Armour' and I loved watching him take that path to enlightment and watching their relationship develop.

The many other characters in this novel were interesting and quirky, to say the least. I enjoyed the interaction between Elder Roman and Javier, and how they became more affectionate towards each other towards the end. As many of the characters became more 'human', they acted more human-like whereas the characters who didn't believe in Beth's books, became more evil and did more evil things. There was almost this yang-yang effect; as some people grew nicer and more forgiving, others grew more evil and attempted more desperate acts.

Despite the lightning-fast plot, with many twists, the novel gave you a lot to ponder. While it was a page turner, and had me hooked right from the very beginning, there were some deep philosophical ideas present in this novel. It dealt with faith, mythology, philosophy, evil and goodness, redemption, and belief in God. While it didn't go indepth onto these topics, they were certainly present, and I had to stop reading at several points so I could ponder some of the points that were made. I had to admire Beth's deep faith in God as it helped to keep her calm throughout many difficult situations that I'm sure I could not have faced with the same stoicism she displayed. Many of the Rakum questioned their own belief system and their own reasons for existence and it was interesting following their paths to redemption.

Verdict
This novel had a great plot, definite thrills, chills, and suspense to satisfy anyone, fantastic characters, and mythological elements. It hooked me right from the beginning and didn't let go, even after I finished reading it. It's a fantastic debut novel from an author whom I hope to read more about soon.