Thank you to Bethany House for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
On This Foundation is book three in the Restoration Chronicles series (the other two are 'Return to Me' and 'Keepers of the Covenant'). Lynn Austin does a fantastic job throughout the series of bringing the Old Testament to life.
The fact that she picked Biblical people that most would tend to look over, I love. 'On This Foundation focuses on Nehemiah. That was a huge factor for me in choosing this book to review because I have always loved Nehemiah (the name and the person). The other factor was that it was the third book and I wanted the whole series so far for my collection.
One of my favorite Bible verses was mentioned in the book: Joshua 1:9 - Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
As far as the characters, I really enjoyed Chana and her family. Her father was so cute with his daughters, and her sisters made me smile because their personalities were so on point with how sisters are. The relationship she had with her sisters was wonderful and made me happy.
Nava bugged me until later on in the story. At first, I liked her and understood her - but she stayed a bit too much the same for the majority of the book. Once she realized the truth of God, I liked her once again.
Shimon was my favorite character! I LOVED him! He was so kind and reminded me of a wonderful father figure. His secret didn't surprise me as I had guessed it early on in the book, but I am a writer - so just because I guessed it doesn't mean everyone will.
The interaction between Nehemiah and Chana made me laugh more than once. I loved the way Nehemiah wanted to take care of his siblings. It made him seem even more real. One thing I really liked was how Lynn brought Ezra back into the series. That made me happy because I really liked him from the other book.
I don't want to give too much away, so I will just summarize my review. There were many moments when I laughed, a few when I cried, my heart broke at a few spots. Overall, it was a wonderful story.
However, the ending seemed a bit too rushed and it didn't really explain how the story about Nehemiah and his enemies ended. I think Lynn could have expanded that section a bit more. Also, I would have liked to see certain characters get what they deserved instead of it seeming like it was almost "shoved under the rug".
The other thing that bugged me was Lynn's use of the NIV. I am not a stick in the mud about having only use the KJV, but there is a lot that has been removed from the NIV (and other versions) that is essential to God's word.
Anyway, as I said overall it is a wonderful book and will have a place on my shelf happily. I give it a 4 1/2 out of 5 because of the rushed ending and use of NIV.
