A Light on the Hill by Connilyn Cossette, 2018

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After being branded during the battle of Jericho, Moriyah has had no prospects for marriage--until now. She hopes to please the man, but things go horribly wrong and she is forced to flee for her life. Seeking safety at one of the Levitical cities of refuge, she is unprepared for the dangers she faces, and the enemies--and allies--she encounters on her way.

(352 pages)

I chose to review A Light on the Hill because I really enjoyed her Wings of the Wind, which is apparently part of a different series but which is set in the same time period and community. Moriyah is even a fairly significant character in Wings of the Wind.

I have to say that while I was still entertained by A Light on the Hill, I don't think it's nearly as good as that other Cossette book. What I loved so much about Wings on the Wind was that it recreated an extremely important and vibrant time in Judeo-Christian history, one which almost never gets any real focus the way other periods of history do, and tied compelling and sympathetic characters to the grander arc of the Old Testament. God's acts were powerful, but they were also true to the Biblical accounts and thus the book was 100% plausible.

A Light on the Hill, however, falls into a trap that I always find strangely off-putting: it makes God into a character of sorts, who interacts with and directly guides the main character in more than one scene. I don't mean to be petty, but these sorts of storylines always get my goat because it feels like they turn God into a tool to advance the plot. Sure, they're meant to show His greatness and faithfulness etc., but I'm never a huge fan of this idea because the author has no idea whether that's actually how God would have acted in these situations. I also felt like the tethering to the Biblical narrative was a lot more tenuous in general, really.

Setting aside the religious aspect of the book, I also just didn't find the story as compelling. I still really love the idea of the cities of refuge, and I will very likely seek out future books in this new series (the "City of Refuge" series) just to see the implications of the idea played with in new ways. But rather than taking place in one of these cities, the book largely consists of Moriyah's attempts to reach one. It's fine as its own story, but I would have been more interested to read about life in the cities.

As for the romance, I never much cared for it. The insta-love was ridiculously fast here, and the whole dynamic between the two leads felt really hammy. I was more interested in Moryiah's relationship with the other important people in her life, including her surrogate mother figure and the orphaned boy she cared for before the accident. Those dynamics were sweet and interesting to read, and I enjoyed all the bits we had of them. I also enjoyed reading about Moryiah's journey to the recognition that she was more than just the scars on her face–it reminded me a little bit of Aza's journey to self-confidence in Gail Carson Levine's Fairest.

This review may seem very negative, but I did enjoy reading A Light on the Hill. I think I just keep returning to dwell on the could-have-beens with this book because I know from Wings on the Wind that it had the potential to be better. I do still recommend it if you're looking for a Christian historical fiction read. And tell us in the comments section down below, what is your favorite book about a protagonist who struggles with their physical appearance?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.