My Review of The Restorer

Song Stuck on the Brain: Getting to Know You from The King & I

Day 2 of the CSFF blog tour for:

The Restorer

by

Sharon Hinck

My Review:

Susan Mitchell is a harried mom of four kids and the wife to super fab hubby, Mark. Worried that his wife's stress level will be her undoing, he builds her a 'Moms Only' room in the attic where she can escape the crazy day to day madhouse and spend time with God's word and her journal. Sounds great, but in her very first visit to the attic, Susan hears voices whispering under the eaves. While searching for the source of the voices and hoping she's not gone round the bend, she's sucked through a portal into an alternate universe.

Thrown into a strange land and gifted with extraordinary abilities, Susan discovers she is the long awaited Restorer. Everyone believes she's been chosen by The One to save their land and turn their hearts back to the Verses, or word of God. But Susan doesn't feel qualified or able to do the task set before her. She's just a soccer mom, can God really use her to save this world?

I am so psyched by this book. I loved Sharon's Becky Miller books, but in my opinion, Sharon has outdone herself. The Restorer is fantastic. I suppose in some ways it's not fair to compare the Becky Miller books to The Sword of Lyric series. I mean the Restorer is Fantasy after all, but the plot and characters are just so phenomenal. The alternate world Sharon created seems more real to me than the one Susan left behind in her attic. And plot twists! I reached the halfway point in the book and about dropped it when I discovered the big secret Susan's husband was hiding. Fantastic. I never saw it coming.

This book is so compelling on so many levels. It's exciting as an adventure story. The sword fights and intrigue keep you turning pages frantically. Then there's the spiritual aspect. Just like Kathy Tyer's Firebird Trilogy, the scripture verses and spiritual insights are so flawlessly interwoven with the story that one would be lost without the other. I found myself wanting to learn the scripture verses so that I can speak them as well. The spiritual elements are just so moving and beautiful.

Now I'm counting the days until September 10th when book two, The Restorer's Son is released. I'm desperate for more of this world that Sharon has created. She just made my favorite author list.

A.