Book Review: Counted with the Stars

Hello everyone!!  I'm back with a book review for you all.  I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.  Counted with the Stars Out from Egypt part 1, by Connilyn Cossette. 

Isn't this cover gorgeous?

Sold into slavery by her father and forsaken by the man she was supposed to marry, young Egyptian Kiya must serve a mistress who takes pleasure in her humiliation. When terrifying plagues strike Egypt, Kiya is in the middle of it all.

To save her older brother and escape the bonds of slavery, Kiya flees with the Hebrews during the Great Exodus. She finds herself utterly dependent on a fearsome God she's only just beginning to learn about, and in love with a man who despises her people. With everything she's ever known swept away, will Kiya turn back toward Egypt or surrender her life and her future to Yahweh?

Characters

Some of the characters were Kiya, Shira, Eben, Jumo, Tekurah, and others.  Kiya's character development was wonderfully executed.  Here she is being Egyptian severing all these other gods and through the story we see her slowly begin to change and understand that her gods are not real, that Yahweh is the one and only God.

Kiya being the main character, the story is all from her point of view, which gives us an insight into the minds of the Egyptians during this time.  How she felt during all of the different plagues and such. 

Shira is a Hebrew slave to the same household that Kiya serves in.  Shira's kind, joyful spirit is so sweet.  She is my favorite character.  I love how kind and self-sacrificing she is.  She is such a joy to read and I can't wait for the second book that is going to be from her point of view.

Eben, he is the brother to Shira.  I have to admit, when I first "met" him I didn't like him.  He's always glaring and just seemed rude.  But the more I read and read, I fell in love with him.  He is sooo sweet and kind and I just...ahh.  The parts with him and Kiya I kind of felt in my chest that it was actually me he was talking to.  Plus, he has a beard, and you know how I love beards.  XD

Some more secondary characters, Jumo is Kiya's older brother and I loved him as well.  Tekurah is Kiya's mistress and she is so mean!  Though, I did kind of feel bad for her, she is drowning in bitterness and lashes out at Kiya.  I also liked Shefu.

Writing

Connilyn is an amazing writer!!  The way she described the plagues was like you were actually there.

The scenery, the way the characters felt.  Truly beautiful.  Here's a little bit for you.

"The narrow canyon cradled lush green between its meandering halls that had been smoothed by eons of yearly floods. The early rains had done their work, leaving behind a trail of verdant plant life.  The distant mountains still retained their caps of snow, which meant that there would be many runoff streams threading their way through these foothills."

Like I said, some of the parts was like I was the one actually there.  That's a good writer for you,  who can transport you to far off places.

Overall

I LOVED this book!!  It was so well crafted and thought out.  Some twists and turns and surprises.  I highly recommend it.  It was a very enjoyable book and I cannot wait to read the second one!! 

One note though, there are some things that are not for younger readers, this is definitely a book for more mature people. 

5 out of 5

Thank you so much for reading!