powerful and unforgetable | Watch Over Me

Storybuzz.net review | Watch Over Me | Christa Parrish

books:


	• Watch Over Me Christa Parrish Bethany House, 2009 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 40 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

So real it could happen anywhere in America today!

This is a story about a couple that could exist anywhere in America today. The story opens with the discovery of an hours old infant in a plastic bag, who is rescued by Deputy Benjamin Patil. He and his wife, Abbi, are register as foster parents in the county. Both Abbi and Benjamin have issues to deal with in this book as they care for the foster baby and work to salvage their marriage, which has suffered since Benjamin was in the war in Afghanistan. There is also another story inter-twined in this one about a young boy named Matthew, who lives with his Aunt and cousins. He has a serious illness, and uses a pad of paper to communicate since the progression of the illness has left him mute.

This story was really realistic and very modern in its approach. It touches on many issues plaguing today's average American besides the marriage problems the main couple face due to him being a soldier and her being a pacifist, and the challenges that their marriage faces since it is interracial. Other issues include eating disorders and bareness for Abbi and emotional trauma from the war for Benjamin, and other issues for some of the other characters that would give too much of the story away.

I would like to thank Bethany House for the opportunity to review their books and for the free copy I received.

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powerful and unforgetable

Christa Parrish tells a story that you will not soon forget. Between flashbacks to the life & death in war, to insecurities, to lost & found friendships, to finding new life and losing that new life, and so much more emotions and actions both in words and deeds. This story has it all.
You will find yourself crying one moment and laughing the next. You will find strength in God one moment and questioning soon after that.
This is a pwerful story that will keep you hanging on and feeling like you are right there with the characters.
Christa parrish has written another great read!

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Storybuzz.net review

"There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees."-Victor Hugo

On a lark I entered a contest on a similar site to Storybuzz called [...]. And was pleasantly surprised to find myself the winner and recipient of two autographed books and a high quality box of chocolates. I was instantly drawn to the cover of one novel titled Watch Over Me by Christa Parrish. It depicted a sweet baby staring directly at the reader over the shoulder of a woman. Cheek to cheek with the baby, the woman's hair in a ponytail, lent an air of fragility to the woman's exposed back and shoulders.

The book opens when Deputy Benjamin Patil, local law enforcement and soldier who survived the Afghanistan war with the loss of his toes and his best friend finds an abandoned baby girl only hours old in a plastic grocery bag by the side of the river.

He and his wife Abbi, who are unable to have children, are chosen to be foster parents for her. But, their home is filled with stress and disagreement and may not be the ideal home for this baby. Between the tension of Benjamin's trauma while serving in Afghanistan and his pacifist, hippie, vegan wife's struggle with an eating disorder and her helplessness in the face of so much wrong between them.

Their lives intersect with Matthew, a deaf teenager, who suffers from several medical issues and comes from a troubled family. As Abbi and Benjamin continue to take care of the baby, more and more pain is revealed and their marriage struggles to survive.

"He heard Abbi come out of the bedroom, the swollen door opening with a sticky pop. Everything swelled in the heat. Problems. Fears. Sins. All puffed with humidity and ready to rain out with the slightest change in air pressure."

Silvia, the abandoned baby brings a purpose into the Patil's life. Named for a Shakespeare's line, "Who is Silvia? What is she, that all our swains commend her? Holy, fair, and wise is she; the heaven such grace did lend her, that she might admired be." As baby Silvia brings Ben and Abbi together in a common cause, they soon learn that she's only a bandage for their lurking problems. And they are forced to ask themselves, if they lose Silvia, will their marriage survive?

Parenting is explored in depth in this story. From Ben's immigrant parents; To Matthew and his cousins being raised fatherless; Through Silvia's abandonment and Abbi's understanding of her dysfunction parent relationship.

Matthew is a precious character and carrying too much on his shoulders in this story. If I talk as though they are real person, it is because Parrish made them seem so to me as I read their stories. Caring for his young cousins as almost a father figure, while navigating through dialysis, he comes into the Patil's life to mow the lawn and care for Silvia when Abbi does her pottery. A strong believer and a math whiz, it is he who must figure out the most difficult equation in the story, who should ultimately parent Silvia.

"In pi he saw the reflection of God. Pi was constant, always the same - today, tomorrow, and forever. It was irrational, like the cross, foolishness to those who didn't believe. It was transcendental; no finite sequence of operations on integers could ever create it. It never ended."

The book does not shy away from heavy issues. Subjects like love, marriage, family, the church, forgiveness, identity and redemption are woven throughout this intoxicating story. Though it explores the bleak moments in life, the story ends hopeful and personal. The reader fully invested not only in the characters but the ability of God to redeem the most unlikely situation...perhaps one in their own life.

GENRE: Realistic Fiction

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Watch Over Me - Actually 3-1/2 stars

When Deputy Benjamin Patil finds a baby girl only a few hours old abandoned in a field, he and his wife Abbi are chosen to be foster parents for her. But, their home is filled with stress and disagreement and may not be the ideal home for this baby. The source of the tension is Benjamin's trauma while serving in Afghanistan. Their lives intersect with a young man, Matthew who suffers from several medical issues and comes from a troubled family. As Abbi and Benjamin continue to take care of the baby, more and more pain is revealed and their marriage struggles to survive.

I have to say I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Christa Parrish is a very gifted writer and storyteller. She is definitely an author I am interested in continuing to read. I found this book to be a bit too edgy for my liking. Now, I usually like edgy books, a lot, but this one just did not agree with me entirely. One reason for that is possibly because of the sexual presence in this story. Don't get me wrong, this book was not trashy or smutty at all, but I just felt it was a bit much for my liking. I also had trouble relating to Abbi and her more liberal tendencies, especially her anti war stance.

I really liked Matthew's part in this story. He was my favorite character and I felt he was a strong presence in this story. His persistent faith and determination were inspiring.

Overall, this book is well written, the story is interesting with very real characters. If you like edgy fiction, this is definitely the book for you.

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Deputy Benjamin Patil is the one to find the infant girl--hours old, abandoned in a field. When the mother can't be located, Ben and his wife, Abbi, seem like the perfect couple to serve as foster parents. But the baby's arrival opens old wounds for Abbi and shines a harsh light on how much Ben has changed since a devastating tour in Iraq. Their marriage teeters on the brink and now they must choose to either reclaim what they once had or lose each other forever.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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