Book Review: Shelter of the Most High (Cities of Refuge #2) by Connilyn Cossette

About the Book:

The daughter of a pagan high priest, Sofea finds solace from her troubles in the freedom of the ocean. But when marauders attack her village on the island of Sicily, she and her cousin are taken across the sea to the shores of Canaan.

Eitan has lived in Kedesh, a city of refuge, for the last eleven years, haunted by a tragedy in his childhood, yet chafing at the boundaries placed on him. He is immediately captivated by Sofea, but revealing his most guarded secret could mean drawing her into the danger of his past.

As threats from outside the walls loom and traitors are uncovered within, Sofea and Eitan are plunged into the midst of a murder plot. Can they uncover the betrayal in time to save their lives and the lives of those they love?

| Goodreads |

My Review:

Shelter of the Most High by Connilyn Cossette
Rating: 3/5
Pages: 434
Published: October 2, 2018
Series: Cities of Refuge

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher/author. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The last book in the Cities of Refuge series was my first Connilyn Cossette book. I read it a few years ago, I think it was 2022, if I remember correctly? Since then, I’ve been trying to read all the other books in her backlist, and have almost caught up! I have the next book in this series, and I haven’t read her GuidePost books. (Although, I’m not completely sure I’m going to.) But I did want to read the rest of this series at least.

This one starts out rough, but it’s over quickly. If you’re a fan of Connilyn Cossette’s other books, this one fits pretty well with her brand and style. The FMC comes from a pagan nation with plenty of problems. The story does a good job of showing just what’s needed and implying without going into to much detail. Still, it’s there and there is definitely some unpleasant and disturbing content. This is also true when considering the morality and moral character of a few of the characters later in the story. Again, nothing overly detailed, but there’s definitely a few places where the characters are unstable and their behavior might be viewed as problematic.

I really liked this one, and found the story to fit well with the series and with what we already knew of Eitan and his family living in Kedesh. The romance, while subtle did mention things like desire, kissing, and even a few instances where the MMC has to ‘check himself’ against her pull. There’s also a rude comment from another character about ‘lusting’ said intending to spark a reaction.

This is by no means a comprehensive or complete content guide, since this is an older and well-known book I’m sure others have done that better that I could. Still, I did feel the need to mention those things, since this is one of her books with a little more content of that sort in it, in part because of where Sofea comes from, much of her culture talked about in past-tense and though memories recounted, not ‘on-screen’. Other details and events are due to Kedesh being a Biblical refuge city for man-slayers, those who are accused of unintentional murder, as a place to flee to and life, serving out their time as prisoners of the city, but allowed to live peaceably there. For the most part…

I loved getting to see Eitan grown up, and with brothers and sisters as well. I knew about most of them from my recollection of Tirzah’s book, the last in the series, but it was fun to get to meet them here where they were first introduced, and before they had grown up and had their own stories told, Eitan’s included in a way here.

This wasn’t my favorite of Cossette’s books, but it did stand up well. Being one of her older books, it’s been several years since this one was written and released. A lot has happened in that time, and yet this was still a delightful read, and one I’m sure fans of her other books are likely to enjoy. I loved the themes of family, faith, and friendship along with the messages of hope, love, and wisdom woven throughout. I also tend to love her parental and mentor type elder figures, that always seem to have so much wisdom and compassionate strength in their words, and this story has several of those moments, which I adored getting to see! Overall, this was a good story, but the content might be too much or troubling for some readers. I don’t recommend this one for all readers, and recommend finding a reliable break-down of the content and potential issues or triggers before picking it up if you are unsure. Likewise, always heed the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and don’t be ashamed to skip or DNF a book that makes you feel convicted for reading it, or is likely to cause you to experience an unhelpful spiritual or mental/emotional response. No book or media is worth compromising your walk with Jesus, and some books aren’t suited for all readers.

Likewise, sometimes the timing isn’t right now, but later on it might be. Life has seasons, and this story deals with some themes of betrayal, family hatred and abuse, and even violence toward women. Please be advised an read with caution.

It also teaches that the Seth was Melchizedek in the Biblical account of Abraham meeting with Melchizedek in Genesis.

I have heard this teaching before, but know many haven’t. I am neither promoting or refuting the stance here, but it needed to be mentioned since it’s an alternate reading and interpretation of scripture, and as with anything needed to be prayed about and compared to the scriptures themselves. It’s not something we should take or read lightly, but rather should actually prayerfully consider what the scriptures actually say on a matter and read them for ourselves, not allowing fiction or alternative teachings to creep in untested and untried by the Holy Spirit.

As with anything, we are commanded to test the spirits by comparing them to God’s Word as a whole, and often we think of fiction as ‘fictional’ or make-believe, but that’s just it. Fiction has a way of subtly changing what we believe at it’s core, making-us-believe their narrative.

This is just one of many examples of why we should be on guard against the enemy’s schemes and pray over and about the books we read, what we read, and what those books and stories are saying and teaching us. Same is true for music, TV, movies, etc. This life is a battlefield for our souls, and we are either walking in the spirit and moving closer to God, or allowing the flesh to pull us further away form Him. Either way, it’s a constant choice. Choose wisely, and may the Living Word of God with the help of His Holy Spirit guide your steps.

Other books in the series:
_{(Below is a list of the other books I’ve read & reviewed for this series)}

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