Rating: 
Summary: Whee Jesus!
Review: This is the story of Ninah Huff, the granddaughter of the founder of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind. Say that three times fast. I dare ya! Basically, the people of the congregation spend their time striving to do the "Lord's good" while denying themselves earthly pleasures (No TV, very little free time, you get the picture) because they don't want to be stuck on earth when the good Lord comes back. To avoid earthly sins, the members of the church are known to inflict pain upon themselves such as sleeping on nettles or walking on pecan shells. The story is also told from Ninah's POV. She's a young girl struggling with religion and life in general. She questions what she is being taught in her community, but at the same time, she feels ashamed and guilty of the changes going through her -- particularly her attraction to a boy named James. Despite, Ninah and James's efforts to avoid temptation and sin, the two come together in the biblical sense, and the outcome tears their little community apart. I thought this was a very beautiful story following the trials and tribulations of not only a teenager growing up under such strict beliefs but the desires of the heart and flesh, the questioning of religious beliefs. Ninah makes such a transition in this story. She goes from a timid teenage girl to a young woman who knows her heart and believes that God's love comes from more than just pain. She finds strength when so many obstacles stood in her way. She forces a community to change, to face it's hypocrisy, and above all, Ninah finds a sense of self. I also loved the characters in this book. They were so beautifully drawn out. You could imagine them vividly. Everyone from Ninah to Corinthian, the woman who the community considers a backsliding whore. You feel for these people. You can probably think of people who share some similar attributes. Maybe not as religious, but we all know drama-queens and people who strive to please others. Ninah's story is so heart-wrenching, but beautifully written. I could not put this book down, and I already want to read it again. All I have to say to that is, "Whee, Jesus."
Rating: 
Summary: So Beautiful!!!
Review: This was a good book. I read the paperback version, and I read it rather quickly in comparison to other books. It's
a story of what can happen when you let religion take over your life.
The Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty
Baptizing Wind is a very strict structure. Punishments range from lying on thorns to sleeping in graves. Our heroine,Ninah
gets a prayer partner, and when they get a little too close,
watch out what happens! The words just seem to flow one after another,
making this a very easy to read book. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes a good read. This reviewer gives
The Rapture of Canaan a 4.5:)
Rating:
Summary: So Beautiful!!!
Review: This was a good book. I read the paperback version, and I read it rather quickly in comparison to other books. It's
a story of what can happen when you let religion take over your life.
The Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty
Baptizing Wind is a very strict structure. Punishments range from lying on thorns to sleeping in graves. Our heroine,Ninah
gets a prayer partner, and when they get a little too close,
watch out what happens! The words just seem to flow one after another,
making this a very easy to read book. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes a good read. This reviewer gives
The Rapture of Canaan a 4.5:)
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: This was my first book by Reynolds and I enjoyed it very much. Her setting is The Fire and Brimstone congregation and it centers on 15 year old Ninah and her pragmatic grandmother. Her characters are multi-dimensional, her setting believable and her plot made me cry, which I haven't done since reading Alice Hoffman's, "At Risk".
Definitely a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: Washed in the Blood
Review: You get caught up in Ninah's plight pretty quickly. You begin to understand her upsidedown world. Yes, there is a literary way to interpret this book, but read it for the sheer pleasure of getting to know people who do not share your view of God, whose views of God are so extreme as to seem barbaric or savage, certainly primitive. But they are as human as you or I, have the same dilemmas, pettiness, moral failings. A beautiful, beautiful book, and a great, great read. Oprah got it right this time.
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