Rooms by James L Rubart (review)

 

Rooms

 

by James L. Rubart

 

Genre: Christian Fiction

Pages: 400

Published: 2010 

Publisher: B & H Books

 

 

 

Summary: (updated) : "On a rainy spring day in Seattle, young software tycoon Micah Taylor receives a cryptic, twenty-five-year-old letter from a great uncle he never knew. It claims a home awaits him on the Oregon coast that will turn his world inside out. Suspecting a prank, Micah arrives at Cannon Beach to discover a stunning, brand new nine-thousand square foot house. And after meeting Sarah Sabin at a nearby ice cream shop, he has two reasons to visit the beach every weekend. When bizarre things start happening in the rooms of the home, Micah suspects they have some connection to his enigmatic new friend, Rick, the town mechanic. But Rick will only say the house is spiritual. This unnerves Micah because his faith slipped away like the tide years ago, and he wants to keep it that way. But as he slowly discovers, the home isn’t just spiritual, it’s a physical manifestation of his soul, which God uses to heal Micah’s darkest wounds and lead him into an astonishing new destiny."-taken from goodreads

 

 

Review:   Let me also start off by stating very clearly that this novel is Christian Fiction. Very strongly so. That is fine with me but I know some do not enjoy reading it and the plot synopsis does not exactly share that crucial tidbit in an assured manner.

So there is my first urging to all readers-if this novel's Christian basing does not match your beliefs, there is a good chance you will not enjoy this book. Even for me, as a Christian, I can see this book as being potentially intimidating and how the path to God is shown here would have bothered me deeply, even if it is taken to an extreme. When I first grabbed the book, I did not know if was a religious novel so the original summary does not express that at all and I feel that it should. I have since read a few variations that have improved upon this, luckily for future readers.

The story itself was enjoyable for me. Micah starts of as a wealthy, worldly man who gets a strange inheritance in the form of an amazing and very special house. I want to quickly interject here that upon his first tour of the house I would LOVE to live there myself! Some of the rooms he discovers are fantastic, others a bit more disturbing, but each is very unique.

Micah's journey and transformation was quite interesting. What an experience! I cannot say too much on this without giving anything away though. And at the same time I would not want to live the dual lives he finds himself in.

The messages in this book are great but a bit over the top in how they are expressed, even for a novel. While it's form is spot on, the presentation needed a lot of polishing as did the writing. These things cost a the book for me. it was predictable. Parts were too outlandish to match the rest of the book and characters seemed like they needed a lot of polishing up in my opinion.

Still I enjoyed reading it. A fun read for Christians, but if your faith differs or is shaky this may not be the book for you as the messages and the manner in which they are laid out are a bit "preachy."
 

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair, honest review.  All opinions and thoughts expressed are strictly my own*