Our human minds, trained by the continually progressing world, have ultimately led me to the conclusion, that when it came to books and movies, the sequel will never meet the standard of the first.
Honestly, in all honesty, this was true. Why did I just say that sentence then, if it wasn’t applicable to the subject? Well… An Echo in the Darkness came very, very close into breaking my mindset of the said theory.
I meant what I said with its prequel, A Voice in the Wind, and after reading it, I was sure that nothing else will ever compare to how beautifully written it was. I was perfectly wrong. An Echo in the Darkness was something out of the ordinary too.
This time, the cliche-ness was all gone. This time, the love story jumped to a whole new level. I had no idea what I was in store for, at all. Marcus Valerian was still there, darling Hadassah, of course was there, and must always be there, a few minor characters and other significantly new ones were introduced.
Everything, again, complemented each other very well. The themes of this book were mostly how to cope with grief, forgiveness and unconditional love. Jackpot. Francine Rivers wrote this book, not just through her imagination, but through her heart as well. She wanted to communicate through this book that forgiveness and unconditional love for the inner and not outer, were real.
Fictional they were, but this book’s love story, characters and setting were beyond anything that I expected it to be. It’s an indescribable piece of art that left me, after reading its last pages, inexplicably melancholic, to the brink of grief. Grief. What a strong word. However, it applied to my emotions after reading the final word of its epilogue.
You grow attached to the characters from book 1 and in book 2, your hunger to read, though fed, still left you famished. It just wasn’t enough. No matter how much you re-read this book, it will always leave your heart rather ‘gooey’. The only downside to this book is Mr. Valerian at the front cover. I know that one mustn’t judge a book by its cover, and please, oh please, I beg with all my heart that you do not judge this book by its cover. An intimidating Roman man at the front who doesn’t look very appealing to the eyes, actually looks quite appealing when you hold the book in your hand. Besides, I imagined Marcus completely definitely to how he was portrayed in that photograph. Very different.
A highly recommended book that will render you speechless and may possibly make you an insomniac. A real page turner and fair warning: It will keep you up all night.
