This review contains spoilers from the previous novels in the Plain Fame Series.
Plain Choice, by Sarah Price, is the latest in the Plain Fame Series which included Plain Fame, Plain Change, Plain Again, and Plain Return. Plain Choice picks up where Plain Return left off: Alejandro Diaz, the famous hip hop/rap artist also known as Viper, has returned to his life outside of Lititz, Pennsylvania, where his Amish raised wife, Amanda, is staying with his daughter, Isadora, the result of a one night stand before he met Amanda. Things don't look good for our protagonists. Against Alejandro's wishes, Amanda had returned to Lititz in order to give Isadora stability instead of the difficult and transient lifestyle that they would all have to face if they travelled along with Alejandro on his concert tours. Alejandro comes to realize that the life he offers for Amanda and Isadora may not be what his wife and daughter need. Though he loves Amanda dearly and wishes for her to be by his side as he tours the world, he also tries to contemplate how he might be able to let Amanda go so that she can return to the Amish world which she appears to be more comfortable in.
When Alejandro leaves Amanda behind in Pennsylvania, she realizes that their marriage is now in a precarious place, and waits in vain to hear from him, but Alejandro is already putting distance between them. The paparazzi have also been taking misleading photos of her and Harvey, the farmhand that Alejandro hired to help the Beiler family, and speculation about a relationship between them is appearing in the tabloids. Can Amanda's and Alejandro's marriage be saved?
I liked this novel the most out of the five that have appeared so far in the series, probably because I thought that Amanda finally did what made sense to me in light of the decisions that she made, especially in Plain Return. Although it is probably true that it was a good idea to return to the Beiler farm so that Isadora would have stability in her life, I did not agree with the way and the timing in which Amanda had left Alejandro. It may sound a bit too traditional and non-egalitarian, but I thought that Amanda had given Isadora a higher priority than Alejandro when she decided to leave him midway through the South American tour, especially against his wishes for her to remain with him. Even though Alejandro's suggestion of securing a nanny for Isadora was an unpleasant idea for Amanda, it would have kept the family together for the remaining three weeks of the tour, which isn't really that long, in my opinion. It would have bought them more time to really think about what they would do as a family, for the care of Isadora, and for the unpleasantness that Amanda faced from Alejandro's rabid female fans. At the end of Plain Return, when Amanda realizes that Alejandro might walk out of their marriage, she is willing to return to the tour with a nanny. However, by this time, he has already decided to set her free from his complicated lifestyle, ironically, because he now thinks that if he truly loves her, he should let her go so that she can decide how she wants to live. Unfortunately, he seems to believe that this means steering her back into the Amish life. Really, these two need to talk to each other and to listen to each other before jumping quickly into unwise decisions...but that would leave us without Plain Choice to read, eh? So, I won't tell you what Amanda decides to do; you'll have to read it for yourself.
I loved all the covers for the recent releases of the books in the series, but I thought that the cover for Plain Choice was really fitting. Alejandro is depicted with his right hand twisting his wedding band on the left hand, representing his choice of whether to continue with the marriage or to divorce Amanda. Amanda is depicted in her plain dress, but with her kapp in her hands, representing her decision of whether or not to leave the Amish world. The image of the Eiffel Tower represents the European tour that Alejandro is on, and the farm represents the Beiler farm where Amanda and and Isadora are staying at.
It was interesting to read of Alejandro's thoughts about his love for Amanda and how he viewed their marriage. Over the course of the series, I felt that he was actually quite lenient with her when it came to their separations. Amanda appeared to be to one who instigated most of these, placing her insecurity over Alejandro's clawing female fans, her family, and Isadora above remaining with Alejandro, who always seemed to long for her to stay with him. What I didn't like about Alejandro was that he acted disrespectfully toward Amanda in some of his business/career dealings, especially where they made her lose face before others. For example, I really wasn't impressed when he used footage of her without her consent on a tour in Plain Change, which made her look jealous of other women, or when he used photos along with false stories in order to circumvent the media interest in the appearance of Isadora in Plain Return. Knowing and loving Amanda has changed Alejandro, although by the end of Plain Choice, I'm still not certain about how far the changes reach in his life beyond his relationship with her and their family. The novel doesn't really address how far the lordship of Christ extends into his life, although he seems to acknowledge His presence more.
As in the previous books, starting with Plain Change, we have glimpses into Amanda's and Alejandro's intimate moments, or rather the moments leading up to those exchanges. While there are no overt descriptions of them actually having sex, I still felt as if I were intruding in their privacy.
