To start with, I don't think this was a bad book. I found the premise interesting and was eager to dive into it.There were a few things I took issue with within the first few chapters. I found Grace's mother to be inconsistent, going from who she was when we meet her in the first few pages to who she became upon learning what Paxton did to her daughter. To me, it opened with Mom being one personality and quickly changing to another. Initially, I liked Karen, Grace's governess, but as the book went on, I found myself liking her less and less. There didn't seem to be any reason for her dislike of Peter upon meeting him: she just didn't like him. I got to the point where I was annoyed every time she spoke, whether with him or anyone else. She just seemed mouthy and arrogant to me, and not in a charming way.I liked Grace's character, but I didn't find her defined. In her predicament with Paxton, I didn't find myself feeling sorry for her as much as I found myself sorry for the situation. On the ship headed north, all of a sudden, Karen starts pointing out/talking about how different Grace seemed. I have no doubt someone in Grace's situation would feel liberated in an escape from a cruel fate, but I found it hard to believe that anyone as sheltered as Grace had been could suddenly find themselves carefree and confident over the course of a ride on a ship. She maintained this sort of independence throughout the book without struggle. I just feel the story would have benefited from making her more relatable to life and allowing us to see her struggle and become strong over the course of the novel--perhaps even taking Paxton down herself at book's end, as a result.I have no sympathy for Grace's father at all (not sure if that was the author's intent or not, I'm just saying), regardless of whether Paxton could be held responsible for his demise or not; because of Mr. Hawkins' pride, he was willing to sell his daughter off to avoid accountability for his actions. I do not feel sorry for him in the least.Which brings me to my next point. I didn't much like the way the "good guy" men were portrayed in this novel. I didn't feel men and women were equally yoked, as far as decision-making skills go. Each man--Hawkins, Peter, Bill, (didn't get a clear enough picture of Andrik to make an assessment)--were good in nature, but the women in their lives/women they encountered were always wiser and stronger and advising the ever-stubborn men in their selfish, clueless manners of decision-making. Even as a woman, it frustrated me.As far as the writing goes, (and this is all my personal opinion; I realize others may not agree), I found the use of adverbs excessive. I'm not one to criticize the use of adverbs in general, but in this case, they appear so often as to make the writing seem lazy. There were also instances of sentence fragments, as well as being told what was going on in the story rather than being shown (I.e., with Karen on the boat saying, "Grace, you've changed so much!" And then going on to state all the reasons she felt this way. It took me by surprise because I hadn't seen anything to indicate Grace had changed at all). And when they weren't praying, the majority of characters have at least one instance of talking to themselves as if to make the reader aware of what they are thinking...but we are already in their head. We can already see what they're thinking.To be honest, the budding friendship/romance between Peter and Grace were what I looked forward to the most. I do like the idea of them finding in each other what they've never found in other people, however, I do still see the impending threat of the same theme, with this "wise woman" changing the "erroneous man". As a Christian, I should hope Peter (one of my favorite characters) may come to know and love God, but I'd like to see it brought about by more than just Grace's hope and wisdom.Overall, I think this is a good book, but with a few tweaks, I think it could be great.
Despite my poor rating, this was a very enjoyable read. The colorful cast of characters have depth and mystery in such a rare way that good or bad, the reader wants to know more. The story is exciting and jumps around so much that the reader is never bored. The reason for the two star rating is the enormous amount of pages spent on religion. While it makes perfect sense for the protagonist to be defined by her faith, it doesn't make sense as to why greater than 1/3 of the words in the book are on faith alone. It seemed as if we had to take a long redundant journey through the initial character outline. For every full page of prayer/faith lost/faith gained, we only get a measly paragraph here and there to describe the landscape, environments and characters. There just wasn't any room left for those vivid details that transport us to another time and place.This is the actual description for the book:"During the Alaska gold rush, three characters dream of a new tomorrow. Will the harsh frontier fulfill their hopes? Yukon Quest book 1."A more accurate description would be:A coming of age novel about a young woman's faith and strength in God during desperate times. Is faith enough to survive the cruel hands of man, much less the wild frozen north in this Yukon Quest? Oh yeah, and it is set during the gold rush.
Do You like book Treasures Of The North (2001)?
I honestly don't know what rating to give this book. At the beginning I could hardly read it without rolling my eyes. I actually let this book go for awhile and read 2 or 3 others in between. Then I decided I really should finish this book to see how it ends. So I kept working on it and then suddenly about 60 to 70% of the way thru I was hooked. I actually stayed up late just to finish this book that had really bored me before. The plot was not that outstanding (maybe a little farfetched) and I could usually guess what was gonna happen next however I kept reading to see how it happened and actually started caring about what would happen to the characters, especially Grace. And it might have helped that I thought Paxton was disgusting and really wanted to see him lose. So although I was bored in the beginning, I did enjoy the end of the book.
—Brynn
Thumbs down. Read like a story from Good Housekeeping. Beautiful heroine is being forced into a marriage to a violent rogue by her father, who is trying to keep a secret from his family. To keep from marrying him, she runs away from home (in Chicago) with her governess and her mother's blessings to Alaska during the Gold Rush. On her travels, she meets the dashing man of her dreams who saves her from her terrible fate along with her belief in God as the ultimate protector. However, bearing that in mind, I did like the following passages (from page 232):Grace glanced upward and met his eyes. "I meant no disrespect to you regarding your position with your family. I am certain that you are a tremendous help to them in times both good and bad. But people will always fail. We are, after all, human. Our choices are not always the wisest, and often we misunderstand what the most appropriate response should be to any given problem."..."Everyone fails," Grace replied without a hint of apology. "God is the only one who never fails. You have put yourself in the position to be a god to your family. You ask them to seek your for their counsel and direction. You would preorder their steps, but God has already seen to that task. I fear your family might suffer far more than they would ever need to suffer if you continue to fight God for first place in their lives."..."I don't see this as a ridiculous conversation," Grace finally said. "One of these days, I fear something will happen. Your family will seek you for help--for their salvation--and you will fail them. When that happens, I can't help but wonder what will happen to their vision of God. Or for that matter, their elevated vision of you."
—Kari Gulbrandsen
Having always wanted to visit Alaska, I was drawn to this book for the subject matter and time period.Ms. Peterson introduces us to Grace, who is fleeing an unwanted arranged marriage, and her companion and former governess, Karen, whose parents are serving in the mission field in Alaska. During a time when refined ladies did not travel without escort, these two ladies join up with Karen's aunt and head to the wilds of Alaska during the gold rush, seeking safety and anonymity in a land far away from Chicago. I could hardly wait until the library got in the second and third books in the series, and am already over halfway through the second volume.
—Trudy E
