A Thousand Lives Lived: Rachel's Deception by Karen Ann Hopkins Review

Rachel's Deception (Temptation #4), by Karen Ann Hopkins
Publication: May 8, 2015
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary,
Romance
Pages: 275
Format: ebook
Source: Author + Blog Tour
Rating:

Growing up Amish is difficult…but leaving it behind is even harder.
Noah was Amish...Rose wasn't. Being together should have been impossible. But somehow they found a way to make it work. They are finally a family, but their happily-ever-after is still a long off. Will Rose and her friends be able to force real change in the community?
Karen Ann Hopkins returns with a gripping new book in the YA Temptation series. The powerful family saga continues with Rachel's Deception, as events spiral out of control in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview. And Rachel Miller has her own secrets to hide. Noah’s younger sister has been living a double life. That is, until Justin Cameron, Rose's little brother, catches her in the act. Rachel is not the obedient Amish girl that her sister was, and her rebelliousness takes her to a very dangerous world. A world that only her true friends can help her escape from.
As Rachel questions all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment, Rose discovers what it really means to be shunned. And an evil shadow looms on the horizon, threatening not only Rose, but everyone she holds dear.

My Thoughts:

Well, I must say that it's been a serious knack of a while since I've read a book like this. Okay, it's been a long time, and since the third book in the Temptation series, I haven't read a book dealt with Amish people and romance like this. Rachel's Deception was a fresh wave of romance, loss and trying to hide from inequality. Everyone would love this, fans of the previous novels or not. Though... you'll need to read the others before this one.

My love for this series actually first began when I discovered the initial start to this series, Temptation, which truly speaks of its title. It began off with Noah and Rose's legacy, one that even is spoken about by the newer generation of characters in this novel, which is like Romeo and Juliet, though their love certainly is forbidden to some extent by some individuals. It's real, raw, and I can imagine this story being told on the news or like a legend, as I usually say during each and every single one of my reviews of any book from this series. Why do I find myself repeating some of the same phrases and terms over and over again? Because it sticks to the same path and ratio, and I just can't get enough. Don't take my 3.5 star rating as something cheap and disliking. It was pretty fab, if you ask me.

Very impressive and I feel like playing with my beard...

3.5 stars is great, awesome. I'm proud for getting through this novel in a matter of hours, also for the fact that I forgot about this blog tour until the last minute. But I knew that I would enjoy it anyways and would absolutely get to it... eventually. Me having an ebook copy isn't as intimidating as having a physical copy would provide me with. The feelings are real and strange, but that's the way my reading habits work, people. What did Karen Ann Hopkins provide readers with from the matter of the different protagonists and perspectives given? She gave us feelings, a new view on secretive lives.

This takes place some time into the future from where the last book left readers off with. Rose and Noah's daughter, Sarah Ann, is SO CUTE and she's growing up little by little. Rose is beginning to handle the madness of being a mother more and more, and she and Noah are willing to take any risks in order to protect their family and enhance their love relationship. What is a little cliché is that now, this is mostly taken place in the perspective of Justin and Rachel, Rose's brother and Noah's little sister. This is their love story.

I bet you're all wondering if something like this would work out. But yet again, you must keep in mind that this is fiction, and from the looks of it, anything is almost possible. This is the start of me listing the negative ideas that I saw while reading. THIS was cheesy. I expected things to go the way they did, and don't you all think it's a little absurd for two love interests to both be in relation of our star main characters from the rest of the series? I understand if it was taken place in the POV of one sibling... but both? Mashed-up together? That could've definitely been played with a little better, just saying.

They tell you I'm insaneeee.... 'Cause I've got a blank space...

I believe in love at first sight. The ultimate famous Shakespearean couple taught us all about that and the misfortunes that it can lead to. Though, Hopkins' romance here wasn't believable as I hoped it would be as were the characters. Yes, the purpose and prose of this novel is to convince readers that one can be a rebel and live life differently than most individuals (as both Rachel and Rose did), though I feel like this is a whole new spinoff when it wasn't needed. What're readers supposed to do or commence when something new and broad is brought into their minds again when the subject and doors were already closed? What are we supposed to do? Fight and try to read it. Never mind what I just said, if you're here for the positive side of the story, then you should actually stay tuned since I'm not the chick who says only disses and walks away with a smile upon her cheeks.

This was quick, sharp and an easy read. It is chick-lit, if you ask me. There are flirtsy (yep, I made that word up) points of the story that were pretty cute, and they all shaped the plot and made it 10x more interesting and intriguing. It's all about the romance, nothing else, nada. If you're not in for a fluffy contemporary read incorporated with a few droplets of gunshots, then this isn't for you. But yet again, you wouldn't be captivated to this review if you weren't. I know you're all interested, and I recommend that you continue to be and just start off with this series if you haven't had already! The ships are real, people.

I'm trying to stop with the rhetorical questions, I really am, but here's my last one: where does the reader go from here? To the bookstore, onto Amazon, to grab the whole series. This can definitely become something that you'll binge read in a matter of hours (all together) and fall in love. It'll be so much better if you do it that way, since there's no need for crazy reviews and major spoiler summaries! At least, that's what I would do, and I needed to recap everything for myself since I couldn't even get myself to remember who Justin was, or who died previously.

Karen Ann Hopkins has done it again! Here you have a fourth fascinating story that has snippets of realism, chick-lit and pure fiction all mixed up together with a dash of strawberry ice cream. It's sweet, but I was definitely able to shed a few tears and really feel sorrow and sympathy for the characters. It's hard not to when you feel like the whole story is happening right before your hands and in front of you!

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