Book Review - The Snowflake


Christmas 1897
 
Ellen Pierce and her brother are determined to reach the Alaska gold rush. But when ice stalls their steamship, all seems lost, until Buck Lewis makes a decision: he'll lead all who dare to follow on foot toward Dawson City.
 
Buck is determined to leave behind a heartbreaking past. No amount of ice or weather will stop him. But he never counted on a woman joining a dangerous wilderness trek--or on falling in love with her.
 
As their journey unfolds and Christmas approaches, Ellen and Buck discover that the greatest gift of all can't be wrapped in paper and tied with a bow. It comes from, and is received in, the heart.
 
Come share in a soul-deep romance that gives a joyful reminder of a redeeming God who makes us each unique, yet loves us all the same.
 
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KATY'S REVIEW:
 
The Snowflake took me by surprise. From the cover of the book, it looked like a sweet book about giving and having the Christmas spirit. However, only a few pages into this book and you discovered that it is far from this. Its 1897 and Ellen has been all but forced by her brother to journey with him to Alaska during the goldrush. When their ship becomes frozen in the waters, Ellen and her brother set out with a handful of others to trek across the territory to reach Dowson City. Buck Lewis, a man who has guilt riding firmly on his shoulders, heads the expedition. With Ellen the only female among them, he decides to keep an eye out for her along the way. But Ellen perseveres and pushes on right along with the men to reach Dawson before hunger and the cold claim her.

This is a sweet story about a young woman’s trek across Alaska soil and of her survival once she reaches Dawson City. I was instantly drawn into the story with Jamie’s descriptive writing. My heart when out to Ellen, trapped in a life of caring for a brother who scared, harmed, and degraded her at every turn. And once she reached Dawson City, her troubles were far from over.

There is almost nothing that I need to point out. At one time along the trek to Alaska, Buck holds Ellen close against him near the fire after she almost died that day. When the men all huddled together to stay warm that night, she remained beside Buck and shared his blanket. Nothing inappropriate happened and when you are cold to the point of nearly being frozen, propriety and proper behavior is thrown at the window – its stay warm or die. Once she reached Dawson City she ends up staying in a brothel until she regains her strength. She was sick for days after reaching the settlement so didn’t notice. But as soon as she did, she left the brothel. She ends up being a dance-hall girl, but of respectable character – all she was paid to do was dance with the men who came into the parlor for drinks. Jamie did a great job of writing these touchy subjects and keeping the book clean.

The love story between Ellen and Buck was rather sweet, if a little hurried. Since the novella is so short, I can understand why it went so quickly. Buck’s promise to Ellen and the way he keeps it is so touching and sweet. Ellen knew she had found a diamond in the rough when he kept his promise to her, even though it had cost him a lot to do so. The characters in The Snowflake were developed very well and I enjoyed learning about the characters throughout the book. If you want to snuggle close to the fire for a few hours and read a sweet story full of depth and love, then this is just the book for you!

2 comments:

Charity U said...

Now I dearly want to read it!

Katie Marie said...

It was a really sweet read! :-)

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