Read The Ragged Edge of Night Olivia Hawker Books

Product details Paperback 352 pages Publisher Lake Union Publishing (October 1, 2018) Language English ISBN-10 9781503902121 ISBN-13 978-1503902121 ASIN 1503902129

The Ragged Edge of Night Olivia Hawker Books Reviews

• A quiet, unsung, unlikely hero dedicates his life to others while the world around him is at war. The book will strike you right away with the lovely writing, and you will grab on and hold tight the rest of the read. When a story and its characters stay with you even after you've finished reading, you know you've been moved, and this book delivers.
• I did enjoy the book the afterword not so much. I wish the author had not tied her political views in the afterword to this beautiful story. The United States does not parallel Nazi Germany in any way. We do have groups that do believe along those lines but that is because we have freedoms in this country. I personally do not support these groups in any way but these factions do not decide the policies for our nation. It just left a sour note after an enjoyable read with a joyful ending. I wish I had stopped reading at the end of the story.
• wrtitten with heart, history and humor amidst the horrors of the 3rd Reich. Being stripped of his vestments and his students, an almost 40 yr old friar is intent on finding a way to fight the Fuhrer anyway he can. He decides to take on a widow and her 3 children in a tiny German hamlet! The prose that Olivia Hawker writes is rich and enveloping and tells this story without resorting to foul language or overt violence; a breath of literary fresh air! The dialogue is natural altho’ the German was a bit much at times. Rich with fully developed characters and a fine sense of time and place, “The Ragged Edge of Night” is an historical novel that will instruct, enlighten and encourage you long after you’re finished with the final chapter. Heartily reccomended!
• I appreciated the story of this book, even more so because it is based on a true story. The writing did drag on in several areas, leading me to skim through paragraphs at times. I love WW2 stories, so much that it is rare that I find a book that I don't like, regardless of the writing quality. I love the stories of how individuals kept hope I'm even the most dire situations, rising up to fight against an obvious evil.
  
  With that being said, I don't read these to have politics thrown at me out of nowhere. Discuss the white supremacists that have shown up in the news more recently, absolutely because it's relevant to the story. But the references to the 2016 election seemed baseless and lacked credibility and had no reference to the actual story. Nazis took took their guns...They killed off the disabled...all highlighted in this story - but who here in this country has mirrored that same behavior that leads the author to say that the same evil fought during the Holocaust thrives on American soil now? For a book based on a real story, and the author's notes at the end based on reality, it seems out of place to then interject political opinions out of nowhere.
  
  It would be different if I had purposely chosen a political book to read. I doubt I'll read another book by this author. Really disappointing.
• The story itself was charming. However, the author had to ruin her own book by spouting off her views on the 2016 election that had nothing at all to do with this story. Glad, the book was free.
• The Author in her notes at the end of the book inserted her own political views that compared America to the Nazis. President Trump the equivalent of Hitler? Really?
• This is a book I could not get into. Try as I might, the overuse of metaphors made the story stagnate. The adjectives are overflowing! Too much ruins a story....and this is a good example of 'too much.'
  
  The plot surrounding an ex-friar who responds to an advertisement in a Catholic newspaper in Germany during WWII is far-fetched and over-religious. I felt I was being sermonized to! That feeling never let up as I read on. I felt like I was forcing myself to understand much of the time as Anton flashes back to his friar days in a boy's school and forced by the SS into the German army.
  
  I admit I am not a Catholic, not a religious person, but this book is definitely not for non-Catholics. Every few pages Anton is thinking in his own mind and his own conscience as he relates everything back to God and his own Catholic perceptions.
  
  I would say this book is a great one for Catholics except for the flooding of metaphors. This truly hampered the book.I
  
  Not one I would personally recommend unfortunately.
• This is a three star book being promoted by overwrought reviews. Good grief, people, take a breath! It's just not that good. All those passionate reviews, including one that could be a PhD thesis, trying to convince us this is just the best book ever, a life-changing book, one that lingers in your mind yadda yadda. Well it's not.
  
  First, what the heck is "religious romance"? Seems like an oxymoron to me.
  
  And, oh boy, that cover. It sure yelled out All The Light We Cannot See. How unfortunate. I guess imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery.
  
  This is not a bad book--it's just an okay book. It was a good enough story competently (for the most part) told. It was not "beautifully written" so don't look for A writing. At best, it's a C.
  
  Another example of trying to create Great Literature and failing.
  
  As I said, the book is okay. Just.