I would not consider Plain Choice to be a stand alone book. The novel does resolve many of the plot threads that started in the previous books in the series. In my opinion, out of the five books, this one seemed to have the most overt references to faith beyond contrasting the worlds and practices of the Englische and the Amish. The series also gives an interesting view into the entertainment world that Alejandro inhabits. I liked reading the series, and have enjoyed following the love story of Amanda and Alejandro.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Plain Choice by Sarah Price from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Showing posts with label Sarah Price. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah Price. Show all posts
Tuesday, 29 March 2016
Tuesday, 22 March 2016
Review: Plain Return by Sarah Price
Plain Return is the fourth installment of the Plain Fame Series by Sarah Price. It opens just a few weeks after Plain Again which ended with the protagonists, Amanda and Alejandro, reuniting and celebrating the New Year in New York together after being apart for weeks. Amanda's sister, Anna, and Anna's new husband, Jonah, have now taken over in managing the family farm and are able to care for Amanda's father who has been recovering from a stroke. Alejandro, also known as Viper, a famous hip hop artist, is about to embark on his South American tour, and wishes to take Amanda along, not only as a travelling companion, but also to participate in his concerts on the tour.
During the South American tour, Amanda finds it difficult to adapt to Alejandro's life when he is Viper. She is beginning to see how much calculation goes into building Viper's brand, a concept that she has difficulty in initially understanding. Because of her love for Alejandro and his wishes for her to be part of his world, she tries her best to be supportive of his work, even though she is uncomfortable with the revealing clothes, the suggestive dancing, and the female fans who throw themselves at Viper. More tension is introduced between her and Alejandro when his promiscuous past catches up with the present. Isadora, the five year old child he had out of wedlock through a one night stand, enters his life. Her mother is dead, and her grandfather is no longer able to care for her because he is dying. If Alejandro and Amanda do not assume responsibility for her, she will be taken to an orphanage.
How will Amanda's and Alejandro's marriage survive all the stressors that are acting upon it? Will Amanda adapt to things that she is uncomfortable with so that she can support Alejandro when he is Viper? Can she shrug off the attention that Alejandro receives from his more enthusiastic female fans? Can Amanda ignore the paparazzi and gossipy tabloids that present lies about the relationship between her and Alejandro? What will the two of them decide to do with Isadora? What if they both have different ideas on what should be done with Isadora?
I found that there was more mentioned about Amanda's private relationship with God in Plain Return than in previous books in the Plain Fame series. We are told that she spends a lot of time in prayer and devotions with the Lord, especially when she is not able to spend time with Alejandro, which happens much of the time when he is on tour. I can recall more specific prayers that she makes in this novel. However, as in previous novels, we don't really get a chance to read or hear any specific prayers that she may make for guidance from the Lord over important decisions that will have a huge impact on her marriage to Alejandro.
In Plain Return, Amanda has also come to realize that Alejandro may make professions of being Catholic, but has shown very few signs of living a life of spiritual devotion. She also can see that he may be too caught up in the pursuit of material things, with his love of luxury, his eye for every possible business opportunity, and his desire for the protection of Viper's brand. In this novel, Alejandro shows a more cold, calculating and manipulative side of himself. He can still be a charmer and shows his romantic side with Amanda, but the other half of his personality is more evident and present in Plain Return. I had actually expected that this development of Alejandro's personality would surface earlier in the series, but as it is, it has come out in the story arc at this point. Perhaps being on tour doesn't allow him much time to be anything other than the focused businessman who aims for success, a success that allowed him to rise above a life on the streets of Miami. Unfortunately, some of the things that he does and allows bring conflict into his relationship with Amanda.
I would not consider Plain Return to be a standalone novel, because it is a continuation of the story of Amanda and Alejandro which began in Plain Fame and which continued on in Plain Change and Plain Again. Their story is still not yet finished; a fifth novel, Plain Choice, is going to be released at the end of March, 2016.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Plain Return" by Sarah Price from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
During the South American tour, Amanda finds it difficult to adapt to Alejandro's life when he is Viper. She is beginning to see how much calculation goes into building Viper's brand, a concept that she has difficulty in initially understanding. Because of her love for Alejandro and his wishes for her to be part of his world, she tries her best to be supportive of his work, even though she is uncomfortable with the revealing clothes, the suggestive dancing, and the female fans who throw themselves at Viper. More tension is introduced between her and Alejandro when his promiscuous past catches up with the present. Isadora, the five year old child he had out of wedlock through a one night stand, enters his life. Her mother is dead, and her grandfather is no longer able to care for her because he is dying. If Alejandro and Amanda do not assume responsibility for her, she will be taken to an orphanage.
