Customer Reviews

Allison's Journey (Brides of Webster County, Book 4)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Allison cannot remember the accident that took her mother years before. Her unmarried aunt comes to live with her and her brothers to help her father raise the family. Allison is not allowed in the kitchen because she might mess it up. As a result, she grows up a tomboy loving the outdoors and doing things with her brothers. On her 18th birthday, her father gives her a bus ticket to go stay with her mother's twin sister for the summer. This trip completely changes Allison's life.

I highly recommend reading this book. It is one of the best that Wanda has written thus far!

I purchased this book a few days ago and I simply could not put it down until I finished it. It is a beautiful story of love and forgiveness. A story of one girl's journey of a life without Christ to a life with Christ and learning how to forgive her aunt. A story of not giving up. Her journey leads to love as well which makes this book a wonderful good book. I recommend this book and all the other ones written by Wanda. Her books never disappoint me and when I finish one I wait with anticipation for the next one to be published.

A wonderful Christian Book about the Amish and Allison's Journey is a wonderful read as are all of Mrs. Brunstetter's Books. Allison becomes a Christian and is able to lead her aunt to Christ before she passes away. A sweet love story as well.

Very interesting ! It was hard to put the book down. I like the way the author develops each character in the book.

Ah Amish romances, I don't think there's anything better for lifting my spirits a bit while I'm down. This one wasn't too bad, it had some plausible conflict but still was a nice gentle story.

Allison has been sent to live with her cousins for the summer. The reason being is that her dad felt she was becoming too tomboyish and that she could learn to be a proper lady there since she wasn't learning it from her crabby aunt's teachings. Once she reaches her cousins, she discovers she likes it there and starts learning different things. She also makes new friends and even sparks the interest of Aaron, who previously never had anything to do with girls. But as much as Allison would like to stay, there are duties that call her back home to her father's.

Allison was a great character. It was refreshing to see an Amish girl be a tomboy for once in a novel and like things that boys should like. Aaron wasn't quite as nice of a character, he had a lot of conflicting emotions and I couldn't quite figure out where they all came from. The side characters were all nice too and it was nice to see that they weren't all wise leaders, that some of them had problems of their own as well.

For a plot I thought this one was nice. It kept to something that could definitely happen in an Amish community and also explored them moving to different communities. That was something I haven't seen much written about before. Since this is Amish fiction it can be considered Christian fiction. It was pretty light in the first part of this book but got heavier later on. And that's where I ran into a problem with the book. It seemed that as soon as Allison found herself, she was desperate to go rescue everyone else. It just seemed like maybe she should have reflected on her own beliefs and changes before rushing out to save others.

A very nice Amish fiction book. I'll definitely check more out by Brunstetter.

Allison's Journey
Copyright 2008
284 pages + recipe for peanut brittle

Review by M. Reynard 2011

It's very rare that I'm so bored with a book I'm reading that I am tempted to turn full pages at a time without even glancing at them, but that was the case with this book. First, the writing is at around a fifth grade level. Now, I don't need for my literature to be particularly erudite, but I was literally reading books with more complex writing and ideas when I was in elementary school. But that in itself wasn't the worst of it. Nor was the repetitiveness of a character's thoughts, nor the irritating, tooth-grinding teenage angst that ran through the pages. No, the worst of it was that the story is so unfocused that none of the bits and pieces ever really come together, and so heavy-handed that I actually found myself rolling my eyes. Multiple times!

**SPOILERS**

The character of James Esh does absolutely nothing to move the story forward. I mean NOTHING. Here you have a rebellious kid whose behavior is inappropriate and disrespectful. Is he here because either of our protagonists is tempted to follow in his footsteps? No. Is he here to help bring our protagonists together? No. Is he here to drive them apart? No to that as well. The best I can figure is that he's meant to be a cautionary tale... except that he's not really that either, because Brunstetter chooses instead to make James the story's first example of the saving power of grace. Or something like that.

The characters of Joshua and Katie do absolutely nothing to move the story forward. Why are they here? Why do we care that they are in love with each other? They add nothing. And we are given the treat of reading many pages about them and their relationship. How lovely.

The passages that flip back to Pennsylvania are jarring and completely irrelevant to the story. The dialog is not only uninteresting, it's unnecessary.

Aunt Catherine's story is clumsily presented and its resolution is so unbelievable that I couldn't suspend my disbelief at all as I read it.

Somewhere along the way, the book changed from being a story about two young people (plus a bunch of others) to being a story about accepting Jesus as one's personal Savior. If Brunstetter was looking to capture the fanaticism of the recently-converted, then she succeeded brilliantly. But I have a feeling that that wasn't her goal. If her intent was merely to convey the Christian belief that Jesus died for the sins of others, and the importance of this belief to the Amish, she failed to do so in any sort of realistic or convincing way.

This book wasn't the most awful thing I've ever read. But every single one of the reviews here on Amazon but one were excellent, and I had no idea how bad the book would be. If you're new to Bruntetter and considering buying this book, please think again. If you have a Kindle, maybe try reading the first chapter before you decide. It's nowhere as good as you might have been led to believe.

I enjoy the Amish series of books and always look forward to the next new one.

For entertainment value, I enjoyed this book. I liked the parallel events in the lives of Allison and Aaron and how their paths eventually crossed. I also liked that this book wasn't the typical, "I'm struggling with wanting to leave the Amish lifestyle" book. I very much liked that it was a story about just being Amish because the ones about leaving the Amish faith are overdone.

Despite the parts of the book I enjoyed, it wasn't my favorite. For one, there are so many cliche's used throughout the book. I think it could have stronger from the writing aspect. Also, I thought that the process of Allison coming to faith was a little too quick and too neatly packaged, making that seem cliche too. I think the lines between Amish and "English" culture are a little blurred in that the characters talk about dating and double dating which seem different from how they court. Some scenes sound quaint, but the logistics seem impossible. For example, the scene where they made ice cream. Few Amish in my community have freezers in which to keep the ice to make ice cream. Some store their frozen goods at the home of a nearby English neighbor and a few have a freezer or a refrigerator, but it's kept outside, not inside the home.

Last of all, the medical details of Aunt Catherine were just too neat and tidy. I won't spoil the story, but an illness like Catherine's has complicated care much different from the peaceful way it was presented in the book.

This is a great book if you're looking for a lighthearted read with a plot that will keep you engaged. But if you're looking for authenticity, this probably won't meet expectations.

I automatically felt a kindred spirit for Allison because I, too, was a tomboy. I was never any good at sewing, either. And, I had an older sister who put me down a lot and would never let me do anything in the kitchen. I lost my father at an early age, so I was also a half-orphan.

I nearly laughed out loud when I read Aaron Zook saying that he wanted a spunky woman, like his mother. I hadn't thought of Barbara as a bit spunky. She likes fishing and working with leather. So do a lot of people, myself included.

Except for yet another Brunstetter tragedy (these got old after her first book) in the death of James, the book was very good.

I would definitely recommend this series. It's not depressing like some of the others Mrs. Brunstetter has written. It's uplifting and sweet. I've never been into romance novels, but at least hers aren't vulgar or explicit. They're classy and sweet.

Just finished this book. Lovely romance. Enjoyed reading the book and am looking forward to other books she has written.