The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon

If I tell you right up front, right in the beginning that I lost him, it will be easier for you to bear. You will know it’s coming, and it will hurt. But you’ll be able to prepare.

Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news – the little baby left in a basket at a dingy Laundromat, born to a crack addict and expected to have all sorts of problems. I imagined the crack baby, Moses, having a giant crack that ran down his body, like he’d been broken at birth. I knew that wasn’t what the term meant, but the image stuck in my mind. Maybe the fact that he was broken drew me to him from the start.

It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager.

And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn’t stay away.

And so begins a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all...a love story.

AMAZON LINK- http://amzn.to/1SbtFjX

MY THOUGHTS:
3/5 Stars

 

My expectations were high with this one... The reviews are all wonderful and the talk is nothing but positive things. For me though, It didn't live up to all the hype. I thought it was a good read, but  it didn't blow me away. The ingredients for a 5+ star were there, but I felt like some parts were lacking and under developed. The beginning pulled me in with the angsty romance and the middle sucked me in with intensity, but the ending was a bit scattered. Maybe it was the writing style... I'm not sure. Just something about it left me feeling semi detached from the characters. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that the beginning is so vivid with intricate details and mysterious twists, but than the ending is all rushed. I mean we skip 7 years & and get a cliffnotes version of what happened in that time period. It almost felt like two completely different books... The Before part was 5 stars, but sadly the After was a 2.

 

Moses was a GREAT character and I even liked Georgia, but Eli was a hard one for me... On one hand I thought the twist was genius, but on another I didn't like what led him to Moses's visions. Then the ending.... Is it bad that I wanted Moses to do the opposite of what he did? With all that build up I thought something HUGE would happen, but in the end, it was predictable and lacked the gut wrenching conclusion I craved.

 

I think with some minor changes this one could have been epic, but for me, it was just an enjoyable read with unique characters.