How will Amanda's and Alejandro's marriage survive all the stressors that are acting upon it? Will Amanda adapt to things that she is uncomfortable with so that she can support Alejandro when he is Viper? Can she shrug off the attention that Alejandro receives from his more enthusiastic female fans? Can Amanda ignore the paparazzi and gossipy tabloids that present lies about the relationship between her and Alejandro? What will the two of them decide to do with Isadora? What if they both have different ideas on what should be done with Isadora?
I found that there was more mentioned about Amanda's private relationship with God in Plain Return than in previous books in the Plain Fame series. We are told that she spends a lot of time in prayer and devotions with the Lord, especially when she is not able to spend time with Alejandro, which happens much of the time when he is on tour. I can recall more specific prayers that she makes in this novel. However, as in previous novels, we don't really get a chance to read or hear any specific prayers that she may make for guidance from the Lord over important decisions that will have a huge impact on her marriage to Alejandro.
In Plain Return, Amanda has also come to realize that Alejandro may make professions of being Catholic, but has shown very few signs of living a life of spiritual devotion. She also can see that he may be too caught up in the pursuit of material things, with his love of luxury, his eye for every possible business opportunity, and his desire for the protection of Viper's brand. In this novel, Alejandro shows a more cold, calculating and manipulative side of himself. He can still be a charmer and shows his romantic side with Amanda, but the other half of his personality is more evident and present in Plain Return. I had actually expected that this development of Alejandro's personality would surface earlier in the series, but as it is, it has come out in the story arc at this point. Perhaps being on tour doesn't allow him much time to be anything other than the focused businessman who aims for success, a success that allowed him to rise above a life on the streets of Miami. Unfortunately, some of the things that he does and allows bring conflict into his relationship with Amanda.
I would not consider Plain Return to be a standalone novel, because it is a continuation of the story of Amanda and Alejandro which began in Plain Fame and which continued on in Plain Change and Plain Again. Their story is still not yet finished; a fifth novel, Plain Choice, is going to be released at the end of March, 2016.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Plain Return" by Sarah Price from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Tuesday, 15 March 2016
Review: Plain Again by Sarah Price
Plain Again is the third installment of the Plain Fame Series by Sarah Price. It is the immediate sequel to Plain Change which left the newlywed protagonists, Amanda Beiler Diaz and Alejandro (Viper) Diaz, facing forces that threaten their union just weeks into their marriage. Alejandro, a hip hop superstar, had plans for taking Amanda along on his tour. These plans have come to naught when Amanda returns to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to aid her Amish family in a crisis. Her father had suffered a stroke that leaves him unable to take care of the family's farm.
Amanda misses Alejandro dearly, but finds that she has missed the Amish life while she had been away for those short weeks. However, at the same time, she realizes that she has changed too. Even though she welcomes the familiarity of the simpler Amish way of living, she now views some parts of her Amish upbringing to be rigid and unaccepting. It also stings her to find that her people regard and treat her as though she is an outsider to the community because she has chosen to marry Alejandro and not be baptized into the Amish church. Besides coping with the rejection from people who had previously accepted her, Amanda must deal with the paparazzi who have returned to disrupt the quiet life in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Her Amish neighbours resent the intrusion from the outsiders and blame Amanda for it.
Alejandro is finding it difficult to be on the road apart from Amanda. He wants to show the world that he is happily married, but it doesn't take long for the paparazzi to discover that he and Amanda are not together and the rumours begin to swirl about a troubled marriage. It doesn't help that his manager, Mike, and a segment of Viper's fans prefer the previous bad boy persona that Alejandro portrayed to the public before his marriage to Amanda. Will Amanda's and Alejandro's marriage survive the separation and the threats that rise up against their marriage?
