A Life One Dreamed by Rachel Fordham – Revell Books Review

Hello girls! A review was just posted yesterday, but I also told you I had four books I needed to get done before September 1st. (The other two books are beta reading projects) Here’s my thoughts on A Life Once Dreamed…

Finishing this book is like saying goodbye to a good, good friend as you shut the door to head home. Bittersweet. It’s gonna be such a good memory, and you had such a great time, but it’s not like you can just stay there forever.

Little babies without homes are my hearts weakness.

Finishing A Life Once Dreamed was like saying goodbye to a good, good friend as you shut the door to head home. Bittersweet. It’s gonna be such a good memory, and you had such a great time, but it’s not like you can just stay there forever.

I was slightly apprehensive at the beginning, because I thought it was going to be a cliche story I couldn’t get into about how the girl thought she had to make the choice for the guy and she just was self conscious and didn’t think she was good enough, and oh look, here comes the guy to woo her back.

The Characters

It was not. Aggie’s reasoning was very legitimate, and I really appreciated the fact that she still loved him. She hadn’t gotten over him in all that time. And she didn’t pretend that she had.
The author unraveled her past in such a slow suspenseful way, but when she finally got it done, she did it without all at once without dragging you on. I wasn’t 100% positive on what her past was, I had some ideas, but the reveal was very satisfactory.

It seemed like Sam was something extra thrown in, but he didn’t take anything from the plot, and the resolution left me satisfied in his department as well.

It might have been just slightly too rosy-glasses outlook to think that James never found another girl to tickle his fancy, and that he only had eyes for Aggie for years and years, even though he never knew that he would get the chance to find her and get his answers.
That being said, the way that James never gave up was so sweet. He just kept waiting and waiting and asking and waiting and not giving up. Each of the characters developed as individuals and that made me respect each of them in their own way.

The Plot

The plot felt like it was a little hoppy. The main point was obviously the relationship between James and Aggie, but the side plots were pretty interesting too.

Scarlet Fever

This was one of my favorite scarlet fever depictions! It was so well done how the sorrow and gloom and exhaustion carried through, and how loss did happen. But there was celebration and hope in the end! That was what made the difference. All too often when I read works of fiction that have diseases or especially historical fiction with scarlet or yellow fever or whatever else, there’s just no hope in the end. It finishes on a “Yay we survived” rather than “Now we keep growing and reaching to be better.” I know this was probably just a personal thing that not very many people will care about, but it stood out to me and I viewed it as a positive thing. It was done in a way that it was believable enough to be realistic, but hopeful enough to be enjoyable.

Baby Freddie

Okay, the one other point I wanted to touch on. Baby Freddie. The way the author handled the “Illegitimate” baby topic really made my heart happy. In that time kids without complete families or born out of wedlock would be treated completely differently. Even though those kids had NO control with where or when they are born. It was the belief of bad blood. Okay, I do understand that some people will believe that that sort of thing will pass on through kids or through blood. I also know that statistically, kids in broken or split homes do have a harder time growing up and being successful good human beings. That doesn’t mean its fair. That doesn’t mean that it’s okay for those kids to be treated and viewed that way. We as people, and especially those of us who are Christians, are called to take care of the fatherless and little children. We are not called to shun or shame them! Jesus loved each and every single little soul that was born on this earth. I love that Aggie understood that love and not only did she love Freddie from the beginning, but that little boy got to grow up in a family where he was accepted exactly for who he was and where he came from, without being judged as to where he was going to end up because of it.

In Conclusion

My favorite line from the book was definitely by James. He said “It’s only what you came from.” It’s ONLY what they came from. “It’s not where you’re going.”
PREACH DOC!

And, on a final note, there were some mentions of when James and Aggie were gifted a quilt from the town, but it was one quilt, even though they were not married, James made little wise cracks about “sharing” the quilt. I leave that up to you to interpret XD.

Personally I would read A Life Once Dreamed again sometime. Would I recommend it for girls? I think this one is probably more for older girls. James and Aggie were already in love in this book, and their emotions and thoughts were drawn to each other (not physically) and their matured love was evident because they had loved each other for so long before. Probably 18 and up is good. There are a couple of kisses, but nothing really sensual or inappropriate. I better be done because this review is going long. If you made it through, wow! Great work! XD

I received a complementary copy of A Life Once Dreamed, but a positive review was not required. All words are my own! If you wanted to add this book to your Goodreads you can do so here. If you would like to purchase a copy, you can do that here!

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