Customer Reviews

Somewhere to Belong (Daughters of Amana, Book 1)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Living in Iowa, and having visited the Amana Colonies several times, I was easily drawn to this book. I felt a connection to each character and the challenges they presented. Often the people at Amana are confused with the Amish. They are not the same. This book helps understand this. I found the book difficult to put down, as I was not always able to predict what the characters would do. I found myself wondering what I would have chosen, had I been the different characters in the book. I found this an enjoyable and thought proving read for a break from the routines of life.

I love books that surprise me. :o)

This book managed to encompass so many elements at once. It is a coming of age story. One of the girls is a young woman, the other a teenager and both grow more into their "skin" as the story progresses. Thrown together because Berta needed someone responsible to train her, neither girl could foresee how much they would need each other for the trials ahead of them or how close they would become.

It is also a story of family ~ what that means and why it is important. It examines how those bonds hold us together, what can break them apart, and if they can be mended again. I can't think of a more important topic. And it's a story of romance (gotta have that) and what makes that a real love or not and how to tell. And of course the love God has for all of us.

The author pulls all of this off because she invests so much in the characters of Johanna and Berta. Although on the surface the girls may seem near opposites, neither girl is one dimensional and both are easy to love. Johanna is the obedient, responsible daughter. However she sneaks fashions magazines from her brother (who lives in Chicago) in from the outside and hides them in her room and she longs to visit the world outside her village borders. Berta rarely thinks beyond her next opportunity for fun and despises anything resembling work. When told she can't wear her pink skirt to work in the kitchen, she puts it on underneath the plain skirt so she can still wear it without anyone knowing (or so she plans). She does try to make others happy and cares about people's feelings far more than even she's willing to admit. She has a natural gift for cheering people up as well. Both face adversity, mystery, and being lied to by people they have trusted. Both really want to know where they fit in. How they come through the journey is something to behold.

Judith Miller has done an excellent job with this book.

[...]

Books about the Amish seem to be the current trend in the Christian market. Although not strictly about the Amish, Somewhere to Belong fits right in. The setting is a strict religious community in Iowa in the nineteenth century. The twist is that it is communal and the legalism overshadows the love. Two girls struggle with their place in this community.

Johanna has been raised in the Amana communities, and loves it. But she is curious about the outside world where her brother has fled, and wants to visit Chicago, just once. Berta was raised in Chicago by her rich parents who have decided to simplify their lives by moving to the Amana communities. She hates it. The two girls are thrown together because Johanna is expected to teach Berta how to behave. As they get to know each other, they begin to share their inner lives. They also discover that each set of parents is hiding something from their daughters.

Although the book is written well, and Miller brings the Amana communities to life, I found that I didn't care a lot about the girls and what happened to them. The pace is slow, Berta is not only predictable, her rebellion is extreme, and the people they both encounter are harsh and unloving. Even the mystery of the parents' secrets wasn't enough to hold my interest. Perhaps an adolescent reader would find it more compelling.

Pros: Good depiction of an alternative lifestyle, with a little mystery to keep the plot moving.

Cons: Slow start with characters that are hard to care about.

The original review was posted on Pix-n-Pens [...]

It has been awhile since I have written a review, but quite frankly, I cannot believe this book made it to publication.

The characterizations were so thin, and the plot was unbearably contrived; it just felt like I was hopping from one melodramatic event to another.

Berta, with all of her conniving ways and silly pranks was hardly believable. For instance this spoiled pre-adult elegant young woman is asked if she's ever picked apples and she basically recalls picking them to throw on some unsuspecting child's head; unrealistic for her age and time, let alone her stomping and throwing tantrums or dancing around the kitchen.

The whole plot is linked together by such odd events. Berta is startled and drops the cottage cheese, really? Johanna happens to find out she's adopted, how? She asks her sister in-law if her aunt had a baby and instead of just saying "no" (which is what all normal people would say) the sister in-law responds "you're the only baby Aunt Louisa had"... and then oh, dear I wasn't supposed to tell, and she actually means it. Pah-lease! There are so many creative ways for a character to find out she's adopted... and add some mystery to a boring story. But that's not all, naturally Johanna's almost boyfriend is found hugging another girl in the barn, but as always it's all a big misunderstanding... the girl was just sharing how her mom was ill and started to cry, and so he hugged her... LAME! and if that's supposed to convince the reader what about the laughter that (if I remember right) Johanna was supposed to have heard coming from the barn! Hmmmm. :(

Not impressed... nice cover.