I found the spiritual journeys for Amanda and Alejandro to be rather interesting. In this novel, Amanda recognizes things that are culturally Amish but that may not necessarily be connected to a life saving faith. Amanda also sees God acting in her relationship with Alejandro, but Amanda's sister, Anna, still asks her a significant question: where God is in Amanda's life? This was a rather puzzling question, because it does seem as if God is moving in the background. However, while reading the books in the series, I have wondered how much Amanda has actually prayed to God for guidance over what to do. It seems to me that she didn't really ask Him for direction over what she should have done when faced with the intrusion of the paparazzi in the first book, Plain Fame. It didn't appear as if she asked God for guidance as to whether or not she should have left Lititz with Alejandro, or whether or not she should have married him. I don't think that she prayed about separating from Alejandro so soon into their marriage even though she is doing a good thing in helping her parents and sister. Perhaps it was meant for the reader to understand that Amanda did in fact pray about these decisions, but so far, it seems as if she decided these things on her own or got swept along by the circumstances into her present situation. Perhaps, by the grace and mercy of God, things will work out well for Amanda and Alejandro, even though they didn't consult much with Him over what to do.
As for Alejandro, I still think of him in the same way as I had while I was reading the previous two novels in the Plain Fame series: it feels as if he knows of Jesus, but I'm not convinced that he *knows* Jesus. He seems to be a nominal Christian, and there are still major areas of his life that could use Jesus' touch in it, especially in the content of his risqué songs and videos. If Alejandro is, in fact, a saved individual, then what he really needs to do is to get all of his life under the influence of Jesus. Maybe he needs more time to grow as a follower of the Lord. I hope that as the series unfolds, the details of whether he truly knows Jesus will become more clear.
I like Alejandro. As I mentioned in a previous review of the Plain Fame series, he is quite a romantic man. Alejandro wants to be better man because of Amanda. He isn't happy about the separation between Amanda and himself, but he tries to show that he supports her decisions. He hires a farm worker to assist on Amanda's parents' farm and a nurse to help care for her father. When the two of them are able to reunite, he pulls out all the stops to show Amanda how much he loves her. They are married now, and I didn't comment about their marriage in the review that I wrote for Plain Change because I thought that it would have been too much of a spoiler. Their intimate moments are not explicit, but the times leading up them...well,...sometimes I felt like looking away, because I felt as if I were intruding in private encounters only meant to be shared between the two of them.
I would not consider Plain Again to be a stand alone book, although it probably could do so just a *little* more successfully than Plain Change would. The conclusion of Plain Again has a satisfactory ending, if one decides to stop reading the series at this point; for a number of years, only the Plain Fame, Plain Change, and Plain Again had been published. However, Plain Return, and Plain Choice, the fourth and fifth novels of the series, have been released during the past few months. There are still some loose plot threads that haven't been resolved yet, and I still feel invested enough in Amanda's and Alejandro's story to want to find out what happens to them.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Plain Again" by Sarah Price from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in the review are mine.
Amanda misses Alejandro dearly, but finds that she has missed the Amish life while she had been away for those short weeks. However, at the same time, she realizes that she has changed too. Even though she welcomes the familiarity of the simpler Amish way of living, she now views some parts of her Amish upbringing to be rigid and unaccepting. It also stings her to find that her people regard and treat her as though she is an outsider to the community because she has chosen to marry Alejandro and not be baptized into the Amish church. Besides coping with the rejection from people who had previously accepted her, Amanda must deal with the paparazzi who have returned to disrupt the quiet life in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Her Amish neighbours resent the intrusion from the outsiders and blame Amanda for it.
Alejandro is finding it difficult to be on the road apart from Amanda. He wants to show the world that he is happily married, but it doesn't take long for the paparazzi to discover that he and Amanda are not together and the rumours begin to swirl about a troubled marriage. It doesn't help that his manager, Mike, and a segment of Viper's fans prefer the previous bad boy persona that Alejandro portrayed to the public before his marriage to Amanda. Will Amanda's and Alejandro's marriage survive the separation and the threats that rise up against their marriage?
I found the spiritual journeys for Amanda and Alejandro to be rather interesting. In this novel, Amanda recognizes things that are culturally Amish but that may not necessarily be connected to a life saving faith. Amanda also sees God acting in her relationship with Alejandro, but Amanda's sister, Anna, still asks her a significant question: where God is in Amanda's life? This was a rather puzzling question, because it does seem as if God is moving in the background. However, while reading the books in the series, I have wondered how much Amanda has actually prayed to God for guidance over what to do. It seems to me that she didn't really ask Him for direction over what she should have done when faced with the intrusion of the paparazzi in the first book, Plain Fame. It didn't appear as if she asked God for guidance as to whether or not she should have left Lititz with Alejandro, or whether or not she should have married him. I don't think that she prayed about separating from Alejandro so soon into their marriage even though she is doing a good thing in helping her parents and sister. Perhaps it was meant for the reader to understand that Amanda did in fact pray about these decisions, but so far, it seems as if she decided these things on her own or got swept along by the circumstances into her present situation. Perhaps, by the grace and mercy of God, things will work out well for Amanda and Alejandro, even though they didn't consult much with Him over what to do.
