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AMANDA LAUER
Age Range: 14 and up
Reading Level: High School
Seventeen-year-old Amara McKirnan, a devout Catholic, is determined to help the Confederate cause no matter what it takes, so she volunteers to help out at her uncle's Hospital. Amara tries to comfort the injured men as best as she can when she meets a man with a strange accent and with a secret that could kill both of them. Nathan Simmons never wanted to be a part of the war, but when he was forced to join the Confederate army, he had no other choice than to fight for the side he did not believe in. After Nathan was injured in battle and was sent to an Atlanta hospital, he found his perfect opportunity to escape to the Union army. Nathan had everything planned out, but his plans changed after he met Amara, and their worlds intertwined in a way neither one of them ever expected to.
Thank you so much, Amanda Lauer, for sending me a complimentary copy of World Such as Heaven Intended! I was happy to read and receive this book. My review is entirely my own. A World Such as Heaven Intended is a Catholic book about the Civil War times for teens. It follows the stories of Amara McKirnan and Nathan Simmons as they struggle and fight for what they believe in. The storyline is a fabulous original narrative that kept me entertained so much that I could not put the book down and finished it in two days! The writing was excellent, and the history intertwined so that I was actually excited to learn more about the Civil War. My favorite character in A World Such as Heaven Intended is Amara. Her situation reminded me of Cinderella at times with a mean stepmother and sister and a kind of absent father. Amara always tried to find the best in a person and was never rude or mean.
So I love romance in books and between main characters but I didn't really see it between Amara and Nathan. I thought that they were both excellent and strong Catholics, but they didn't really have any romance between them. I could see them as friends but not as a couple. They didn't even know or really talk to each other until the last 50 pages of the book. And even after their romance began, I didn't think they were right for each other. I have to say that the cover for this novel is one of my favorite covers ever. It is so beautiful that it almost makes me want to be in that time too. And I also LOVE the title. It is so unique and exciting that it immediately captured my attention. All in all, I thought A World Such as Heaven Intended was a delightful Catholic book that I hope you will all enjoy.
Things to Mention: There is one "holy sh..." written in that exact way. Nathan is tempted by a woman to do something bad but refuses. There is violence, including people being shot, talk of lynching a person, someone being decapitated during battle, people being killed, and some other minor things. There were two kisses with no detail.
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Heaven Intended Series:
More Books by Amanda Lauer:
Catholic Teen Books Anthologies Series:
Secrets: Visible & Invisible (did not write this)
Gifts: Visible and Invisible (did not write this)
If you have read A World Such as Heaven, let me know in the comments below. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Do you have a book you want to be reviewed? Let me know, and I'll add it to my list! Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you're here.
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