The Law of Moses

Amy Harmon does it again. She creates a story that becomes larger than life. A story that is capable of making you connect to every single one of the characters, to feel every moment to your core. The prologue sets this book apart. The prologue all by itself creates this desperate longing and is the catalyst for every emotion you feel as you read this. The words that launch this story never leave you. “This is a story of love with no end... though it took me a while to get there. If I tell you up right up front, right in the beginning that I lost him, it will be easier for you to bear... ...And you’ll be able to prepare. And that’s my gift to you. I wasn’t given that same courtesy. I wasn’t prepared... Because it is my story. And I wasn’t prepared.” Now I’d like to ease your mind that this warning will prepare you, but I can’t do that. Like Moses and like Georgia, I can only give you truth. It will hurt. But it will inspire and it make you realize that beauty can be found in the most tragic of scenes. “The found Moses in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death.” This is the beginning of the journey of Moses, the baby born from a drug addict, addicted to drugs and abandoned left to be shuffled around until finally finding a home with Gigi, his Great Grandmother. A story of a broken boy on the cusp of becoming a man that draws the attention of the neighbor girl, Georgia. The girl that speaks to horses and for some reason speaks to Moses. “She was a small town girl with a simple way of speaking and thinking, a frank way of being that turned me on and turned me off at the same time. I wanted to run from her. But at the same time, I spent all my time thinking about her.” Moses has a talent for painting, but this isn’t something he has yet to embrace, this is a talent - a gift that has only become a way to release all the pressure. But this isn’t just the ability to swirl paint on a canvas, this is something so much more that something that simple. And although Georgia has gotten close to him, he hasn’t let her in all the way. The Laws of Moses doesn’t allow for it. But Georgia isn’t one that easily gives up. Thus begins the story of a girl that falls in love with the boy that doesn’t know how to love. A boy that can only paint the things he can’t quite understand or express. “If I were to paint you, I would use every color.” That if that was the whole story, this wouldn’t have been a life changing kind of read. There are two parts. The before and the after. “Give me five greats, Georgia.” I won’t go into the details of the after, that is simply something that you have to experience for yourself. But I will tell you that the pressure I felt deep inside my chest when I started this story never released me. Not even a day has passed. Both Moses and Georgia were characters that you could not help but love from the first second you met them. There is no way to escape being pulled into the story right alongside of them and mimic every emotion they feel. There were times when I expected what was to come next, times when I wanted to curse the author for the warning at the start of this and saw that being prepared could also be quite cruel even disguised with mercy. And honestly there were times when my reactions came from my own fear bubbling up inside of me because I was trying to heed that warning. Those times when I was in tears only to realize that the moment had shifted and I had more time, well those times worked in favor with this story. I needed a subtle release of emotions throughout several moments of this story. Had everything been allowed to stay bottled up I would have been destroyed in the end. And although it hurt, still hurts – the feeling that remains with me is so much larger than hurt. It is almost like the pain has been wrapped in something peaceful. Amy Harmon tells you a story so beautiful that it allows you to see the tragic path of these characters with such a clear eye that you don’t miss that beauty. I can say easily that this is Amy Harmon’s best book to date. This just topped my list of reads for 2014. The Law of Moses capture every emotion humanly possible and there was no way to read this without falling into the story completely. I can’t imagine this story ever leaving my heart or my head. I feel privileged that this author had allowed us to experience her gift of writing. I am honored to be able to let my eyes drift over these words. I cannot express how grateful I am that she took the leap from creating these stories in her head and had the strength to risk putting them in our hands. I think this is one of those books that everyone should read. It has a touch or romance to it, as it is a love story and although it isn’t a love story not touched by tragedy, it is still an earthshaking experience that will make you feel so many strong emotions. And although many (many) tears were shed there is this indescribable peace that stayed with me after I put this down. Something serene that I felt even as I sobbed. You have not read a story like this before and I doubt you will ever encounter one like it in the future.