As for Alejandro, I still think of him in the same way as I had while I was reading the previous two novels in the Plain Fame series: it feels as if he knows of Jesus, but I'm not convinced that he *knows* Jesus. He seems to be a nominal Christian, and there are still major areas of his life that could use Jesus' touch in it, especially in the content of his risqué songs and videos. If Alejandro is, in fact, a saved individual, then what he really needs to do is to get all of his life under the influence of Jesus. Maybe he needs more time to grow as a follower of the Lord. I hope that as the series unfolds, the details of whether he truly knows Jesus will become more clear.
I like Alejandro. As I mentioned in a previous review of the Plain Fame series, he is quite a romantic man. Alejandro wants to be better man because of Amanda. He isn't happy about the separation between Amanda and himself, but he tries to show that he supports her decisions. He hires a farm worker to assist on Amanda's parents' farm and a nurse to help care for her father. When the two of them are able to reunite, he pulls out all the stops to show Amanda how much he loves her. They are married now, and I didn't comment about their marriage in the review that I wrote for Plain Change because I thought that it would have been too much of a spoiler. Their intimate moments are not explicit, but the times leading up them...well,...sometimes I felt like looking away, because I felt as if I were intruding in private encounters only meant to be shared between the two of them.
I would not consider Plain Again to be a stand alone book, although it probably could do so just a *little* more successfully than Plain Change would. The conclusion of Plain Again has a satisfactory ending, if one decides to stop reading the series at this point; for a number of years, only the Plain Fame, Plain Change, and Plain Again had been published. However, Plain Return, and Plain Choice, the fourth and fifth novels of the series, have been released during the past few months. There are still some loose plot threads that haven't been resolved yet, and I still feel invested enough in Amanda's and Alejandro's story to want to find out what happens to them.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Plain Again" by Sarah Price from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in the review are mine.
Thursday, 15 October 2015
Review: Plain Change by Sarah Price
Plain Change, by Sarah Price, is the immediate sequel to Plain Fame. It is the second in the Plain Fame Series, which also includes Plain Again, Plain Return, and Plain Choice. Plain Change picks up right after Plain Fame leaves off. Alejandro (Viper) Diaz, the famous hip hop singer, has swept Amanda Beiler away from her family's farm in Lancaster after she made an appeal to him for help in dealing with the paparazzi that had been stalking her. Amanda believes that she had no choice but to leave everything that she knows and to go with him, since she had been commanded to leave her Amish community by her bishop. She also realizes that no other Amish community would welcome her because of the unwanted attention from the paparazzi which would follow her wherever she may go. She is apprehensive of her future, but Alejandro says to her, "You will change. And you will live." (Location 109 on Kindle.)
Amanda does change and live in the rest of the novel, but not without feeling conflicted about the process at times. Her Amish upbringing and her personal preferences sometimes make the transition into Alejandro's world difficult, for example, in the clothes that she must now wear, in flying on a plane (something that was forbidden by her bishop), in using a cell phone so that Alejandro and his staff can keep tabs on her, and in interacting with the people in Alejandro's life. Besides describing the changes that Amanda is currently making in her life, the novel contains flashbacks from her Amish life that provide contrasts to the experiences that she is presently facing.
Alejandro's plan for Amanda is to take her with him while he is on his concert/publicity tour. They will present themselves as a couple and give the paparazzi what it wants until it moves onto more interesting subjects. In the meantime, Amanda will have time to decide what she really wants; does she wish to return to her Amish world, or will she stay outside in the Englische world? Alejandro promises Amanda that he will not dishonor her in a way that will make her unacceptable should she decide to return home to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. However, he makes it clear to her that the world will not believe that their relationship is innocent, and that he will not try to convince them otherwise (Locations 751, 759 Kindle). As Amanda is drawn more into Alejandro's life, she finds herself acknowledging that her reasons for joining him are not solely for altruistic reasons in sparing her family and community the attentions of the paparazzi; she admits to herself that she is falling in love with him.
I have mixed feelings about Alejandro. He is a romantic who knows just what to say and do to make Amanda feel special when she feels insecure and he knows how to comfort her when she feels afraid or troubled. However, I'm not impressed that he would allow the world to continue to think that he and Amanda have a less than innocent relationship. We are not really told if Amanda is comfortable with what people think about this.
