Review - Wishing on Dandelions

In Wishing on Dandelions, old ghosts haunt Maranatha as she struggles with feelings of purity and trust. But now she’s a teenager with all the teenage angst, the shifting world of friends, and the confusion of love. Natha wishes on dandelions, a desperate cry to God to show her love. Instead, God strips her of the only family she knows and gives her another villain or two, and through this, Natha searches for her identity and place.
This sequel to Watching the Tree Limbs is as amazing as the first. I am not reading Mary DeMuth. I’m reading Maranatha. Mary draws you into this small East Texas town of Burl, and into the hurts and struggles of Natha. At times I want to shake this delicate heroine, shake some sense into her. But I am confronted with her fears and insecurities, and I want to hide her and protect her. This book portrays the lasting effects of rape, of how the evil sinks its tendrils into a girl and grows with her, continuing to rip her apart and hurt those she loves.
Here is what I learned from this book:
As a writer, don't be nice to your characters. Mary's characters are loveable and fallen. But above all, she doesn't let them traipse through life. I found myself pleading for this girl. No, no, please don't let her go through that. No, not that, too. But if we have to go through these things in real life, why should we excuse our characters in books?
As a human, presumptions bring pain. Some of the pain Natha underwent was because of her own presumptions, seemingly reasonable assumptions, granted, but if she had just communicated, she could have healed pain much faster. I am learning this with my husband. This weekend, I made an assumption. I thought it was a reasonable assumption. But it was a wrong one. It hurt me. Then I learned the truth, and voila! All was right with the world.
Again, a five star book. Please, please, please, do yourself a favor, and read this book.