Monday, May 14, 2012

"The Sunflower," by Richard Paul Evans


Did I love it: 3.5/5
Sex: 2/5
Violence: 2/5
Language: 1/5

Plot: A woman goes to Peru for a humanitarian project after her fiancee dumps her a week before the wedding. While she's there, she meets the handsome director of a children's orphanage who left his life in the states a few years prior after suffering a traumatic event as a doctor. A series of mishaps wraps their paths together, and love ensues *tear*. Also, I'm pretty sure this is a "true" story; the main characters gave him permission to "write their story" (although I'm pretty sure there was some measure of creative license in there).

Did I love it: This was a very entertaining read that kept me wondering the whole time, "How is this going to work out??" I've only read a couple of his romances, but I've been very pleased with how clean they are (no sex), and I like his plot twists. This one really kept me on my toes, and I didn't feel like any of his plot twists were unbelievable. I also appreciated the detailed imagery of the different places he took us to visit in Peru. I really enjoyed this read; I stayed up late more than once to push through "just one more chapter."

Sex: 2/5 We hear about a couple that is going for a walk to go visit a historic land mark, and the next day one of them winks and says "We didn't quite make it." There are references to different situations where children are involved in severe sexual abuse.

Violence: 2/5 Similar to the "sexual content," there are references to children being put into sexual slavery, or being killed for their organs. There's an instance of a child being kidnapped, but it doesn't go into great detail; you pretty much just know it happened.

Language: 1/5 None.