The Refuge by Ann. H. Gabhart
Lilian's Rating: 3 out of 5 bookmarks

Well, this was certainly an interesting book to read! I had never heard of Ann H. Gabhart before reading this book, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out the book has both positives and negatives which are both quite equally balanced in my opinion.

The Refuge is about a community of Shaker people. I'd also never heard of Shakers prior to picking up this book. Some people might be set off by the Shakers' beliefs (the biggest one coming to mind is their "no marriage" rule, where men and women act like brothers and sisters), but I honestly really enjoyed the book because seeing how they lived and what their beliefs were like made it so much more interesting. I also really enjoyed the writing style--it made the book a real page-turner and it's definitely one of the reasons why I'd pick up another Ann H. Gabhart book.

Like I said though, there are negatives to this book--mainly unsavory content. One woman, married, acts as a seductress/creeper character. [Highlight with your mouse to read this slightly spoiler-y content warning.] In one scene, she waits, unclothed, in bed for another character (not the character she's married to). I would definitely call this scene descriptive (although not graphic) and would personally skim through it if I were to read the book again. A character also poisons someone purposefully, several times, and there's also a scene where a young child is deliberately frightened by someone at night. While this isn't exactly unclean content, it did really damper my enjoyment of The Refuge.

Overall, I would give The Refuge 3 bookmarks out of 5. It was an excellent book as far as writing, most characters, dialogue, and more, but I had to take two bookmarks off for the previously mentioned, awful content. I personally wouldn't recommend reading this book because of that, but I will be checking out more of Gabhart's books.




Lilian S. has been a hardcore bookworm since the tender age of 7 and a book reviewer for a couple of years. She is currently a student and in her spare time enjoys singing, graphic designing, and interacting with other Christ-minded readers. A couple of her favorite genres in both books and movies are: Christian contemporary, fantasy, and dystopian. She occasionally enjoys science and historical fiction and likes a good suspense novel as well. Lilian is also an athlete (Ultimate Frisbee, anyone?), a blogger at Green Tea With Books, and founder at reviewer site Stellae Books.



Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.