Be Still, My Love by Deborah J. HughesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm surprised at how much I actually enjoyed this book. It took me a little while to get interested in the beginning, and I thought this was going to be another unremarkable book to add to my Kindle regrets, but just the opposite happened. It grew on me.
I loved finding out more about Tess and her ability. I loved her worldview and how she approached her own life as well as the afterlife. She applied those same rules and philosophies to her own troubles, unlike so many heroines in fiction these days who believe double-standards can reasonably apply to them. Tess was definitely one of the rare, intelligent ones.
There was always something interesting going on at the resort, new twists and small signs that let me figure out the mystery along with Tess and the others, which I appreciated. The plot and mystery itself were well-planned and I appreciated the foreshadowing. The Sixth Sense-like twist on the end with the groundskeeper was a nice touch. I kept wondering what was up with him, and what he was hiding.
I had hoped to find out more about the connection between Abigail and the characters in Tess' own story. I can assume it is the same story, only played out with different names, but she writes in it several times...and then nothing more is ever mentioned about it. Also, the character Modesta was a little insulting. She states towards the beginning she was born in America, yet speaks with the type of broken English common with Mexican immigrants. If she were native-born, wouldn't she be fluent? My parents were first-generation Mexican-Americans, as well as most of my cousins, and their English is perfect. The misrepresentation of a Mexican woman, born in America, yet unable to speak basic English fluently is just a tad on the ignorant side. If she were an immigrant in America only a few years, she would have been a perfect character.
Yet, on the whole, I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this book.
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