A Cinderella Christmas by Amanda Tru

 

My Review:

When I picked up this book, back around Christmas time, I assumed it would be a light, happy, fun Christmas read. I didn’t think it would have a life changing message. I wanted to review it so that others would look it up!

In the story, it begins with a car accident, and one that is the characters fault. She struggles with the guilt of it, even though it was an accident. When she is distressed, no one stopped to check on her. She made the comment in her journal about how many times she walked by someone or walked away when she should have spoken up. The story goes on to show how her thought on that, changed many lives, from young to old.

I read this book last week, and yesterday, I noticed a girl sitting on a bench. She looked very serious, almost upset. I smiled at her and our eyes caught. Before I could stop myself, I asked her, “Are you ok?”

She smiled and I realized she was probably just deep in thought and I moved on. But she seemed relieved to be noticed, someone cared… I don’t know her story and likely never will, but the book gave me a lesson that sometimes it is the little things that speak to someone.

If you are looking for a fun inspirational read, check this one out.

 

A Cinderella Christmas 

https://amzn.to/2wz3W4W

The Devaluing of the Fiction Story

Once upon a time there was a fiction story written. It was taken from true facts, stories and the many experiences of the author on the topic. The readers rejoiced to see the story come to life and feel as though they experienced it.

But the naysayers came up to say, “Is it a true story? If it is fiction we cannot have it. We need to read true stories.”

The fact of the matter is, most truth is stranger than fiction. If you have read a fiction novel and it made you look up the facts, it has done its job. The author likely created the story with facts, and made up a story around it. Other times a fiction story is written with true facts that cannot be revealed as the truth.

I wrote a fiction novel that will never be published, based off of life experiences I had. At one point, I shared a portion of it with someone and some of the comments were laughable. The points they called out as unrealistic and too much fiction, were facts and experiences that had happened to me. I realized then that I could never publish a non fiction book of my life or people would do this even more so.

Yes, I have had an odd life. It is not one you would read everyday, as even to myself when I start to repeat what I have experienced, I stop and think, “How on earth?”

When you read a fiction novel, instead of thinking, “Is this a true story?” look at the facts that it is based on and what you can learn from it. If you find yourself irritated by fiction, take some time to look at your life and why that is.

Fiction at times, can be the most truth telling about a life. It is often protecting those that cannot share their stories in the most pure form.

When you critique a book, realize to look at it in a critical format, without partiality.

1. When was the setting of the book?
2. Were times different then than now?
3. Why am I assuming that I know more than the author that spent many, many years of research before writing this book, without looking it up? (Always look it up before you critique, I learned that the hard way).
4. Distinguish that fiction allows liberties and not everything has to be factual, but you want to figure out the difference, usually by reading the authors notes.

These are helpful when you post a book review or critically offer suggestions. Fiction is valuable. Let’s stop putting it in a secondary place value.