Joseph: A Story- REVIEW

Alright, recently I got a book (I know! For like the first time in forever). Actually, I ordered three different books, but only one of them satisfied me. I didn't even finish the other two. They just didn't hold my interest. But the last one that took FOREVER to deliver to my house turned out surprisingly well. I had to share my opinion with the world.

"Joseph: A Story" by Terri L. Fivash. It's basically just telling the story of Joseph in Egypt from the bible. You know, with the colored coat and the 7 year famine and stuff.

While it's not the most well written book I've ever come across in my 21 years, it certainly keeps you engaged. If you know the story of Joseph, of course you know the ending and all the twists and turns his crazy experience in Egypt is going to take, and yet somehow the author still managed to keep the story up in the air and fresh. She wasn't simply reiterating the story straight from the bible and just adding some dialogue and a few descriptions of scenery and stuff. She actually made an effort to show us what it was like to be a slave in Egypt, to show us Joseph's steady journey to becoming head of Potiphar's household, and so on. The author definitely did her research on Egyptian culture. (If you're going to read the book, I would recommend reading the notes at the beginning first. It helps.) Or when Joseph becomes second in command over all Egypt, she puts a whole new spin on things. I mean, I've always had it in my head that the Egyptians just happily accepted Joseph as their leader without a second thought and just got right on preparing for the famine. But if you really think about it, it probably took quite a bit of doing and everyone probably wasn't all that cooperative (at least not willingly).

The author is very good at including descriptions. I've learned that it is sloppy writing to just have one super long paragraph describing someone or something. While you can have that once in a while if it can't be avoided, you should just mention small details here and there throughout the writing (and keep repeating them) so that the reader can get a picture of whatever it is as they read, instead of all at once and then promptly forget it all. This author was very good at that. I still remember that Joseph had red hair and a very unique shade of blue eyes. It was ALWAYS emphasized throughout the book.

Also, it is VERY true to the original story. Probably the most accurate retelling I have ever come across. It includes details you don't normally see in other adaptions like that Joseph had two sons, that he becomes the keeper of the prison, that Potiphar's wife came to him repeatedly not just once, that he spoke through an interpreter while speaking to his brothers at the end, or that he had to actually leave the room twice to cry when reunited with his brothers.

Like I said above, the book isn't just a reiteration of the Joseph story. Besides the descriptions and the overall storytelling, there are also a few subplots thrown in created by the author. I will say that those were the less interesting of the story in my opinion, but by no means unentertaining. Of course there's a little romance subplot thrown in there. Nothing too elaborate and not heavily focused on. My favorite part(s) (since it sort of went on through a lot of the book) included the whole dual identity thing.

And actually, for not being written by an LDS author, there were plenty of references to God in all the right places and it held up all the right values, not misinterpreting any messages or turning anything around. It gets the overall message that I've always got from the story across really well: God always has a plan, even if we can't see it at the present moment.

So I think this book had a little bit of everything. Research, romance, mystery, suspense, religion, etc.

In case you're curious (you probably aren't, but I'm going to tell you anyways), I came across this book one day because I was randomly wondering if there were any fictions written on this story. (We recently had the lesson in Sunday School which is why it had been on my mind lately. I've always really liked this story). I first looked on Deseret Books, but there was nothing, so I just did a general search on Google Shopping- books. I did have to scroll a little bit, but I found one that was actually a fiction and not an essay or part of a Sunday School book or something. I decided to click on it to see details. The summary made it sound intriguing enough and it had 4.5 stars with tons of reviews praising it to the skies. I had not planned on purchasing anything when I made the search, but after looking at all this stuff on it and having recently been disappointed with my last two books, I decided to go for it. It gave me a couple options of where I could purchase it and I went for one of the cheaper ones. Of course I hadn't counted on it taking almost two weeks to deliver.