The narrator, Luci Christian Bell, did a fantastic job capturing the location (Mississippi) with her accent and inflections. This made the listening easy.

I struggled with the Dogwood bit, small as it was. There is nowhere in the Bible (and I checked seven different versions) that says the cross Jesus died on was made from a Dogwood tree.

The abuse (physical and sexual) within the story was so realistic that it was difficult to read at times. It’s hard to capture such atrocities in organic ways without its feeling clichéd or trite, but the way they were written upon the pages of this novel felt true to life.

I wasn’t comfortable with the “ghost” of Sloth hanging around. That was unrealistic, as when people die, they don’t get to stick around to “haunt” us who remain behind.

It was really fun to have the Romani as some side characters. This is a unique ethnic group that isn’t featured in fiction often enough. The Romani characters in this story were the most memorable to me. “Gypsy” was used in reference to these characters as well. I just wanted to mention that, because, from what I understand, some Romani consider that term derogatory toward them. This is a historical novel, so perhaps the term is a period-accurate reference.

There are just enough “I’m not comfortable with this” things in the two Cantrell books I’ve read (Into the Free and The Feathered Bone) that I’m thinking her books might not be to my taste. There are large portions of both books that were right up my alley and quite enjoyable, but those niggling little things that bugged me were enough for me to say, “No more.”

Trigger: rape of a teenager

Content: drugs, expletive, derogatory term, rape, profanity

Richly imaginative and truly Southern novel! Hard to believe that this is a debut.
This is one of the books where I strongly need a sequel (and luckily I have it at my hands!), because it truly ends with the psychological "cliffhanger". How can Millie live happily after THAT?

But all in due order - Millie's life has been anything but easy and I am putting it mildly here. It would be very easy to end up as a perpetual broken person after all this lack of love and/or wrong kinds of love. Luckily, Millie also has been given much - a very strong spirit, an ability to see beauty and some truly good, wise people around her. And maybe a couple of angels helping her, too?
So she navigates her childhood and teenage years touched by both pain and magic, heartbreak and love. And the decision to love - and more, to trust - can be hard for the ones who knows coldness.
Yet, this is a novel about rising to glory, about the hope and about the invisible (yet present) God. Told by someone who knows pain, raw and sometimes cutting, yet precisely because of it this is a beautiful work.

Sure, it has cons - like sometimes it might come off strongly on preaching. And the church scene at the end is controversial. Yet - how much heart is there! To write a novel like this one must know pain deeply. This is the very rare vulnerability I crave in the Christian fiction. Julie Cantrell is an author to watch out for! And now I am off to read the sequel (When Mountains Move).