Reviews

Seek Me with All Your Heart/The Wonder of Your Love by Beth Wiseman

elisabethd8a's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is an enjoyable chaste Amish women's literature novel, but it doesn't feel authentic to Amish values. Like her other Amish books, Wiseman writes the Amish characters speaking a strange blend of Pennsylvania Dutch and English, as if the characters can't remember the words for good, yes, and wonderful and slip up every time.

More importantly, the Amish values slip up in this story. Instead of trusting God with justice, every person who hears the full story urges the FMC to call the police.
They worry that an Amish man may go to prison when they feel that counseling will do more good in the long run, so they ask the judicial system for that. They inexplicably hire a lawyer for the victim when it should have been the prosecuting attorney representing them and in spite of the fact that they're merely giving a victim impact statement. In my Englisch opinion, I just feel like most Amish would turn to their bishop instead of the police and ask for the church to discipline them and send them to counseling. At least that option should have been considered.


Cranky Martha is a delightful character. I enjoyed the scene where she was willing to pray before a meal but only if they would pray aloud for her since she doesn't have a direct connection to God.

I was surprised at the ending,
not by the fact that he proposed but that a plain man would want a fancy proposal. With the lead up in the story, it worked well, though.


I was disappointed to find out that while this seemed to be the first in the series, I had actually read it out of order since there are two intertwined series. According to the author, the order is:
Plain Perfect,
Plain Pursuit,
Plain Promise,
Plain Paradise,
Seek Me With All Your Heart,
Plain Proposal,
The Wonder of Your Love,
His Love Endures Forever,
Plain Peace.

Yet, it was a touching story with many facets about a community that eventually works together to get past issues to find companionship, healing, and godliness. I enjoy stories told with multiple POVs and this did that well, with each narrator having a distinct perspective even with similar vocabularies.

megan_rang's review against another edition

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5.0

This book has earned a place in my favorite books! It has so many story parts that made me laugh and want to cry. The characters were fantastic. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes Amish stories and also anyone who likes "feel good" stories. I can't wait to start the next one in the series.

wheels68's review against another edition

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4.0

Two families from 2 different communities, but the same Amish faith.. find themselves in the same new small community.

Emily is a young girl, holding a dark secret. Her family only knows part of it.. so she thought..she felt that she was tainted.. that no one would want her

David- is a young man that hold his own secret.. but is it really as he thinks...Can he really have a family..

As the 2 grow to know each other.. both their secrets come out.. and both realize that what they fear, does not have to keep them from becoming a family

kaylaaa05's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

shellireadz's review against another edition

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4.0

This Is one of the best written Amish novels that I have read. The charachters were well developed and interesting. I found the plot to be believable and I eagerly read this book almost without putting it down. I was looking for the next on what is undoubtedly a series. Martha was may favorite character I really want to see what happens to Martha Ann. I would have given this book a 5 but unfortunately, for me it does have some issues as a stand alone novel, it is lacking. At the beginning, if the character had not been so engaging, I would have stopped reading it, as it is obvious that there is a large backstory that the reader is missing.

Really great author!

shellireadz's review against another edition

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4.0

This Is one of the best written Amish novels that I have read. The charachters were well developed and interesting. I found the plot to be believable and I eagerly read this book almost without putting it down. I was looking for the next on what is undoubtedly a series. Martha was may favorite character I really want to see what happens to Martha Ann. I would have given this book a 5 but unfortunately, for me it does have some issues as a stand alone novel, it is lacking. At the beginning, if the character had not been so engaging, I would have stopped reading it, as it is obvious that there is a large backstory that the reader is missing.

Really great author!

beckyreads2's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed this book. Beth Wiseman is one of my favorite authors. She does a great job telling a story, and her books are hard to put down. I liked Emily's character. I also liked the family dynamics.

twalker28's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

pixieauthoress's review against another edition

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5.0

Excellent, think this series may be even better than her first. 10/10.

booksforchristiangirls's review against another edition

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1.0

This is a mini ‘Books For Christian Girls’ review. It is not a full content review and will not receive one. These mini-reviews are years old and just for clarity on the rating the book received on Goodreads.


1/28/2014-
No comments.


Main Content-
*Emily was raped *Sexual Content
she remembers James (an Amish guy) kissing her, her begging her to stop, and then blacking out
; Katie Ann says her and Ivan never did "love making" just "baby-making"; Katie Ann asks if Ivan wants to stay in bed all day "making love"; Kisses; Touches, Embraces, & Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Love, falling in love, & the emotions.