An Hour Unspent // the end of the Shadows Over England trilogy

I finished a book trilogy — the first novel trilogy I’ve completed. It’s such a Big Deal I’ve brought in the first-letter drop-cap class (albeit visible only with wider screens).

A Name Unknown reeled me in, even though I disliked White’s writing style. A Song Unheard proved White’s storytelling and writing style are two different things. And then we have An Hour Unspent.

Let’s just say it bridges the gap and reminds me of my issues with Christian fiction.

I love, love, love Evelina.

She’s a sassy woman who could very much rule the world if she so desired. However, the story makes her disability — and similar disabilities of others — out to be this non-defining characteristic of her that, at the same time, very much defines who she is.

It almost feels ableist, at the same time not. I feel like I’m chastising myself for feeling offended over “everything” and seeing it “everywhere”, but then I wonder if I’m unintentionally gaslighting myself for being overly sensitive.

Thusly, I’m reminded of the problems with Christian fiction.

The proselytizing, the ableism, the heteronormativity — but then, these are issues I have with the Church in general, so it is not exclusive to the genre.

I have one, maybe two, books on my TBR that fall under Christian fiction, but after them, I’m keen to only read Amish fiction. I love Amish fiction, even though it seldom includes drama pertaining to people who’ve left the Amish life and found life outside it — that’s just what the genre holds, as far as I know.

Otherwise, I’m content with having read what I’ve read in Christian fiction thus far. I feel I’ve read enough of it that I needn’t read more unless it falls under a more specific genre, or contains a story I’m more interested in.

I mostly just wanted to be able to say I’d finished a series. I have a thing about finishing series.

It bugs me when/if I don’t. The only other series I’ve actually completed is the Twilight Saga. I’ve been turned of Anne Shirley, or rather L.M. Montgomery herself, because cats.

I was extremely happy to have completed this. The last 200 pages were a drag — the overall downside to this series. It’s mostly due to my issues with standalone novel series, which I should make a post about.

It’s not a bad series, I’m just not the proper demographic for it. Now that I’ve found my genre preferences and have cash flow from working, I’m keen to read more of what I’m interested in. Or just…not Christian fiction.

What are your thoughts on Christian fiction?