My review is 4.5 Stars
Reading Cheyenne Sunrise was an adventure. Following Bry on her journey from Boston to Montana not only covered miles in distance but was also a journey of learning about faith and forgiveness. There is a strong Christian theme that was beautifully woven into the story.
The story tackled the difficult subject of prejudice as well. Not only prejudice against Nick, the "half-breed", but also against the Irish immigrants and those who are handicapped. In a world filled with fear of people who are different, this is always a timely and important subject.
The characters were very realistic and written in such a way that caused me to care about what happened to them. With the number of times I've read of perilous journeys across the U.S. via wagon train and the loss of lives, this was the first time that I considered the impact it must have had on the wagon train leaders who saw this happen time and time again.
Though the story was primarily the story of Bry and Nick, the secondary characters were so important to the story, and again, written in such a way that made me care about them. I am hoping the next book will tell what happened to Bry's brother, Con, and maybe tell more of the story of Maisy.
Here is a quote from the book to give you an idea of the beautiful descriptions of the book:
Nick retreated into the shadow of a lone oak. A kingfisher chided him from its branches and flew away in a flurry of feathers. The day had gentled toward evening and the bird hovered above the river, batting its wings like a dragonfly. In the background, the wash and flow of water sang a rippling harmony. Music gushed from the wagon camp, a poor substitute for the cadences of nature. The kingfisher swooped to the painted surface, and then flapped upward with a fish in its beak.
Due to the subject matter of the book, there was some violence in it related to Indian attacks and a brief description of physical abuse. The violence was not gratuitous, nor were the Indian attacks presented in such a way as to be disrespectful of Indians.
This review was originally posted on AmongTheReads.net