The Law of Moses - Review

The Law of Moses

By: Amy Harmon

Published: November 27, 2014

298 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Paranormal

(Goodreads / Amazon)

Summary:

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. 

MY REVIEW:
Easy writing, fast read and NOT a trilogy. Yay! It was really refreshing to come across a book as good as this one and just have it be a stand-alone. We get the beginning, middle and end of the entire story in one book. These seem so rare right now.

This book had some elements I wasn't expecting. 2 primarily. It's paranormal (which I didn't get from the synopsis) and it's a tear jerker, about 60% of the way through and following. So be forewarned.

This story is told from alternating POV's between Moses and Georgia. Moses had a lot of obstacles to overcome in his youth...and he didn't succeed very well. He is a mixed-race child, mother was a white drug addict and father was an unknown black male. Add to that the challenge of being abandoned in a laundry mat, in a basket, in small country town Utah. He was sent from foster home to foster home, eventually ending up at his grandmother's (affectionately called GiGi) house. She was his only champion in a world where his uniqueness caused others to fear him, or be cautious of him to the point of ostracizing him.

Georgia is a country girl through and through. Her family has a horse ranch in which they use as therapy for special needs kids and other various therapy situations. She's a good girl, opinionated, determined and doesn't scare off easily. Despite the vast differences between Moses and Georgia, she is drawn to a beauty about him and forces him to be her friend as kids. Kids grow into teens and teens into adults. A lot transpires in the years they know each other. And even more during a separation of 7 years.

One of my most favorite things about this story was a game that Georgia talks about. It's brilliant! And I have to share it. Here's the quotes:

"The five greats game is kind of like that. Finding beauty in ordinary things. And the only rule is gratitude. ... Any time you start feeling sorry for yourself or you go into a rant about how bad life sucks, you immediately have to name five greats." 

"It helps them to refocus and it reminds them that even when life is pretty bad, it isn't all bad, ever."

I enjoyed this idea so much that I shared it with some friends and family. Some participated. It's something I plan to incorporate in my thinking from now on. As a general rule I think people (self included) complain WAY too much. Putting more focus on ordinary greats with the point of being thankful for them - no matter how small they are - is a great way to put our priorities back into perspective.

This was really quite a beautiful story and I very much enjoyed reading it. If you're a fan of emotional stories about love and loss, a story about the beauty of horses, or stories with a touch of paranormal then you really need to check this one out!

Favorite Quotes:
"But maybe instead of being color blind, we should celebrate color, in all its shades. It kind of bugs me that we're supposed to ignore our differences like we don't see them, when seeing them doesn't have to be a negative."

Maybe it was being seventeen, maybe it was first love, or first lust. Maybe it was just hot. But I wanted him with a desperation that consumed me. I had never wanted anything so much in my life. And I couldn't imagine wanting something so much ever again.

Any mother could tell you that a child invades her space from the moment of conception. And for years after, space does not exist.

It was a great story, after all. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. A story flawed and fractured, crazy and cracked, and most of all, a love story. Our story.

Language Rating: 2 stars (medium)
Mature Content Rating: 1 star (light)
Final Rating: 4.5 stars