A good book was bogged down by its misrepresentation of being a Christian Romance.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
When I first heard about Child of Dust by Shoba Sadler, I was excited about the potential.
Amazon explains:
Beautiful but spoilt Vietnamese socialite, Cao Kim Lye, learns of her parents shocking death from the dashing Amerasian family chauffeur, Bryan Nguyen.
Kim steps out of a world of crystal and chandelier to enter the dust and chaos of working-class Hanoi. She finds herself living under the roof of a shop cum living quarters with Bryan and his adoptive family.
Ever conscious of the privileged class, Kim struggles against the emotional ties she forms towards Bryan, the reluctant saviour, who considers her an unnecessary hitch to his already complicated life.
He still bears the scars of abandonment by his mother and his American GI father when U.S. troops pulled out of Vietnam.
Eventually Bryan and Kim’s powerful attraction to each other begins to break down the wall between them.
Though the basic premise – two people of notably different social standings fall in love – wasn’t groundbreaking, there were some very unique aspects to it.
This novel had a lot of strong components: good character development, engaging writing style, and interesting twists. I appreciated that the author provided insight into a complex issue that I as an American wouldn’t have known about otherwise. There were definitely some endearing and heartwarming aspects. I appreciated that this book wasn’t just a romance but also had a mystery sub-plot. This added to the depth of the novel.
Based on this, I could’ve overlooked some of the minor issues (a few instances of awkward word choice, some minor typos, some inappropriate/titillating scenes, and Christianity seeming to be an add-on rather than the core).
However, because this was presented to me as a Christian novel, I feel I need it to review it from that perspective.
Like I said, there were definitely some inappropriate scenes. It’s unrealistic to expect a book to not have any sin or conflict, but as a Christian novel, it shouldn’t have such salacious scenes. Sometimes, it seemed like sexual attraction and acts of seduction were used in place of genuine acts of affection.
My other problem is some of the Christian references seemed to be added on rather than a central point. Though the characters discussed their reliance on God, the growth into that relationship for Kim was mostly hidden in the book. t felt kind of forced that she was baptized and that she relied on God all this time. Again, I’m not expecting perfection because no story is that pure, but I would’ve appreciated just a little more detail about her journey closer to God.
All things considered, if this were just a regular book that I was reading based on the back cover description, I would’ve rated it higher. I would consider reading other books by the author that aren’t romances. She is an engaging storyteller, and there were a lot of really good aspects of this book. Unfortunately, because it was presented to me as a Christian book, I feel that I must rate it lower and caution people that there are a number of passages that wouldn’t be appropriate for a Christian audience.