LondaLocs

The concept of giving Noah's wife a voice was very interesting so I was eager to read this book. Due to ignorance and superstition she is fated to a life of exclusion and harassment because of a facial birthmark. Her father refuses to name her to keep the locals from being able to call her by name. Thinking of a common line used in arguments I've heard.... "Keep my name out of your mouth!", I really do understand that reasoning. She was 'rescued' from the life of an old maid (19) by an ancient Noah.

The concept was the best thing about the book. The characters felt stale and one dimensional. Noah was depicted as a grumpy old man, but we really didn't get to know him very well. Noah's wife was not developed as well as I would have like either. Even though she is the one telling the story, it still felt too detached. For instance, I really wanted to know how she overcame her initial revulsion of Noah, but that was skimmed over. Reading it felt more like reading the script for a sitcom than a novel at times, and the lines that were supposed to be humorous, we're....not. There were also some 'too' far out there even for fiction plot holes. For instance, Ona was supposed to have 'lain' with a giant and conceived a son. How was that possible if the giant was the same size as the one they battled at sea? Ouch! ;)

The book ended better than it started. Things started to get interesting once they started building the ark. It seems like most readers enjoyed this one more than I did, but I would have a difficult time recommending this one to anyone I know.

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Received this book in a goodreads giveaway. Opinion is unbiased.