Ms. Cossette is a fresh voice in biblical historical fiction. Normally, I tend to skirt this genre of fiction because I feel that authors may inadvertently impart character traits of people in the Bible that are not there. However, this was not the case in Counted with the Stars.
Counted with the Stars is told through the view of Kiya, a young Egyptian girl whose life is uprooted when her father sells her into slavery when he cannot afford to pay the debt he owes. In the course of a day, she goes from being a privileged merchant's daughter to a slave. Kiya's mistress, Tekurah, takes delight in disgracing her every opportunity she gets. Through these trials of unjust degradation, Kiya remains strong and determined. This strength and determination were qualities that I admired in Kiya. She befriends a Hebrew slave girl named Shira and Shira tells Kiya about her God, Yahweh, and the story of His people: the Hebrews. Rather than being closed off to Shira and her people, Kiya was intrigued and curious. I liked that the author caused her (Kiya) to have an open and curious heart to hear about God. This trait about having a heart to hear about God and His Word resonated with me as a believer and reminded me that I need to always have a heart for God and things of His Word.
One aspect of Ms. Cossette's book that I particularly liked was that I felt as if she brought the plague to life and made me realize the severity of it. Reading about the plagues that God caused through Moses to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go was horrific. In my finite mind, I was thinking on smaller terms rather than a national scale. Ms. Cossette's vivid descriptions of the various plagues make you feel like you are right in the middle of it experiencing the horrors along with the Egyptian people. You could smell the stench of the Nile as it turned red; your skin crawled during the plagues of lice, locusts, and small frogs.
Through trials, hardships, and death are part of the journey the light of the promised land shines.
~~ Counted with the Stars was provided to me by Bethany House in return for my honest opinion. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, for which I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone ~~
