Adventures and Adversities by Sarah Holman

Title: Adventures and Adversities
Author: Sarah Holman

Date read: May 27, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Christian / Adventure / Historical Fiction / Medieval (in fictional country in Europe)
Age: YA
Year pub: 2013
Pages: 314 (paperback)
Series: Tales of Taelis, #1
Fave character: William
Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Author’s Website

I was a little uncertain if I would like this at first, but I was pulled into this story and ended up quickly absorbed, and enjoyed it very much! 🙂

I really grew to like these characters!

• Alditha, our heroine, who tries to find the good in the midst of hardship.
• Her sweet little friend Eleanor, such a bubbly and feisty thing. 🙂
• But mostly William, Eleanor’s brother, who may have a thing for Alditha… 😉 He was brave and good and kind and heroic, and I really liked his character!
• I also, unexpectedly, really liked Captain Harold, a guard. He was so nice! He might have been my second favorite. 🙂
• There are other memorable characters, both good and bad, which populate this story, and it was interesting to meet each of them—I quite liked the kind hermit priest as well. 🙂

It’s set in medieval times, in a fictional country in Europe called Taelis. This made the book feel like a historical fiction novel, but without me wondering if all the details were real, which made it more fun. XD

From the point of view of peasants and servants, it was a different look at the higher classes. These heroes and heroines are good hardworking people, simple folks who are kind and good and do their best in the face of adventures and adversities.

There was love and loss, friendship and hardship, laughter and tears, and through it all the characters strove to find God’s plan in their lives and trust in Him.

It seemed at first like it was going to be one of those quieter books without much adventure, but it turned out to have plenty of excitement after all! Most of it was about the day-to-day struggles—physical, emotional, and spiritual—of the heroine, but there are other things going on as well. There are dangers and adventures, plots and fights, storms at sea and riding through stormy nights on land as well. It kept me absorbed and interested!

Most of all, I was caught up in reading about William and Alditha, so long separated, as they struggled through their separate lives, and waiting to see if they would finally be able to see each other again. 🙂

There were a few things that seemed inconsistent or didn’t make sense to me, and some slightly distracting typos (I have an older paperback version of this book, so I don’t know if there is a newer version or not), but on the whole I don’t have many specific complaints. 🙂

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot and fell in love with this medieval world and these characters, and this nice simple tale of love and faith. It drew me in and was a sweet story. ^_^ I’m definitely looking forward to reading more in the Tales of Taelis series! 🙂

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In the series so far (will update with links as I review them):

• Admirable (short story)
  
• Adventures and Adversities [You Are Here]
• Befriended (short story)
  
• Brothers and Betrayal
• Courage and Corruption
• Dreams and Devotion (coming in June)

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Thanks for reading! 🙂

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

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