As Sure As The Sea, by Jamie Ogle (Book Review)

“Wouldn’t that be a wonder? To hear the stones of this prison shout praises to their Maker? You will have to describe to me the look on the emperor's face when the marble halls of his palace break forth in hallelujahs.”

During the time of the Eastern Roman Empire, 310 AD, Demitria makes a living harvesting coral for a merchant who turns a blind eye to her faith. Then at night, Demi goes upriver to help other believers while willing to risk her own life to ensure others are safe and fed. Although a self proclaimed follower, Demi can seem to get over the shameful past she tries to hide. 

Then when her brother, Thesues, is injured in a diving accident, a stranger named Nikolas appears on the beach and offers help.
Although the wealth he inherited from a prosperous business now rests at the bottom of the sea in the sinking boat he arrived in, Nicholas is determined to recover it and use it to help the church he has come to pastor. Only, Nikolas is burdened by guilt over his older brother’s tragic death and as the violence against believers increases, Nicholas becomes more and more known. 

Both bound with broken pasts and as the Roman Empire beats down on them, forgiveness is found when shame is released, and when humility flows stronger than one’s pride…

“Her grin flashed at something Rex said. 

Nicholas has never been so envious of an eight-year-old boy.”

I don’t know how to express how many times I’ve clicked edit and just stared at this post. I feel like when a book is this good, anything I say about it won’t express how good it truly was. I got this book as a birthday gift this year, and…man. I don’t know how to express my feelings.

I do know my initial thoughts on this book, so let’s start there. Initial thoughts on this book where clear, this up isn’t a book that can be blow through. The writing isn’t your classic easygoing fluff that you get most times in new releases, which I honestly was expecting for a book that came out at the beginning of this year. But no, there was no political agendas whatsoever in this book, no explicit statements or scenes. 

The writing style was so rich and well set, and just a very accurate timeline to things. It was definitely a book that had to be digested. Well that might be taken as a good or bad thing, some of the things said didn’t really hit me until well after I read them. 

If you know me, I honestly find most Christian based movies and books just to be cringy, where they throw God into the mix in the oddest of times and you don’t get the loving jealous Jesus I love, but a cringe, power hungry, far away lord that character’s pump their fists for. This books was so well done in that sense. Ogle made it feel like these people’s trials and questions were worth asking, and a lot of things really hit home in my life that had me choking up cause of how relatable they were. Jesus cares about the little things, as well as the big things, and how prayer shouldn’t be a last resort but something we do to spend time in His presence. That was definitely one of the reasons I really loved this book.

“I cannot stay silent any longer. You have to know how much I care for you. How much I…I love you.”

Now for the romance. If you know me, I love myself a good romance, but I hate books that make the romance always in the forefront of everything. This one made it where they weren’t just in love, but they were also best friends.  It was almost too good. Talk about a love story solely based of off characters, their love for each other and faith, and you get this book. Nothing—literally nothing about their relationship I would change. I loved how it was both sweet, but also very uplifting. There were literally scenes where they were encouraging each other in their faith, and half the things they were saying really hit home with exactly what I was going through. They didn’t just talk about their love for each other, but their love for Him and His love for them. And again, Ogle somehow made it not cringy, but comforting. 

“Why couldn’t she have sleek, silky hair like other women? Hers frizzed and grew in humidity like a tropical plant…if only her hair would behave.”

All her characters were so amazing, and she made them so relatable. Some authors focus mainly on the plot and what’s coming next, but Ogle made a way to make me feel like her characters where friends who I knew all about, and yet making me want to learn more. And who knew Santa Claus could be shown in such a swoon-worthy character? If you know the history of where the world got the idea for Santa Claus, then you’ll know how St. Nicholas was the og. Nicholas in this novel was a very relatable person, and I love the way he did things. Ogle added hints to the original stories of St. Nicholas, which I thought were really clever, and although I wouldn’t consider it a festival/holiday novel, I’ll definitely be rereading this around the holidays. I will never be able to see another photo/book/Santa Claus again without thinking of Nicholas of Patara. The whole historically side of this book was very clever, and I felt young and old writing styles mixing.

“You can’t be sad while eating an orange.”

So, all that being said, this book was the easiest 10 out of 10 of my life. If you enjoy any of the topics I mentioned, this book I so worthy the read. The heavy topics concerning the Roman lifestyle and Christian persecution are to note, and I’d recommend this book for 14+

“God makes no mistakes in his mercy.”

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