Life in the Palace by Catherine GreenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was given a copy of this book to review. All thoughts and opinions and writings are my own.
"All paths lead to the Palace"
Chloe Diaz, from El Paso Texas, starts summer classes for college in Montreal, Canada in the aftermath of her sister, Stacy's disappearance. Mr. and Mrs. Diaz disapproved of Stacy's boyfriend Rob (a tattooed, Harley riding, high school dropout), so Stacy went on the lam with Rob to be together without the Diaz's disturbance. Chloe unable to handle her parents scrutiny randomly chose Canada, the farthest from home she could get, and left behind her best friend Spike aka Lauralee.
Chloe goes to College early in Canada and on advice from Spike meets some new friends. The only friend she has now is Tal who she met in her early summer classes. Josh asks her to come out to the legendary Chubby's to meet some people. One of those people winds up being Josh's brother Seth. Chloe falls instantly for Seth:
When the bar door opened and the most attractive man I'd ever seen in the flesh entered. His jaw could have been chiseled out of marble by Michelangelo. His dark, tousled hair brushed his sun kissed forehead, skirting the edge of deep green eyes. His skin was tanned to perfection, but not so much you'd suspect he'd put any effort into acquiring it. Slight stubble washed his cheeks, too long to be just the product of laziness, but not enough to be a full grown beard. A black t-shirt stretched over a well-defined body. His dark jeans had no belt.
This is for all the Twilight References... When Chloe Meets Seth <3 br="" nbsp="">
Tal is called one of "The People". Chloe thought she was weird and a bit religious..
The People are:
*Avdiim were traditionally thought to live in the Palace, a higher spiritual plane linked to the physical world. Acts of service in the physical world are used to fuel a cosmic battle with in the Palace realm. A complex mythology maps the intricacies of the Palace. Adherents are understood to be combatants in the battle between connection and oblivion with in the Palace, as well as fighting their Interloper, a quasi-demonic force that resides in each of the Avdiim attempting to dominate. The calendar year is divided into different spheres of influence, the Days of Esau and the Days of Jacob; together with specific times of governance, a constant cycle of introspection and spiritual renewal defines this practice.-Wikipedia
This is just a general description, I found it took me awhile to actually understand The People, but they seem to be able to spiritually travel from Earth to Heaven. The chosen Avdiim go out to fight evil along with their Interlopers, which try and distract them from their goals while inside the body. Their are different types of the Adviim and they perform nice gestures to regular people to gain weapons and ammo. For Example: If some girl drops her books at school and the Avdiim picks them up, it would be considered a service and they could be rewarded with a knife. When they go to the Palace, they look different. God and Angels also reside in the Palace. An Adviim not practicing is called a Serf.
Chloe finds out that Seth along with Tal and her family are Avdiim. Chloe is very curious about the Adviim. She finds out something awful about Seth and has to make an important choice and figure out what real love is. She has to figure out what she wants and not mope around about her sister taking off on her.
It took me a long time to figure out what to write for this review because I made so many notes trying to understand the meaning or concept of the novel. Now after a long reflection I believe the Author Catherine Green, was sending out a message about True Love, in all the ways it can be expressed in a divine and moral way. What would we do when faced with pure love? Walk away or make the hard/right decisions? Would you give up your life for God and his purpose? These are the same questions we struggle with everyday.
Get your FREE copy on AMAZON :Life In The Palace
