Happy Friday! I can’t believe we’re less than two weeks from Thanksgiving; in some ways it seems like this year is flying by! I am on track to hit my yearly reading goal this weekend – I hope that wherever you are, you can get in some quality reading time this weekend too. The book I’m featuring for today’s First Line Friday linkup is a great one to savor on a fall weekend! The cover is gorgeous, and the story inside is even more beautiful.
Beverly, West Virginia
July 1934
“The day’s heat lay close to Loyal like a quilt he couldn’t push back.”
The Right Kind of Fool by Sarah Loudin Thomas
The Basics
Title: The Right Kind of Fool
Author: Sarah Loudin Thomas
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
From the Back Cover: Thirteen-year-old Loyal Raines is supposed to stay close to home on a hot summer day in 1934. When he slips away for a quick swim in the river and finds a dead body, he wishes he’d obeyed his mother. Desperate for help, he runs to the mountain cabin of his mostly absentee father, frantically trying to communicate the news with his hands.
Driven away by fear and guilt over his son’s deafness, Creed has played a distant part in Loyal’s life and language. But when he’s pulled into the murder investigation, he discovers that what sets his son apart isn’t his inability to hear but rather his courage. As the impact of the murder ripples through their West Virginia town, both will learn what it took to kill a man and what it takes to become one.
My Thoughts
What an exquisite, captivating story! This is the first of Sarah Loudin Thomas’ books I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. She does a beautiful job of writing from the unique perspective of Loyal, a young deaf teenager in 1934 rural West Virginia. I loved the way she was able to incorporate sign language into the story! When he accidentally discovers a dead body one summer day, a whole chain of events is set in motion that changes how everyone sees him – his parents, his friends, the community, and even himself.
While the mystery keeps the plot moving, the richly engaging characters are the stars of the show. Loyal’s growth throughout the book is compelling, as he is forced to make some hard choices. I loved the way he and his father begin to see each other from a new perspective and learn from each other as the story progresses, and Loyal and Rebecca’s growing friendship provided more touching moments. I highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, especially Joanne Bischof’s Blackbird Mountain series!
Now it’s your turn! Please share the first line of the book you’re reading in the comments below. Don’t forget to head to Hoarding Books to see what first lines other bloggers are sharing, or to share your own!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I just finished reading The Right Kind of Fool. It was a uniquely touching book! On my blog today, I’m talking about the first line from Rachel Scott McDaniel’s The Red Canary: “From that day on, death was in my song.”
That’s definitely a unique first line, too! 😊
I love that first line! Over on my blog I’m sharing the first line from To Steal a Heart by Jen Turano.
Here’s the first line from my current read, The Daughter of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky:
If she lived to be one hundred and five, Katherine Evangeline Ramsey would never understand why every debutante must begin the London social season by curtsying to the king and queen.
Happy Friday!!
Over on my blog I am sharing the first line to the Love Note by Joanna Davidson Politano
“It always came to this, didn’t it? Amid the glittering swirl of music and gowns, I looked up into the handsome face of Lord Cumberland and forced a smile as if nothing at all were about to happen.”
https://www.musingsofasassybookishmama.com/2020/11/first-line-friday-love-note.html
Have a happy weekend!
I loved The Love Note! Thanks for sharing 😊
Happy Friday! 😊
I’m sharing from All is Mary and Bright by Kasey Stockton on my blog:https://christianfictiongirl.blog/2020/11/13/first-line-friday-161/. I’m currently reading The Cul-de-sac War by Melissa Ferguson. I’m just starting chapter 4 so I’ll share from there.
“Chip tried really, really hard to keep a smile from playing on his lips as Bree stomped out of the sleet and onto his concrete porch in tall black galoshes.”
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 🙂❤📚
I just finished The Cul-de-sac War too! Enjoy 😊
Happy Friday! My first line is from “Into the Darkness” by Margaret Daley:
“Hot, humid – no, make that wet – air clung to her like a second skin.”
That’s a great first line – such a vivid picture! Thanks for sharing 😉
The Right Kind of Fool was awesome.
My first line is from an exceptional book: The Promised Land by Elizabeth Musser:
“I have spent twenty years carefully stitching my family’s life together, so when it suddenly starts to unravel I find myself in a tangled knot of anxiety.”
I’ve heard of that one, but I haven’t read any of Elizabeth Musser’s books – glad to hear you like it!