Georgia Shepherd is the perfect girl next door, and a 17-year-old aspiring barrel racer who loves horses, living in the small town of Levan in Utah. Her straightforwardness and curiosity is piqued when a boy moves into the house next door - a boy whose story is just as fascinating as the man himself. Moses Wright is what they call a “crack-baby” and was left in a laundry basket shortly after his birth, and although they expected him to die he managed to grow up into a 18-year-old boy, but with all sorts of problems and subject to violence and hallucinations. As a last hope, he gets sent to his great-grandmother in Utah, where nobody wants anything to do with him, except for Georgia, who is totally fascinated by this closed-up boy who paints like a god. But Moses is uncomfortable with all the attention and affection he gets from Georgia and doesn’t want her to be victim of the big secret he is keeping from her, this curse that has everyone qualify him as crazy and mad, so he does everything he can to push her away. And while he is the prime suspect for several murders and disappearances that have occurred in Utah lately, Moses has no choice but to flee and leave Georgia heartbroken. Seven years later, they meet again and both their lives have changed, but time never quite healed their wounds or even helped love fade. As Moses does his best to right his wrongs, he is bound for a true heartbreak of his own. The reason I had this read on my shelf was because my favourite author Colleen Hoover had recommended this book and I liked the plot, so I blindly gave it a go. And “blindly” seems to be the right adjective here, because I had no idea at all that this book had a touch of paranormal in it, which the teaser did not give away (in addition to that, I never read the GR reviews in advanced so my own review remains unbiased, so there’s no way at all I could have known). Well, most of you will hate me for this, but I am am totally not into paranormal (vampires, mindreaders and werewolves and all that stuff? no thanks!). But hey, I really enjoyed The Law of Moses because that paranormal touch made the book an extremely suspenseful and unexpected read. There is not much to say without actually spoiling the read any further, so I will just comment on the book itself. First of all, I fell in love with Amy Harmon’s wonderful and powerful writing: there is emotion and depth in every word, and it will leave you hooked from beginning to start. The teaser says it all: prepare for a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. - and believe me when I say that Amy Harmon will make you feel every single one of these emotions and many more throughout the book. The storyline was - as I said - completely unusual compared to what I generally read. But it was perfect. Perfect and refreshing. Perfect because it was seamless: so much that you could actually believe it for real. And refreshing because well… it is primarily a love story (but far from being your ordinary blissful love story: prepare for lots of tears and gut-wrenching emotions) and it is also a suspenseful thriller that will definitely send shivers down your spine as you read it. Everything in the book was just perfect, and although I didn’t want this book to come to an end, the story is provided with a wonderful closure for two very authentic characters whose story I will never forget. This standalone is neither young adult nor new adult, it’s not drama or paranormal or anything else - The Law of Moses cannot be shoved into a box or given any kind of label: it’s a unique book that I would recommend to anyone.

Was this book sad?I don’t know. Was this book happy ? I don’t know . Was this book wonderful? Yes.... this I definitely know. Bittersweet in every page, heartwrenching as well as heartwarming!! A book that gives us hope that truly beautiful things do exist and there is a purity to love that will always be beyond our understanding!!

"Hai cambiato la mia vita" è la storia del prima e del dopo, di nuovi inizi che non hanno mai fine. Una storia imperfetta e fratturata, di dolore e di rinascita, una storia di vita e di coraggio, di speranza oltre la morte, ma soprattutto una grande storia d'amore. "Hai cambiato la mia vita" dal titolo inglese The law of Moses è un paranormal romance molto forte, duro che ci fa vivere il dono di Moses, un ragazzo spezzato fin da prima di vedere la luce, figlio di madre tossicodipendente che non ha risparmiato suo figlio neanche durante la gravidanza. La storia mette in mostra l'importanza della gratitudine e sottolinea quanto sia importante affrontare noi stessi a testa alta. Non possiamo correre da chi siamo, perché dovunque andiamo saremo sempre gli stessi ma possiamo solo affrontare le difficoltà, vivere e abbracciare il dolore per uscirne vittoriosi e più forti di prima. Hai cambiato la mia vita è un romanzo speciale, scritto con l'anima e il cuore, è uno di quei romanzi vivi che una volta terminato non riesci più a lasciare andare perché i personaggi si sono insediati cosi a fondo nel cuore che lasciarli potrebbe provocare una ferita profonda. E' una storia unica, potente, intensa e immensamente bella con un pizzico di suspense, intrigo e di meraviglia. Si tratta di abbracciare la vita in termini di ciò che ci è stato concesso, di accogliere un quadro più ampio della nostra esistenza. Si tratta di onestà, speranza, amore, dolore, angoscia e perdono. Ma il romanzo non è solo questo: è anche un giallo in cui il mistero si infittisce nel corso degli anni, creando suspense e curiosità nel scoprire il vero colpevole che tutti avevano davanti ai loro occhi... CONTINUA SUL NOSTRO BLOG. VENITE A TROVARCI

