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February 18, 2014

The Bright New Dawn. ~ Brenna Fischer {Book Review}

The Bright New Dawn

“Pain doesn’t have to be a breaking up, a breaking down, or a closing up…it can be a breaking through, Isadora. A new birth…a new dawn.” 

There are some good messages like this peppered throughout The Bright New Dawn.

Louise Beker does a great job of setting the scene for self-discovery on the very first page. We are first introduced to the main character, Isadora, as she stands on a cliff-side contemplating suicide. I find myself curious about her story and wondering what has brought her to this point; my emotions become involved immediately and I want to know what will happen to her.

As the book unfolds ,we follow Isadora on her journey from the cliffs, through the magic of Egypt and finally, to enlightenment. The book is riddled with great messages about living life in the moment, being self-reliant and always looking for the gift in each day, each situation, no matter how bad.

Unfortunately, I felt these life messages were wrapped up in too many romantic subplots, and circular dialog about the mysteries of Egypt and The Pyramids. It seemed Isadora was either running or breaking-down from her last relationship when she enters the next. Even during the part of the story that would seem to be a great chance to find her independence and freedom, in walks another love interest!

It’s not all bad though—here is a great example of the author’s ability to give the audience a new perspective, a better way to view pain and suffering.

“Love is constant and eternal, Isadora. The only thing that separates humans from divinity is unhealed feelings and emotions and the stories layered over those that cause all the disconnection, pain, and suffering. When the feelings and emotions are accepted, fully felt and forgiven, the only thing left is your divine selves.”

My only problem with this very insightful statement is, like many of the life lessons in this book, it comes from a sort of angel-like apparition that appears frequently and can only be seen and heard by Isadora.

I like the concept of a guiding force, but feel as though the story loses a bit of its power by giving all the wisdom to the angel instead of letting Isadora discover these gems on her own.

That being said, I acknowledge that writing and publishing a book for public consumption is a huge and courageous undertaking. This is the author’s first book and from what I can tell, it seems she has a lot of great ideas. I look forward to seeing what comes next.

Note: elephantjournal.com received this book free, in return for a guarantee that we would review said offering. That said, we say what we want—good and bad, happy and sad.

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Editor: Bryonie Wise


 

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