Rapture of Canaan

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Summary: Ninah's story will capture you...
Review: This book is written from the perspective of Ninah, a young girl on the verge of emotional, sexual and spiritual growth living within an extreme religious group. Her life is filled with prayer, penance and the storytelling of the one truly strong person in the community, her grandmother. Ninah falls off of the path of rightousness and onto a road of trouble when she falls for her prayer partner James and ends up pregnant. The aftermath is touching, sad and uplifting all at the same time. Ninah is a vulnerable yet strong character who questions her spirituality at every turn. Grandpa Herman wants the members of the community to live up to his rules and doctrines instead of God's. Ninah refuses to give into this blind faith of follow the leader. She knows her heart and she lets it lead her to her own salvation and helps to bring peace and honesty to the community. Sheri Reynolds writes a gripping story, one that is symbolically rich and strong in characterization. This is a must read, regardless of your faith and beliefs.

Rating:
Summary: The Rapture of Canaan
Review: This book was a very intersesting insite to a girl who is bounded to rules and laws that are difficult for her to obey. Ninah's home life is unimaginable to me and it is from a great perspective. Not only does the book talk about her home life but also many other trials that a teenage girl goes through. When she falls in love with James it adds an amazing twist to the story and her trials at school. home, and with herself and her body add to the suspention to the story. The books ending leaves the reader to think of several possibilities that can happen to Ninah and her child and their life in the community.

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Summary: Strangely captivating...
Review: This book was unlike anything I have read before and while I wasn't sure at first if I would like it, I got sucked into the story and weird plot. A story of a girl caught in a community of religious fanatics, she tries hard to fit in and be accepted although is unable to buy into all the teachings they lay upon her. There is a constant struggle between herself, her family, and the belief of a God watching over it all.... this novel is gripping and I read it with my mouth agape as their are many captivating moments and twists that the story pulls you through. I strongly recommend!

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Summary: the only good thing - it was a fast read...
Review: This has to be one of the most unbelieveable and ignorant stories that i have ever read. All that Reynolds does is pile on more and more punishment schemes and eccentric behavior from Grandfather Herman. She does little to offer up either a reality or any kind of explanation as to why the characters act as they do. It could have been an interesting story to tell if there was some sort of realism or insight into these characters. Reynold comes off as completely ignorant as she creates this far-fetched community of religious zealouts, it would have served her message and novel better if she would have made it a bit more realistic.

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Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: This is a masterful coming of age story about a very young girl in a cult. Ninah is brought together with a young boy by her parents and grandfather who is the leader of the cult. Everyone in the cult except for Ninah grandmother is so afraid of being tempted to sins of the that Ninah even hides from her mother that she has begun to have her period. As a resident of the Bible belt and with no disrespect intended, I think I know these people. A great story.

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Summary: A great read for everyone!
Review: This is a story about a girl who lives in a religious community and her sturggles with sin and becoming pregnant and her faith and wanting to please god. At first i got a bit discouraged because it seemed it only pertained to the religious community. In continueing to read this book if found there was something everyone could relate to in this book. There are no words to describe how amazing this book is. It will make you laugh and cry. And leave you with a deeper understanding and feeling of love and what one does for it. this story effectivly takes you in its grip and puts you in Ninah's shoes, filled with shells, and you can almost taste what she is going through.
This is a great read and i recomend it to everyone.

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Summary: A shallow and unconvincing novel.
Review: This is one of the most shallow and unconvincing books IÕve ever read. It focuses on an extremely conservative religious cult which emphasizes medieval punishments for every small "sin." That could have been interesting. Barbara Kingsolver dealt with the psychological and political effects of such narrow and mean-spirited religious ideas in The Poisonwood Bible and produced a fascinating and challenging novel. But in The Rapture of Canaan, Sheri Reynolds never probes below the surface. She just piles up bizarre details about the cult, trying to show us that itÕs bad to envision God as nothing more than a mean old man who punishes people. Well, okay. I agree. But more and more details about how really, really bad this view of religion is doesnÕt make for compelling reading. And because Reynolds offers no insight into what draws people to this kind of religion, the characters who are caught up in this church come across as either idiots or sheep. Reynolds had one potentially interesting character Ð the grandmother of the narrator, who is married to the churchÕs cold and angry patriarch, and yet has some doubts about the religion. The only thing that kept me reading to the end was the hope that at some point Reynolds would develop this character and offer some insight into the contradiction, and that I might understand a little more about what holds people in a church that seems to offer them so little. It never happened. This book was simply a waste of my time.

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Summary: So good...
Review: This is such a good book. It's amazing how you can put yourself in someone elses shoes, even though they are so different from your own. This book does it. Oprah, be proud!

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Summary: Interesting read, but disappointing ending...
Review: This is the first book by Sheri Reynolds that I have read and I picked it up on a whim because a woman passing by me mentioned to her friend that she loved it. Although the metaphors and symbolism are entertaining, "The Rapture Of Canaan" did not leave me spell bound. The tale of a Christian cult somewhere in the Deep South with a typical evil minister/grandfather and the star crossed lovers Ninah and James was interesting enough but to be honest with you, I never really grew to care about these characters. When I came to the last page knowing that there was an afterword I was relieved because I thought the afterword would contain more about what happened. The ending left no sense of closure for me....

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Summary: --Love, Sin, Pain and Forgiveness--
Review: This is the story of Ninah Huff a young girl who is growing up as a member of The Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind. The members of the Church are mostly related to Ninah in some way. Her Grandfather Herman is the founder and preacher of his flock.

Now that she is becoming a woman, Ninah begins to question some of the beliefs that her Grandfather has set down as Church rules. She thinks that the punishments for the sins and transgressions of the congregation are too severe. Ninah also resents the fact that she is not allowed to make friends with her school classmates who belong to other religious groups. Because the Church members are encouraged to report on one another, Ninah is careful not to confide too much about her concerns to anyone.

When Ninah begins to notice and care for James, she's confused by her feelings for him and is both thrilled and frightened when they are assigned as prayer partners. James is her sister's stepson and not a blood relation to Ninah. The conflicts that the young couple face test their religious beliefs, and their love for each other.

The Rapture of Canaan is a powerful story and Shari Reynolds has written a book which will be remembered by her readers for a long, long time.