Book Review: Along Wooded Paths by Tricia Goyer

About the Book: All she wanted was a simple Amish life . . . But now Marianna Sommer finds herself depending on Englisch neighbors. Although proud of living apart from the world, she and her newly relocated Amish family have discovered that life in the remote mountains of Montana requires working together.

As Marianna begins helping those different from herself—and receiving their help—her heart contemplates two directions. She’s torn between the Amish man from Indiana whom she has long planned on marrying and the friendly Englischer who models a closer walk with God than she’s ever seen before.

Who should have young Marianna’s heart? What is God asking her to sacrifice? Her traditions? Her community? The answer is found along the wooded paths.

My Thoughts: I was fortunate enough to review the first book in this series, Beside Still Waters, and looked forward to this one as well.

Many of the things I liked about the first book, I also liked about this one. I love how the author explores the differences between the Amish and "Englisch" faith, highlighting the benefits of the Amish lifestyle and belief system while also acknowledging some of the potential pitfalls of their tendency toward legalism.

The only thing that I did not really like about this book was Marianna's interest in two different men and her inability to choose between them for a long portion of the book. Maybe not so much her hesitancy in choosing, but rather that she seems to be in love with them both at the same time. And obviously, just because that's not something I've experienced, doesn't mean it can't happen, but I truly believe that when you're sincerely praying that God would guide your heart and reveal who you are supposed to be with, that it would be more obvious than this, and I guess the adolescent vibe it gave me just rubbed me the wrong way. So, feel free to take that negativism with a grain of salt.

Overall, I loved seeing Marianna grow in her faith as she was exposed to differing lifestyles and the needs and difficulties that went along with them.


Thank you to Stephanie and Amy from Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy.