Abish: Daughter of God

Abish #1

by K.C. Grant

This is a story of one woman’s courage in the face of life-threatening dangers.

Genres: Lds Fiction, Historical Fiction, Lds, Fiction, Religion, Historical

322 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2009

About the author

K.C. Grant loves to write! From bad poetry at the age of seven to not-too-much-later attempts at a novel where the main character was a talkative red-haired girl (yes, that wasn't very creative) she has loved to create stories. In her adult career, she has written for family oriented magazines like BackHome, Parents and Kids, The Washington Family and LDSLiving. She was so excited about the release of her first novel in 2010, "Abish: Daughter of God." A sequel, "Abish: Mother of Faith" continues the story of Abish and focuses on the mothers of the stripling warriors.

K.C. will also get to continue her fascination with the setting of Mexico (this time with a modern twist) when her suspense novel titled "Venom" which came out January 2012.

She also belongs to three writers' groups and various other organizations that keep her very busy.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot believe that I am giving this book 3 stars! I don't think that ever in the history of all mankind has a book from Covenant Publications deserved 3 whole entire stars. Actually, I'd give is 3 1/2 if that was possible. And for me to give a work of LDS fiction such a high rating...not the norm! (Remember my scale: 5 is 'The most outstanding book that everyone should read not matter what, end of story'. 4 is 'I liked it a lot, you should really check it out'. 3 is 'Not too shabby!'

I really liked this book. There was a bit of the LDS fiction "formula" that cropped up (ie 'woman sees man, senses a strong spirit about him, they wed', but the formula was stirred up enough that it was not blatant and not even sure. So, that was good!!! And so often the writing in this type of book is so awful. Awful as in the creative writing that I did in seventh grade. But the writing in this book was really pretty.

All in all, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed this book. I dreaded starting it, but ended up shirking many household chores in order to read it. Thankfully I have a small child that I can lay blame upon for the messy house and undone chores. Hee hee.

[HaleakalaBound · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written like an over dramatized movie. All those bad things cannot happen to one person. For personal reasons I have a deep love for Abish and I felt that this book ruined her essence by COMPLETELY fabricating a plot for her from thin air with no basis on truth. I hated how she spent the majority of the book locked in some figurative prison, feeling restless, useless and stagnant. The small particle of the story that we ACTUALLY know took place, happened in the last 10 pages of the entire book. Still... The Church is true.

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Abish in the Book of Mormon, this was an interesting take on how she got to be were she was to do what she did. I love the Book of Mormon and sometime struggle with fictional takes of it, but this one was good as long as you remember it is fiction and don't take it as scripture.

[Ginger · Rating 3 out of 5]

tough to get into, the level of reading is teen, so I am not sure how much I am going to get into it.
tough to read, a story trying to fit, did not get into it and was bored waiting for something to happen, and when it did I thought it was kind of silly

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was just an amazing book to read.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a young girl's search for spiritual enlightenment. Set in Mesoamerica. Great research.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very well written and a wonderful peek into the life of a valiant woman! For me, historical fiction needs to be plausible and this one surely is. I loved it!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed scritural fiction. It makes you ponder about these characters we merely read a few short verses about, their lives and that they were real people!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this peek into what life might have been like during the time that Abish lived. I feel like the time period was well represented. I was surprised by all the places that the author portrayed Abish as living. It did give us a look at what life might have been like for several groups of people. We got to experience highlights of the Nephite story as well as the Lamanite story. Abish was a vehicle to explore several stories. I was surprised that what little we actually know about Abish was squeezed into the very end of this story. Since there is a follow up book, I imagine we will see more.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good. I've always wanted to know Abish's story, so this fictional telling was intriguing. It was also fun knowing that one of Grant's sources for geographical places is the man I met on my mission who told my companion and I all about his research, writings, and tours to probable Book of Mormon places. Knowing that he's still a credible source is cool. Now I want to read the next book...

[Alita Parke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay, but it was a difficult read. There is very little good craft to make the story compelling and the character fails to develop until much later in the book. Events happen too fast with little detail. There isn’t much build up for many important events. I was disappointed by this book and struggled through the majority of it.

[Heidi Eastman Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evidently I read book 2 before book 1. Didn't seem to be much of a problem. I did wonder why they didn't develop some of the characters. I'm still looking for book one on audio.
It was fun to kind of imagine a life outside what we read in the Book of Mormon about certain people. Definitely guess the ending but I'm guessing my knowledge of the Book of Mormon helped with that.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story weaving in truth and love and scriptures! Well done.

[Joyce Koelliker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. We don’t know a lot about Abish in the Book of Mormon but I enjoyed how the author created a story around what we know.

[Linda Mangus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and the story.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!!!

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, first of all, I have to be honest here - I am really hard on LDS authors, especially ones published by Covenant. I think Covenant has a low standard of what is publishable material.

I gave Abish 2 stars (and I'm stingy with stars) because I felt the writing was weak. Maybe this is a pet peeve of mine, but when writers use terms like "grimaced", "shuddered", "clenched", "shivered", or "winced" too often to describe a reaction, to me it shows inability to adequately describe the emotion or situation. These types of words were used over and over again throughout this book, which bothered me.

Also, like other writing that bothers me, there are many random details brought into the plot that don't need to be there. The author obviously thought they added to the story. For example, whenever Abish went to the stable to talk to someone (names not mentioned to avoid "spoiling"), there was always a horse doing something like sticking its head between them or whinnying. I think the author was trying to make the reader smile, but it was awkward and took away from the story.

I can appreciate what Grant was trying to do - give life and character to a woman we know very little about. However, I found Grant's character development to be a bit shallow and desperate at times. Grant assumes that readers know the Book of Mormon account of Abish. If so, then we know what she is going to do. Throughout the entire book, Abish is wondering "what am I here to do?" It got really old after a while. We KNOW she is going to do something, and we don't need to be constantly reminded that there is some event coming up.

In an effort to create a vision of home life and describe the landscape and surroundings, I felt that Grant used too many modern references. I was not convinced that I was reading about the Book of Mormon era. One example - as Ammon was leaving for his "mission" to the Lamanites, he basically told Abish that she could not come with him, that he needed to focus on the mission and not his feelings for her. I literally rolled my eyes when reading this since it was too much like modern day missionaries leaving a girlfriend behind.

I found the dialogue to be too unnatural and the plot to be trite and predictable. I know that a lot of these events actually happened in the Book of Mormon, but either Grant did not develop the plot well enough, or the characters were too flat. I just wasn't feeling it.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate doing this because I'm sure the author loves her writing--and apparently many others do to. But I'm sorry--I really didn't enjoy this book! I kept reading because it wasn't horrendous and offensive. I *love* the story of Abish in the Book of Mormon, but I didn't really like how she was portrayed in this book. In some ways, I think the miracle of her faith which I love in the Book of Mormon account is undermined in this story by Grant placing her among the Nephites to be taught the Gospel there. So much of the story line was predictable (for example, spoiler: I knew her mother and Lahonti would get married as soon as Abish ran away; I knew Jared would reappear) and so many of the events/characters just didn't make sense (e.g., distances between locations; decisions by Abish--spoiler: Would a woman really travel back to her village by herself as a lone female? And would she be able to find her way back to her village since she'd never traveled alone--when she (a) went to the castle the first time, her father took her; (b) returned to her village, she had a guide; and (c) fled the village, she and Jared just fled? ).

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valiant effort but weak storytelling. Abish is such a unique character in the Book of Mormon. We know virtually nothing about her so when I saw this book I was so excited. I love historical fiction and couldn't wait to see how the author created Abish's backstory. I have to say the story was slow and laborious for me. In some ways I guess that's very similar to real life but it was a boring read for me. I'm not sure I loved fictional Abish as much as the powerful precious few verses of the real Abish in the Book of Mormon. I really wished the author would have put the part of the story we do know in the middle of the book and built from there rather than at the very end of the book. I did like the reconciliation between Abish and Saranhi. But even then it could have been developed more. And I liked that Jared wasn't taken away forever. Fictional Abish needed something after losing everyone she ever had any positive connection with.

[Shellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this on the way out of the library to see what it would be like, I don't have time to read it right now but I'm very excited to get to it. It's a fictionalized story about one chapter in "The Book of Mormon" in Alma, and yes Abish is the heroine. The story in TBOM is good and I'm really hoping this novel will be as well.
I can't remember when I wrote that but years later I got the book as a gift at one of my reading group parties so now I have read it.
It is a cute back-story with romance and adventure. I did enjoy it quite a bit. The ending was disappointing though. I really don't like when authors use the last two pages to recap, explain, remember or just end abruptly. This was the case, I wanted just a few more pages to compete a couple interrupted scenes.
I will now re-gift this book for someone else to read.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some parts were really great and others were disappointing. For instance, the father's dream, or what little of it was shared with us, seemed to fall short of what it should have been to have such a great impact on Abish. On the other hand, his coming to her in her dream was very effective for me. I was disappointed in the development of Abish's mother and of the Queen's relationship with her own daughter. And, while I realize that the eyes are the window to the soul, for Abish's and Jared's eyes to meet fleetingly one time and result an instant lifetime commitment result seems too much like a Harlequin romance. I really enjoyed the parts of the story where it meshes with the scriptures; in my opinion, this is where the author shines. Since this is what she wanted to do, I feel that this book was a success.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was slow for me at first; however, once the story took off it was good. The ending was a little predicable, but ultimately a happy one, which is my preference. It is left a little unfinished as to set the stage for a sequel.

This story is a plausible way that the Gospel could have reached Abish and the Lamanite people, but it is purely a fictional story.

What peaked my interest in this book is that at the Heber Valley Girls Camp (HVC) there is a campground named after Abish - which was an individual from the the Book of Mormon that I was not overly familiar with. I felt she needed to be someone fairly important to have a camp named after her with the likes of Esther and Emma Hale Smith. Abish was a brave woman who embraced the Gospel and showed immense amounts of faith.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fictional pre-story of Abish, whose significant contribution to Book of Mormon history is depicted in this story that tells of one woman's courage in the face of life-threatening dangers, of faith that triumphs over fear, and of a love that changes the lives and spiritual destiny of thousands—Nephites and Lamanites alike.

The writing was ho-hum, not very compelling. I guess knowing the outcome of the story does not help build suspense.

[Sharlitas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I generally liked the book. It was not my fav, but it was entertaining & fun to think a bit more about that time period & BOM story from a different perspective. It didn't hold my attention the way I wanted it to though...not sure quite why. I still will likely read the follow up story at some point in the future because I like the idea of exploring the scripture stories from a new angle.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written but I personally thought it didn't mesh very well with the actual account of Abish in the Book of Mormon. The only part that bothered me was Abish's uncertainty in the novel. I guess i felt the Book of Mormon gave her more credit than that. Still, a work of historical fiction based on relatively miniscule information, I thought the book flowed well and was a compelling enjoyable read.

[K.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, it's my own book. But how could I get to this point and not be a little proud? In telling her story, I hope that I've told a little of every courageous and faithful woman's story to show that we're all not so different. We speak up when we want to remain silent, share our testimonies when we're afraid and we find a measure of strength within ourselves when we need it most.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

An imaginative look at the life behind one of the Book of Mormon's few named female characters. Lots of insightful additions about the place and times of the Book of Mormon, the culture and the people of the Lamanites and Nephites, and a story filled with suspense, secret combinations, romance, and miracles.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fictional story about a character from scripture. It's fun to see the author's take on just why this Lamanite servant might have understood the gospel. I enjoyed reading about what it possible was like for them...and throwing in her view of meeting Ammon and his serving the King is fun too. A very quick easy read.

[Sab · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really great. The Author did a great job of making the reader understand what the main character twas thinking. Abish is a great novel for those LDS readers who want to learn about a great Woman who was brave. She is briefly mentioned in the Book of Mormon. This is a book I would read more than once. ENJOY!

[Dlora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this creative fleshing out of the story of Abish in the Book of Mormon. However, the story really is aimed at a younger audience: the characters were mostly flat and uncomplicated. I still enjoyed the book but I'm more likely to recommend it to Rebekah (hmmm, was there enough romance in it for Rebekah?) than to Melissa.