Maybe I'm jaded a bit - having read Christian fiction for so many years. This just didn't hold my interest. I hate giving up on books when I've gotten into them, but this Kindle book took ages for me to finish. Interesting to learn about the Amana colonies but that was the only part that held me much. The two main characters were just not that interesting and it was 2/3 of the way through the book before the real plot developments happened and then they were resolved rather predictably. Truthfully, it was a relief to be done with this book to another that might hold my attention better.

MY OPINION Miller has yet again woven a story that once you pick up her book, you're hooked. Her history is impeccably researched, her story extremely well-written, and her descriptions make you feel as if the book is literally unfolding before your very eyes and you're there. Even if historical fiction is not the first shelf you seek out at the bookstore, you will enjoy this book. Don't think for a moment that a story about a place and time of a plain people with a simple lifestyle, routine ways, cooperative living, and faithful service to God will be less than exciting or predictable. Au contraire! Get ready for some wonderful "I did NOT see that coming" moments. Somewhere to Belong is the first in Judy's Daughters of Amana series and I can't wait to read the second. In the meantime, get your hands on this book and be prepared to sit a spell because you will be enthralled. ABOUT THE BOOK Despite living her entire twenty-one years in Main Amana, Johanna Ilg has always been intrigued by and wanted to see the outside world. However, she has continued to stay in Amana believing that Amana is where she must belong. That is, until a secret is revealed that changes everything about the world she thought she knew. Where does she truly belong? She must confront her family and find out the answers to her questions. Will she break her mother's heart to seek these answers? Intertwined, is a story of the newest member of Main Amana, Berta Schumacher, a worldly girl with parents who desire a simpler life in Amana, for reasons she can't fathom. Berta does not share this desire to live such a life as her family and she makes that clear as she openly rebels against the ways of Amana and its people. Will her heart ever soften to the ways of these plain people or will she continue to live a life of rebellion and discontent?

Usually a 5-star rating is reserved by me for books in genres that I most enjoy and books in those genres that I especially enjoy. This book earns its 5-star rating based on the writing and story development.

There is a richness to the characters Johanna and Berta as well as their families and the people of Amana. You feel like you get to know these people rather than characters in some book. The stories of their lives come alive in a way that pleasantly surprised me.

Combined with a story that has twists and turns that are unexpected, this is an exceptional book. Perhaps others would predict the ending, but it surprised me (but that is all I will say to prevent spoiling the ending).

God's omniscience is a theme throughout this book, but it is not overbearing. Even if you are not a devoted believer, you will enjoy this book.

This is not a book I'd normally read, but I became interested in learning more about the Amish when I started this (And, yes, it being free was added incentive to try). The Christian theme did not bother me (There is a plethora of preachy books for Kindle and I've met many of them. Tired of being preached to.)due to it being in context of the setting and religious sect.

For the first half of the book, I wanted to give it a 5-star review. The writing flows and carried me through, with some interest. But around the halfway point, I started becoming bored with the characters, setting and their boring lives.

I've sometimes thought it might be great to just escape this crazy contemporary society and hit one of these communal type of communities. But I realized while reading this that I would not last but a couple of hours. And just visiting, at that.

The book is well-written, but I had little interest in the characters. At least not enough to care what happened to them.

Somewhere to Belong is a great story! It is a great example of how things are not always what they appear. This book kept me longing to read more, and for me that makes for a great story.

It took awhile to get into this book but once I got really into it I couldn't put it down. I am in the process now of reading book 2 and it also is very interesting now that I know the characters. I have never heard of the Amana group, they are different than the Amish in the way they live in group homes and all eat at the same place. They believe in worship basically most of the day. They all have jobs in the comunal system and are all taken care of by the elders.
Different reading for me but highly reccommended. Like I said you have to read about half the book to get really interested in it but once you do you will want to read book 2