Prodigal - Rektok Ross

'Prodigal' was a carefully woven faith-based story about a girl learning to cope with the loss of a loved one in her life.Now I don't usually read faith-based novels, but every now and then I'll read a summary and think I'll enjoy it...and as long as it's not riddled with bible stories and such (where it feels like the author's trying to teach me something) then I give it a go.

 

Anyway, I was given an arc of this some time ago and I decided to read it while I had the chance.And I have to say I was glad I did.There was something almost natural about the way some of the bible stories were written into the book. Sometimes when tragedy hits your life, you ask the question of why? People deal with it different ways, but it seemed so natural that Lexy started asking questions about faith and God. Yeah, I have a squeamish feeling in my stomach even writing about God, but there you have it, because I was very impressed with this book.

 

The story line, even though I've read a similar plot before, was done so well it didn't matter. I could relate to the story line - mainly because I lost my father about a month ago. I felt Lexy's pain -with not only the loss of her loved one, but also with the other dramas she had in her life.Prodigal was such a fun novel, but also a sad one at times. It made me cry anyway.

 

That's another thing I liked about this book - the range of emotions it made me feel. It made me laugh, cry and want to throw things. The writing made it that way - just like the characters did.Lexy was a girl who had left everything behind and had to start fresh because of it. She handled almost seamlessly. Was she perfectly behaved? Nah, but she wasn't a snarky cow either. I think she was very pragmatic. She was likable and relatable in the way she dealt with things. She didn't become instantly popular, but neither was she immediately disliked. And that's what I liked. She was real.

 

Every now and then I'll come across a boy main character who deserves to be crush-worthy and I think Ash was. Sure, he was the hottest, sexiest, blah, blah , blah around, but he was also a spineless coward some of the time. His reasons for this were sound, even if his beliefs were not ... and I'm not talking about religion here. He was so well loved that his sister had his back and I liked that. It was so nice to see a normal brother/sister relationship. Sure, brothers and sisters fight when they're children, but most of the time they get along. I know I did with my brother.

 

And the secondary characters were done really well, especially Blythe. I really loved her transition during the story. She was developed in such a way that my thoughts of her had completely turned around by the time I had finished 'Prodigal'. My compliments to Rektok for having the skill to change my mindset about a character.

 

The only thing I didn't like about 'Prodigal' was that I felt some of scenes could have been fleshed out more. Some of the more serious parts felt like they had just been skimmed over and it would have been a lot more moving if they had been better developed. All in all, though, this was an absolutely fantastic faith-based read.I would recommend this to anyone who likes general fiction, although it wouldn't suit someone who absolutely loathed religion in their books. It might just drive you nuts.

 

Now for my rating :-Four out of five stars.