This wasn't the typical Christian historical novel. I infact didn't realize it was meant to be classified as Christian until near the end when the author chose to have one of the characters get a little preachy. I did feel that the morals and themes throughout the book did convey a Christian perspective, but it wasn't overbearing as some books can be. The above mentioned incident felt forced to me, it had contradicted Jessie's comments in the book about her father--he is the one who gave the mini-sermon and it didn't feel like he was talking to his daughter, it felt like the author was trying to talk to her readers, which the majority of people who would read this book are likely to be Christian already and it seems like it didn't need to be so forced.'

I loved the story, I was 3/4s through and trying to figure how it could possibly be resolved before the end of the book without being continued.

I think the author did an excellent job of creating believable, realistic characters. I do wish that Gemma's character would have been explored a little bit more, but since the story is told in the first person POV of a 13 year old girl it may not have been an easy task to integrate more of her into the story. (well it could have been shown through more interaction but as it is already a fairly long book it may not have been possible).