A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story Of Esther (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I listened to this book as I cleaned part of the basement, and did the laundry. I took the time to read the book of Esther, to compare what was written in this book. The author wrote this novel as a love story. There was no king by the name she used, from the period that story takes place. She made the king a young handsome caring man. She filled in things that might have happened in that time period. It was an enjoyable story. This book already had a lot going against it because Esther was my favorite story growing up. Favorite to the point that you can easily picture me sitting on my stomach, fists to my cheeks in wide-eyed wonder at this strong woman going against all odds to finish her personal mission from God. I even bought that terrible (okay, average) movie that came out just because: Esther. So with all of that in mind, I read this hoping it'd be a fun novel take on it.I wasn't all that thrilled.In a nutshell, my main issues were:*Mordecai, never-mind the relationship change, but why was he turned into a self-serving ignorant misoginyst? You know what? Maybe he was, but this doesn't make me want to root for him. I remember reading the Biblical story and having sympathy for him, I would've liked it here.*Ahasuerus. The book suffered from a very Twilight-esque, "Oh the king is so amazing. Oh, he's so beautiful! Oh, gush gush gush!" That's okay at first, but 300 pages in...I've GOT it, you don't need to tell me anymore. At times I had to close the book and glance at the front to make sure this was a book about Esther and not him.*Haman. What. I get that she tried to humanize him. But she humanized him to the point that he as a villain made no sense. Now you have a guy going from, "Hey, I just want to protect the king and I'm jealous of anyone else close to him," to casually going, "Yeah, I think I feel like murdering an entire nation today." It didn't connect. It almost tried to paint him doing that as an honest mistake. That's not an honest mistake, that's insane. I would've liked to have seen that side of him.*The whole point of it felt lost. You should build up to Esther's great "will the king kill her when she enters the throne room" scene, but it didn't. By the time she got there (and with help, might I add, and I also didn't like that. I always preferred the idea of her doing this solo through her own strength, not with servants that WHOA, were a bit too brash with the king, by the way), the book kind of treated it like just a minor plot piece. It plodded before and after that and didn't build.*Romance. I got it, and it was neat to see that angle, but at the same time she was SO in love with him, it clouded the story. I always liked thinking of Esther as loving her husband but her people more, hence the whole...er...point of the story. But this novel turned her into a wobbling mess. Eh.*Baby. What. What was even the point? I thought the surprise baby might serve a purpose to the story but it didn't. All it did was come full circle to help achieve an end that was so cliche it was almost silly. Also, a baby made her fasting idea pretty irresponsible. I understand that's why the author dropped it from 3 days to 1, but still, I've been there. Ain't no fasting happening with a baby, not without a LOT of fainting. *Leaving out key scenes. Mordecai being paraded through the streets would make sense as to why Haman was angry. The two dinner scenes with Haman/King/Esther builds tension, why replace these with...fodder?*"If I perish, I perish." WHY leave out the best line of this story? Why??????????????So, in case it wasn't clear, this wasn't for me. It gets two stars because: Esther.
What do You think about A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story Of Esther (2011)?
Enjoyable love story adaptation to a beloved religious story. Completely enjoyed it.
—Ginger
Great interpretation of what people may have been like in the old Testament story.
—LakeishaV
eAudio book from Northern California Digital Library.
—hanri