Já li muitos livros e nunca avaliei, mas depois dessa perdi tudo, cadê a Amy agora pra pagar minha terapia? Só leiam, esse é o sinal.

" The first few words of every story are always the hardest to write " This is how the prologue begins and it reflects my state of mind, trying to write this review. I’m no writer, I don’t have the gift to find the right word to express my feelings. How do I explain the beauty of this book? I’m once more in awe of Amy’s work. She wrote in the book :”Edgar Allan Poe said many beautiful things and many disturbing things but they often go together.” And that’s what that story is, as well as glorious and beautiful but terrible, like Moses pictures. I absolutely fell in love with this book but it made me hurt and cry, cry, cry… It’s a story of love, acceptance of oneself and strangers, of forgiving and healing. So have tissues ready, lots and lots of tissues and plunge in Gloria and Moses’s story. Moses was born of a “crack whore”, abandoned in a laundry basket at a Laundromat. His mother was found dead soon after. Called a crack baby, he’s been passed around, going from family member to other siblings his whole life. The cracked kid, the weird kid, he had no easy life and many difficulties. His only constant was his grandmother, Gi. Moses has a curse and being rejected constantly, he has laws:”Thou shall paint. Thou shall leave and never look back. Thou shall not love.” “I wanted nothing more than paint and run. Because those were the only two things that made my life bearable.” Now living with his grandmother for his last school year, he meets Georgia. Beautiful, sunny Georgia, she is full of life, laughter and love. She’ll be drawn to Moses right away, maybe because he is broken. She does not see his difference as something ugly but as something beautiful. Through Moses’s cracks come brilliance and wonder. My heart bled for Moses, all cracked up but I did not like what he did to Georgia in the first part. He hurt her. He did not want to but he did it anyway. Georgia gave him everything she had: her heart, her soul… She was strong, optimist, believed in Moses and his capacity to love. She always came back to him. But Moses was like a wounded animal. He did not know how to be a friend, he did not want to feel or love because it was more difficult to leave. ” “I need you” felt like “I love you” and it scared me. It felt like breaking one of my laws.” And he was lost, overwhelmed by his curse. He did not own his existence. He was just a vessel without any real power at first. And one terrible day, Moses crushed Georgia. ” Why did you not stay away from me? I told you so many times to go away. But you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t let me be. And I hurt you. Do you know that I have lost every person I love? Every one.” He had so many things coming, he did not want Georgia to be burdened by it. ”I wasn’t going to let that touch you. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I was trying to save you.” In the second part of the book, Moses will make an unexpected friend. Both will embark on a journey to find some peace and serenity. Moses will have to tame his curse, to transform it into a gift to others. Georgia will be hit by some terrible drama. She suffered so much, I cried buckets. ”I was always amazed that my tears kept coming. Day after day. There was a limitless supply. My grief was a deep, underground spring constantly bubbling up and spilling over…” Part two is about explanations, making amends, forgiveness and healing. I won’t say more about the story to let you discover this wonderful book. And I did love “Running Barefoot” meets “The Laws of Moses”! What I deeply love about Amy’s books is the warm feelings you’re left with. I’m always feeling happy, joyful like I’ve been touched by some kind of grace. So once more, thank you Amy, you wrote another wonderful story.

LOVE Amy Harmon and this book was so good I wanted both the audio and print versions.