What I'm Reading

Cage of Stars

This was my first read by author Jacquelyn Mitchard. This book is centered around a Mormon family whose two youngest daughters are brutally murdered. The oldest girl, Veronica, is there when it happens and the story follows her life over the next few years. The grief that covers the family even as they welcome a new baby two weeks later is heartbreaking. The journey continues as each member grudges through their grief with the parents eventually being able to find peace in forgiving the murder. Veronica however can not find such peace and later sets out to avenge her sisters' deaths.

I could really relate with this characters struggle in letting her faith ease the unimaginable pain she was feeling. Not that I have been through such pain but I have always wondered if my faith would hold up to it. I know that we are told to forgive, just as Jesus forgives us, but if faced with what seems the unforgivable I always wonder if I could do what I know is right. The author does an amazing job of portraying grief through the eyes of a young girl but also her parents grief as she experiences it.


I was pleasantly surprised that the book ended on such a positive feel good note since most of it focused on anger, sorrow, grief and revenge. It was like the rainbow at the end of a long storm. I thought this was a great read even while leading you places you would never want to go in real life.