SPOILER ALERT
Another thing that Alejandro did that bothered me was that he initiated sharing a bed with Amanda while he was touring. She started voicing her discomfort about it, saying that it wasn't right, but he pushed her objections aside and kept her there with him, even though he didn't have sex with her. It bothered me, in my opinion, that she began to rationalize the situation away, by comparing what Alejandro initiated to the Amish practice of bundling, where a young courting couple would spend the night together with a board separating them. Since I'm not Amish, I'm not well acquainted with the practice of bundling, but I would guess that both participants have to come to an agreement to try it out. However, Amanda voiced her objection, albeit, a bit weakly, and Alejandro did what he wanted anyways, without respecting her wishes. What kind of love is that? Anyways, by the time the leg of the tour is done, and they are ready to return to his home in Miami, he has primed her for what he really wants: for them to share his room (and more). What will Amanda do? You'll have to read the book for yourself to find out.
SPOILER OVER
Throughout the novel, we can see that God and faith are very important to Amanda, and that she is struggling to separate which aspects of her Amish faith are cultural and which are more universal in nature for all believing Christians. However, with Alejandro, his faith doesn't seem to be a practical one. He acknowledges that God is the One Who got him to the place where he is in his life today, and he prays with his entourage before concerts, but when it comes to living his life in a way that completely honors God...well, Alejandro doesn't seem to be quite there yet. He is attracted to Amanda's purity and also to the fact that she does not want to use him for her personal gain. Since he likely doesn't have a full comprehension of what it truly means to not dishonor Amanda, I would have to say that he is trying his best to not dishonor her according to his own perception.
Plain Change is not just about the changes that Amanda is making in her life in the Englische world. Alejandro is also challenged to make changes in his life, simply from knowing Amanda and in growing to love her. I would not consider Plain Change to be a stand alone novel. Much of the background story to how Amanda ended up joining Alejandro is detailed in the first book, Plain Fame, and Plain Change ends in a cliff hanger which finds Amanda and Alejandro separated from each other in spite of their love. I have enough interest invested now in this couple to want to find out what happens to them, in their romance, and in their walks with the Lord.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Plain Change from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Amanda does change and live in the rest of the novel, but not without feeling conflicted about the process at times. Her Amish upbringing and her personal preferences sometimes make the transition into Alejandro's world difficult, for example, in the clothes that she must now wear, in flying on a plane (something that was forbidden by her bishop), in using a cell phone so that Alejandro and his staff can keep tabs on her, and in interacting with the people in Alejandro's life. Besides describing the changes that Amanda is currently making in her life, the novel contains flashbacks from her Amish life that provide contrasts to the experiences that she is presently facing.
Alejandro's plan for Amanda is to take her with him while he is on his concert/publicity tour. They will present themselves as a couple and give the paparazzi what it wants until it moves onto more interesting subjects. In the meantime, Amanda will have time to decide what she really wants; does she wish to return to her Amish world, or will she stay outside in the Englische world? Alejandro promises Amanda that he will not dishonor her in a way that will make her unacceptable should she decide to return home to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. However, he makes it clear to her that the world will not believe that their relationship is innocent, and that he will not try to convince them otherwise (Locations 751, 759 Kindle). As Amanda is drawn more into Alejandro's life, she finds herself acknowledging that her reasons for joining him are not solely for altruistic reasons in sparing her family and community the attentions of the paparazzi; she admits to herself that she is falling in love with him.
I have mixed feelings about Alejandro. He is a romantic who knows just what to say and do to make Amanda feel special when she feels insecure and he knows how to comfort her when she feels afraid or troubled. However, I'm not impressed that he would allow the world to continue to think that he and Amanda have a less than innocent relationship. We are not really told if Amanda is comfortable with what people think about this.
SPOILER ALERT
Another thing that Alejandro did that bothered me was that he initiated sharing a bed with Amanda while he was touring. She started voicing her discomfort about it, saying that it wasn't right, but he pushed her objections aside and kept her there with him, even though he didn't have sex with her. It bothered me, in my opinion, that she began to rationalize the situation away, by comparing what Alejandro initiated to the Amish practice of bundling, where a young courting couple would spend the night together with a board separating them. Since I'm not Amish, I'm not well acquainted with the practice of bundling, but I would guess that both participants have to come to an agreement to try it out. However, Amanda voiced her objection, albeit, a bit weakly, and Alejandro did what he wanted anyways, without respecting her wishes. What kind of love is that? Anyways, by the time the leg of the tour is done, and they are ready to return to his home in Miami, he has primed her for what he really wants: for them to share his room (and more). What will Amanda do? You'll have to read the book for yourself to find out.
SPOILER OVER
Throughout the novel, we can see that God and faith are very important to Amanda, and that she is struggling to separate which aspects of her Amish faith are cultural and which are more universal in nature for all believing Christians. However, with Alejandro, his faith doesn't seem to be a practical one. He acknowledges that God is the One Who got him to the place where he is in his life today, and he prays with his entourage before concerts, but when it comes to living his life in a way that completely honors God...well, Alejandro doesn't seem to be quite there yet. He is attracted to Amanda's purity and also to the fact that she does not want to use him for her personal gain. Since he likely doesn't have a full comprehension of what it truly means to not dishonor Amanda, I would have to say that he is trying his best to not dishonor her according to his own perception.
Plain Change is not just about the changes that Amanda is making in her life in the Englische world. Alejandro is also challenged to make changes in his life, simply from knowing Amanda and in growing to love her. I would not consider Plain Change to be a stand alone novel. Much of the background story to how Amanda ended up joining Alejandro is detailed in the first book, Plain Fame, and Plain Change ends in a cliff hanger which finds Amanda and Alejandro separated from each other in spite of their love. I have enough interest invested now in this couple to want to find out what happens to them, in their romance, and in their walks with the Lord.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Plain Change from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Monday, 28 September 2015
Review: Plain Fame by Sarah Price
What could happen to the world of an innocent, simple Amish girl when it collides with that of a sophisticated, hip hop superstar on the streets of New York? Sarah Price writes about the possibility in her novel, Plain Fame, which begins when Alejandro (Viper) Diaz's limosine crashes into Amanda Beiler. He is taken with her unadorned beauty and also with a desire to see that she is well looked after; Alejandro still remembers how hard it was to survive as a Cuban immigrant in Miami without deep connections to others. Something about how alone Amanda is, far from her family and friends, speaks to Alejandro, and he finds himself looking out for her welfare as she recovers at the hospital.
He decides to escort her home to Lititz, Pennsylvania, to see that she arrives home safely and to see that she receives enough care in Lancaster County until she has fully recovered. He is also hoping that he will be able to hide from the outside world for a few days and rejuvenate his spirit and the part of himself that is Alejandro, and not Viper, for he finds the demands of his Viper persona has become increasingly taxing.
Alejandro is like no other man that Amanda has met before. She becomes deeply attracted to his charm and physical presence, but realizes that the world that he comes from is so far from her own Amish background that a romantic relationship between the two of them would be impossible. She also sees him as Alejandro, and not as Viper, something that means a lot to Alejandro. Alejandro is attracted to Amanda's honesty and purity, and is also deeply impressed that Amanda doesn't want anything from him. She doesn't know who he is, or what he has done to achieve his fame, and he feels that he has finally met someone who accepts him as he is, rather than for what he can do for them. He knows, however, that their time together is limited, and that he will soon leave Amanda behind in Lancaster, even though he is drawn towards her.
Their little idyll comes to a close when someone recognizes who Alejandro is. He returns to his life in the outside world to protect Amanda and her family from the paparazzi that will inevitably descend upon the place where Viper has apparently been hiding out. Unfortunately, because of the disparity between Amanda's and Alejandro's backgrounds, the paparazzi is fascinated with Amanda, making life unbearable for her, her family, and her community. Amanda is told by the ruling bishop of her church that she must leave the area if the press does not leave. What will happen to Amanda if the paparazzi do not leave? Her prospects are limited, and she cannot escape the press wherever she goes. Will Alejandro help protect Amanda from being sullied or harmed by influences belonging to his world or will he leave her to make her own way through her troubles?
I found Plain Fame to be fascinating, because I wanted to know if Amanda and Alejandro would act on the attraction between them. They realize that they are too different from each other, yet find that the other is able to give something that no other has been able to give to the other before. For Amanda, Alejandro makes her feel beautiful and precious; he constantly calls her, "Princesa," an endearment that means, "Princess" in Spanish. For Alejandro, Amanda's acceptance of him as a person, rather than as a person whom she could use, helps him to recognize that she is a person whom he can trust. This is in contrast to all the other people who surround him in his life, which include his manager and his entourage, which did not travel with him to Lancaster. The book describes several situations in which others have failed him because they were seeking for their own gain, rather than respecting Alejandro's wishes or serving in his best interests.
