Daughters of Jared review

You know, you just don't get a lot of Book of Mormon historical fiction from this time period. It is a shame, because there are murders, overthrows, intrigue, seduction, and a host of other great fodder in the Book of Ether for a writer to create characters and good stories with. I was happy that H. B. Moore decided to tackle the time period. Her Book of Mormon Prophets series has been a joy to read. This one was not about a prophet, but about a daughter.

 From Good Reads:

 From the Book of Ether comes a haunting story of two royal sisters. The elder sister, Ash, will do anything to bring her father, King Jared II, back to the throne. The younger sister, Naiva, only wants to save her family from destruction. The bond of sisterhood becomes precariously fragile when one man . . . named Akish . . . falls in love with the younger sister, Naiva. Yet he chooses to marry the elder sister.

The sisters’ hearts are divided. And when Ash becomes queen, seduced by the promise of power and wealth, Naiva watches her world crumble away. She sees only one way out. But it will require forsaking all that she holds dear.

The main character (Naiva) was manipulated time and time again. As the character grew older/wiser/aware, she still did what her older sister wanted. The difference was her motivation. She chose to stay in an emotionally draining and borderline abusive situation in order to try and ‘save’ those around her.  As women so often do, she put off her own happiness for the greater good.

While part of me wished she had run off with the handsome, strong, knight-in-shining-armor, the other part of me was happy she didn't.  The heartache Naiva experiences wrenched at my tear ducks and made me wonder, would I have done the same thing? I also pondered if I would have judged her for leaving. It was a lose-lose situation. You know the ones, they create the What If's in our lives. 


We don't know a lot about this time period; the way they lived, their cultural norms and etc. Moore did an excellent job if giving enough details to paint the picture and not crossing the threshold of obscure. What was clear, was Naiva’s heart. Her character floated off the page to share her story.

 As always H. B. Moore provided a story that was true to life, yet unpredictable. I hope you enjoy your time with Naiva as much as I did.