"The Lesson" Blog Tour

The Lesson

By Suzanne Woods Fisher

Centered on one of Suzanne Woods Fisher's most loved characters, this is the story fans have eagerly anticipated. The precocious Mary Kate Lapp is all grown up (well, almost) and ready to take on the world – with surprising results.

In her wildest dreams, spunky and impulsive nineteen-year-old M.K. never imagined herself behind a schoolteacher's desk. A run-in with the schoolteacher compels her to act as a substitute teacher, just as her restless desire to see the world compels her to apply for a passport . . . just in case. The only thing of interest to M.K. in the sleepy Amish community of Stoney Ridge is the unexplained death of a sheep farmer that coincided with the arrival of a mysterious young man into the community. Frustrated that no one takes the crime seriously, she takes matters into her own hands. Unfortunately, as tends to be the case for M.K., she jumps headlong into trouble.

Fisher's trademark plot twists and turns are as unexpected and satisfying as ever in this third book in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series.

***Available January 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group***

About the Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of The Choice, The Waiting, The Search, The Keeper and The Haven, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Suzanne is a Christy Award finalist and a Carol Award finalist. She is the host of internet radio show Amish Wisdom and a columnist for Christian Post and Cooking & Such magazines. She lives in California.
For more information, please visit www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and connect with her on Twitter @suzannewfisher.


My Take:

Since I was already familiar with the characters in this series, it was nice to be able to jump right into the story and reconnect with the folks in Stoney Ridge. And since I felt the previous book, The Haven, had a cliff-hanger ending, I was looking forward to seeing how Sadie's story would be resolved. But when we jump into this novel, everything with Sadie has been resolved without finding out how any of it happened!

So, that was a bit frustrating, but I really like it when each book in a series tells a different person's story, and I was looking forward to see what Mary Kate would be up to in this one.

From the beginning, the storylines were interesting, and Mary Kate was a fun character to read about, but I could not relate to her at all. That is fine, since I’m sure that other readers will be able to connect with her, but my personality is just so completely opposite from hers that she sometimes just got on my nerves. This annoying aspect was more towards the beginning of the book, though, since M.K. grew a lot throughout this novel, which is something that I really like.

This book does a lot of head-hopping and has short scenes, which makes for a fun but sometimes a bit of a head-spinning read. I will say that I liked having the views and thoughts and feeling of all of the different characters right there in front of me. The plot in this novel moved along very well, and the twist was excellent! I didn’t see it coming, and that is unusual for me. But this twist and how everything came around full circle really made this book for me and ultimately upped the rating for this book.

The overall theme of forgiveness in this series, and especially in this novel, was also excellent. The kind of forgiveness that is portrayed can only be found through the power of Christ, and this was portrayed very well.

I really enjoyed this novel, but I really would have liked for the ending to have been fleshed out a bit more. The major storylines were completed, but there were things here and there that would have been nice to know in an epilogue or something. (Like did Julia end up having a girl?!) Since this is the end of the series, I guess I will just have to make up my own ‘down-the-road’ happenings in Julia, Sadie, and Mary Kate’s lives!

I will give The Lesson … 4 BookWorms.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Publishers through their blog tour program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."