Customer Reviews

Ever After (Lost Love Series #2)

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am a Karen Kingsbury fan even though I feel she is a little redundant in explaining feelings and thoughts while building her characters. "EVER AFTER", if judged by tears shed by the reader, is by far her most moving book yet. It takes alot to make me cry during a book or at the end of a book but Kingsbury had me in tears for hours! I cried so much during the book that my husband asked me to why I continued to read it.
This creation is not just a romance but drafted in such a way to really make one dig deep and think. Even though I already shared her views it caused me to ask myself why I believed thus. Was I taught to have these views as a child or did I know the facts?
If a book, particularly a novel, can cause one to react and respond then I feel it is an exceptionally good piece of work. After reading EVER AFTER I sought out some WWII veterans to have lunch with and asked them to discuss their experiences with my teen children. We still have one or two to go but this has been a rewarding experience both emotionally and educationally.
READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Ever After is another book by Karen Kingsbury that I did not want to stop reading to eat, sleep or anything else. It truly is another fictional story that could and does seem to be the predicament(s) that we or family or friends are or have been as well.
It seemed to me that this book was less predictable than I have found some to be. I felt a wide range of emotions as I read this book and I think all readers of Christian fiction will enjoy Ever After. Kingsbury's books are not "preachy" and are absolutely like true life is or could be. The people seem real and believable.
I recommend Ever After highly.

It is rare for me to cry when reading a fiction novel or watching a movie, because they aren't real. However this book, despite the fictional characters IS REAL. It portrays the situations of thousands of military families today. This book definitly took a sharp right turn from predictability. But that is what Karen is good at, writing about God's plan, not ours no matter how difficult it is to understand.

Like Karen said, I found this book to be about love and sacrifice. They are completely intertwined with each other; displayed first and foremost by Christ. Being that God lives in us inside our hearts, it is actually no surprise that sacrifice is necessary when trying to express our love for each other. But the beauty is that the sacrifices we make for each other don't have to be painful if they're made with loving hearts. And when made, they bring us both closer to Him and closer to each other. Pretty amazing stuff.

Whether you support the war or not, please take time to read this. It provides an incredible insight to the military and God's perspective on our ways. It'll probably make you cry, but you'll reflect on it for days and learn so much on how to apply it to real life situations.

I thought EVEN NOW was a great book, but WOW . . . EVER AFTER was incredible. I read the last hundred pages through blurry eyes and a wad of tissues. EVER AFTER takes up where EVEN NOW leaves off. Emily's parents, Lauren and Shane are finally reunited. But their opposite views on the war, continue to be an obstacle to their happily ever after. In the meantime, sharing the patriotic views of her father, Emily gets a job on an army base and soon falls in love with Justin Baker. When Justin is deployed for Iraq, and Lauren decides to leave Shane and go back to reporting the war abroad, Emily feels her world is turning upside down. Now, two of the people she loves the most are in the most volatile place in the world. Justin - fighting for what he believes in, and her mother - reporting what she sees as a waste of time and human life. When Emily receives devastating news, her faith is put to the test and her hopes for a happily ever after. This was a great book. It sums up what I assume are the feelings of many Americans. It gives perspective to the war we rage on foreign soil to preserve our freedoms and give freedoms to the people who have never experienced it. Great book, Karen! I can only hope that someday my writing might affect others the way yours has affected me.

I do love Karen Kingsbury, but this book was just too sad and depressing for me. The first book in this series "Even Now" was wonderful, had a great ending with a great story line. This sequel also has a great story line with an excellent character development, but 3/4 of the book was absolutely heart wrenching and too sad. It never rebounded from the sadness either. I actually skipped over half the book and read the end because I couldn't read while crying so hard. I was very dissappointed!

Trying to review this sequel to EVEN NOW is terribly difficult to do without giving something away. Even without talking about plot points, the vaguest discussion of what makes EVER AFTER moving will act as a spoiler. So I'm not even going to try and keep you in suspense: this is a flawed but still deeply affecting novel about how the death of a young military officer in Iraq changes the lives of his near-fiancee and her biological parents, who are struggling to re-connect after mistakes and miscommunications during their teenage years.

Emily Gibbs has just transferred to Pacific Lutheran University on a soccer scholarship --- and for the chance to be closer to her birth father, Army Lieutenant Colonel Shane Galanter, who is planning his wedding to Lauren, Emily's mother. It seems that at last their small but devoted family will flourish.

But two things happen. First, Emily takes a job at the Fort Lewis Public Affairs Office and meets handsome young lieutenant Justin Baker. Emily and Justin fall in love, and it's the real thing --- for which Emily's parents are both thrilled and worried. When Justin's unit is due for rotation to Iraq, he and Emily are closer than ever. Unfortunately, at the same time, Lauren has become increasingly distant from the earnest and superficial (at least to her) military officers and spouses Shane has her socializing with from his Top Gun squadron. She doesn't agree with the war's basis and its progress; when her Time magazine editor begs her to return to overseas reporting, she prays --- and prays hard --- about whether or not to go.

Now, in the hands of a different writer, that decision might signal that Lauren is not listening to God's will. But Karen Kingsbury has something quite different in mind; there's a reason God wants her there. Justin is killed for a reason, and Emily must find out that there was a reason for her love --- just as her parents' love created her two decades ago.

While some of the love scenes and discussions of purity (Kingsbury is very concerned with sexual purity, which may strike some readers as entirely proper and others as a tad unrealistic) seemed cloying, the most striking features of this book, and the main reasons to read it, are Kingsbury's intelligent and nuanced arguments about war, military resolve and homefront grief. She has truly walked the walk and talked the talk with our country's military. Whether or not you agree with her conclusions, you'll be heartened by her understanding of and faith in our country's young men and women. Not only do they rise to our defense, they're also willing to rise to the defense of strangers.

EVER AFTER is worthwhile reading. Please be sure to share it with the person closest to you with whom you disagree about the Iraq War. You both might learn something.

--- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick

It came fast and in good condition. This book and its sequal are by far my new favorite books!!!

This is the best Karen Kingsbury book so far, and I have read most of them. This book is very up to date with todays world. It expresses a lot of the frustration that I feel with today's press and with what is actually happening in Iraq. The reality of the death and funeral was very emotional and true to life. Thank you for an excellent book.

This was an excellent book that held your attention throughout. It was so relevant to our day and age and the struggles that we face. This is a winner.

Karen Kingsbury has outdone herself with this book. A follow up to Even Now, this book takes the story further with both Emily and her parents--Lauren and Shane. The military aspect that truly shows the great sacrifices being made for our safety is haunting. What a great book. Be warned--Have your tissues ready--you will need an entire box. Don't expect to put this book down in the middle, you won't be able to stop reading. Blessings.