Amanda comes across as a young woman who holds her faith in the Lord very seriously. She sometimes finds it difficult to accept certain aspects of the Amish way of living, but manages to hold her tongue even when she may balk internally about the way things are done. Alejandro says that he is Catholic and a believer, but somehow, his lifestyle doesn't seem to quite match what Amanda expects from a person of faith; she is quite put out when she discovers that Alejandro has slept with a number of women and when he admits that he has done so, simply because he can.
Plain Fame is the first volume in a series of books about the relationship between Amanda and Alejandro. As of the present, these titles include Plain Change, Plain Again, and Plain Return. There is also a fifth volume, Plain Choice, but I haven't seen it listed on Amazon yet. Will Amanda and Alejandro get together and become a couple? If they do, how will their relationship work in the face of their differences? Is Alejandro truly a believer, or is he someone who knows of Jesus, but does not know Jesus? Will Amanda compromise her faith in order to be with Alejandro? It will be interesting to see how those questions will be answered in the rest of the series.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Plain Fame from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
He decides to escort her home to Lititz, Pennsylvania, to see that she arrives home safely and to see that she receives enough care in Lancaster County until she has fully recovered. He is also hoping that he will be able to hide from the outside world for a few days and rejuvenate his spirit and the part of himself that is Alejandro, and not Viper, for he finds the demands of his Viper persona has become increasingly taxing.
Alejandro is like no other man that Amanda has met before. She becomes deeply attracted to his charm and physical presence, but realizes that the world that he comes from is so far from her own Amish background that a romantic relationship between the two of them would be impossible. She also sees him as Alejandro, and not as Viper, something that means a lot to Alejandro. Alejandro is attracted to Amanda's honesty and purity, and is also deeply impressed that Amanda doesn't want anything from him. She doesn't know who he is, or what he has done to achieve his fame, and he feels that he has finally met someone who accepts him as he is, rather than for what he can do for them. He knows, however, that their time together is limited, and that he will soon leave Amanda behind in Lancaster, even though he is drawn towards her.
Their little idyll comes to a close when someone recognizes who Alejandro is. He returns to his life in the outside world to protect Amanda and her family from the paparazzi that will inevitably descend upon the place where Viper has apparently been hiding out. Unfortunately, because of the disparity between Amanda's and Alejandro's backgrounds, the paparazzi is fascinated with Amanda, making life unbearable for her, her family, and her community. Amanda is told by the ruling bishop of her church that she must leave the area if the press does not leave. What will happen to Amanda if the paparazzi do not leave? Her prospects are limited, and she cannot escape the press wherever she goes. Will Alejandro help protect Amanda from being sullied or harmed by influences belonging to his world or will he leave her to make her own way through her troubles?
I found Plain Fame to be fascinating, because I wanted to know if Amanda and Alejandro would act on the attraction between them. They realize that they are too different from each other, yet find that the other is able to give something that no other has been able to give to the other before. For Amanda, Alejandro makes her feel beautiful and precious; he constantly calls her, "Princesa," an endearment that means, "Princess" in Spanish. For Alejandro, Amanda's acceptance of him as a person, rather than as a person whom she could use, helps him to recognize that she is a person whom he can trust. This is in contrast to all the other people who surround him in his life, which include his manager and his entourage, which did not travel with him to Lancaster. The book describes several situations in which others have failed him because they were seeking for their own gain, rather than respecting Alejandro's wishes or serving in his best interests.
Amanda comes across as a young woman who holds her faith in the Lord very seriously. She sometimes finds it difficult to accept certain aspects of the Amish way of living, but manages to hold her tongue even when she may balk internally about the way things are done. Alejandro says that he is Catholic and a believer, but somehow, his lifestyle doesn't seem to quite match what Amanda expects from a person of faith; she is quite put out when she discovers that Alejandro has slept with a number of women and when he admits that he has done so, simply because he can.
Plain Fame is the first volume in a series of books about the relationship between Amanda and Alejandro. As of the present, these titles include Plain Change, Plain Again, and Plain Return. There is also a fifth volume, Plain Choice, but I haven't seen it listed on Amazon yet. Will Amanda and Alejandro get together and become a couple? If they do, how will their relationship work in the face of their differences? Is Alejandro truly a believer, or is he someone who knows of Jesus, but does not know Jesus? Will Amanda compromise her faith in order to be with Alejandro? It will be interesting to see how those questions will be answered in the rest of the series.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Plain Fame from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
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