The Sacrifice by Beverly Lewis

The Sacrifice is the third book in the series of Abram's daughters. If you haven't read the first or second, go back and start at the beginning, this review will be useless to you otherwise. These books are not the kind you can read on their own, they have to be read in order. That being said, I wasn't so thrilled with the first two books, but with this third book, I am beginning to warm up to the series.

Having not gotten to be with her Jonas, Leah has settled into life being an unmarried woman with her family. The neighbor boy, Gideon, has renewed his interest in her but all too quickly events in her life cause even that relationship to be placed on hold indefinitely. She's made a promise to her mother, and that must come first. Meanwhile, Hannah is accepting her role as an Amish woman and joining the order, but it comes to her great sorrow that her twin sister isn't doing the same. Instead, Mary Ruth has decided to pursue her education, something that is frowned upon in the Amish community, and it causes yet another breach within the family.

Leah is still the best character, and thankfully she's the main character so we get to see quite a bit of her. She's a bit of a martyr though and just once I would like to see something positive happen to her. At least in this book though we get to see a little more of the twins and what's happening in their lives. Leah's father Abram is still his surly self though and I really can't bring myself to like him. Her sister Sadie and old beau Jonas are hardly mentioned at all in this one, although they remain a reminder of Leah's sorrow in the background.

While this one was still just moving the plot along, quite a bit happened. There was also a lot of sorrow and moving scenes in this book too, I felt myself tearing up at quite a few parts. Mostly because I was worried about Leah and her future. The time line in this book jumped around a bit too. By several years a time, so that was a little frustrating to try to keep track of how old all the characters were, but after awhile I got used to it. I do have to say that this book was just as preachy as the last one in regards to the religion and author's beliefs. I'm well aware that I'm reading a Christian fiction book, and some of that is to be expected, but I've read some authors who do it so unobtrusively that it kind of spoils me for when others just kind of lay it all out there without any thought to it.

I look forward to the next in the series. I can kind of guess where everything is heading, but I still enjoy the books anyhow.

The Sacrifice
Copyright 2004
347 pages