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95 of 95 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heart-wrenching and Poignant, October 18, 2007
This review is from: After the Leaves Fall (Paperback)
I loved this book. From page one, Baart's distinctive style engrossed me. After the Leaves Fall is a beautiful portrait of a young girl struggling with life, love and decisions. Julia wants to be someone else, or at least not who she is. Life hasn't been kind to her. She grew up with a mother who didn't want to be a mother. She preferred Julia call her by her first name instead of mom. The only bright spot in her life was her father, who loved her unconditionally.
Julia wasn't bothered much when her mother left one day and never returned, but when her father dies, she's devastated. Baart skillfully and beautifully exposes Julia's grief, raw and multi-layered. She's left with wounds so deep, she doesn't like to talk about her parents to anyone.
I don't often read such complex emotions written with such credibility. I believed every word. After the Leaves Fall is the kind of book that leaves you wanting more. I'm glad there's a sequel, and Baart is an author to watch. Her debut novel is highly recommended by this reviewer.
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most amazing coming-of-age novel I've ever read...., November 14, 2007
This review is from: After the Leaves Fall (Paperback)
The following section contains one of the most beautiful concepts I've read in a Christian novel.
It seemed like a strange thing to say, but with every repetition she drove a tiny seed of hope further into my heart. I almost didn't want it there--hope is not a promise, merely a wish, a yearning for something that may never materialize--but it sank down deep where I could not extract it and began, even in that moment, to put down fragile roots.
It was the hope that scared me most of all, and only when I had felt it tremble inside me did I begin to cry.
My review:
That section from the story (above) spoke most deeply to my heart. It's what we all need when the world seems to be caving in on us. We need hope. We need someone to gift us with it so we will see things from a different perspective. We don't need judgment or condemnation. This fallen world dishes out plenty of that, and what the world doesn't dump on us we heap on ourselves. After the Leaves Fall is about hope.
There were so many beautiful and profound discoveries that Julia made about herself in the story, which is more like a coming-of-age journey, that I don't know where to begin. I don't want to spoil any of the precious treasures the reader will discover along with Julia. My heart broke for her and yet it also understood her. There is a little piece of Julia in all of us. Children need affirmation from a mother, and without it they spend their lives second-guessing themselves. This came out in so many of her internal thoughts and her impulsive decisions. Often as she contemplated her life I found myself doing the same.
After the Leaves Fall is so impressively introspective with it's gorgeous prose that words are inadequate to describe it. And on some deep level, every wounded child wants to do what their parent did, but do it right this time. No one wants to duplicate mistakes, but the deep need to be loved often drives our behavior. It's truly amazing how that works, but it's how God created us...to need love. Anyway, this is one of the most emotional and wonderful books I've ever read and it has impacted my heart deeply. I can't recommend it highly enough. If all authors were as gifted as this debut author, I would never get anything done.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully emotive!, November 27, 2007
This review is from: After the Leaves Fall (Paperback)
Pitying looks from her small town neighbours have been a way of life for Julia DeSmit, a life she hopes to leave behind to forge her own destiny. Deserted by her disengaged mother at aged 9 and losing her beloved dad during her teen years to illness leaves an indelible mark on her psyche that will haunt her in the years to come.
College represents a chance to escape the confines of her small town life and the heartache of a love lost when her childhood soul mate, Thomas falls for another girl. Having created a persona of aloofness during her high school years, Julia finds it difficult to relate to her college contemporaries but makes an uneasy friendship with her engineering teacher's assistant, Parker.
At a vulnerable time she is reminded again of all the losses in her life and makes a decision that will forever shape her future by sending her back to her past.
Nicole Baart's debut novel is a stirring portrayal of a young woman desperately seeking her place in a world which has dealt her one heartache after another. Julia's journey will resonate with anyone who has experienced tragedy and open the eyes of those who haven't. Pleasingly pat answers to Julia's dilemmas are nowhere to be seen and yet the beauty of a faithful heart is clearly shown through Julia's grandmother. Brimming with engaging and authentic characters After the Leaves Fall is beautifully written and a stunning tribute to Nicole's talent as a writer. I eagerly anticipate the continuation of Julia's story in the sequel, Summer Snow, releasing in mid 2008.
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