Once I Knew by Victoria Lynn

 Read Time: 9-14 minutes 

Once I Knew by Victoria Lynn

| A bookish review |

Hello, Sweet Friend! 

Today I am sharing my book review of Once I Knew by Victoria Lynn!!! This is such a sweet story and feels very “cottagecore” and is so aesthetic!  I think this is the perfect book to read in the spring and summer time in a flowery dress and sitting outside (I wanted to read this outside but alas, the weather was really cold and foggy this week and I was too cold  XD)! This is a really sweet book and I do recommend reading it but I wouldn’t recommend it for younger readers (so, 15+ years old I think)! 

I first found Victory from her Instagram (@victorialynnauthor) and LOVED everything she is about! I love how bold she is for God and her aesthetic is absolutely wonderful and feels old fashioned and so pretty. She also has a really good blog I totally recommend checking out! 

Now to the review! 

“His strength is made perfect in our weakness. He knows we can’t carry everything the world has to throw at us, but that’s why He asks us to enter into rest with Him. Because that’s the only way to truly have peace.” 

― Victoria Lynn, Once I Knew  

Rating: ★★★★

Cleanness: ★★.5 

This is a really good and sweet story! I loved annotating this book! This is definitely my most “aesthetic” annotation and it was SO fun! There were so many things I underlined, highlighted, and wrote down (in the margins or on sticky notes). It was so fun and if you love annotating then this is the perfect book to do so! 

I think Victoria is a wonderful and beautiful writer! She has such lovely descriptions and prose that feel so aesthetic and like you can see what is all happening. 

I also just want to say that the ENDING was the sweetest most precious thing! I’m obsessed with how this story ended! It was just perfect! 

Story 

The story was really sweet and fun. It reminded me of a Melanie Dickerson or Jody Hedlund book which I love. I love the Christian themes she wove through this story and the growth the characters went through. She wrote some really amazing and memorable characters. 

As I said before, the descriptions were all beautifully done and it felt like images turned to words if that makes sense. 

“ She stopped short, her eyes running along the length of the forest. Shadows crept at the edges, their blackness encroaching but being forced back by the smattering of light that shone through the sparser leaves on the edge of the forest. Its denseness made it dark, ominous...overpowering. She longed for the happy forest whose greenness had beckoned to her as a child, its playful light, color, and patterns soothing her soul, encouraging her imagination, and filling her with life.”

I also liked, especially near the end, how Elyria had parallels to our works and in places felt like a call to action to stand up for what is right, fight for our freedoms, and be bold as followers of Jesus Christ our One King! I really loved that part! 

I do kinda wish that the romance was a bit more…just more. I would have loved to see their friendship and trust grow together. Little moments to show how and why they were falling for each other (mainly from Violet’s end) but that’s a small thing. 

I will say that the story was (to me) very predictable and easy to guess what’s all going to happen really easily. There were no major plot twists which was fine. It that way it did feel like a Melanie Dickerson book (extremely predictable but still so enjoyable and cozy) and is a good lazy day, sitting outside or by the fire kind of book to read. 

Characters 

Violet is a sweet character. I love how she is selfless and always wants to do the right things. Poor girl has gone through so much trauma, I felt so bad for her. Still she stays strong and takes care of the farm and her Granny who is slowly losing her mind. She is a very relatable character. There are many things about her that I was like, “Yes! That’s 100% me!” 

“You need to let go, little one. This is not yours to carry. You can’t lift this load. But He can.” 

But there were some things that just…were hard for me with her character. I honestly could not connect at all with her for so much of the book. She felt so…distant as a character (which she is) but then she was so distant even in her POV that I couldn’t find any reason to care about her. I do like Violet’s character. I think she went on an incredible arc and she has been through so much so I do love her, there were just some issues with her voice (but this is also all my own personal opinion and you could have a totally different reading experience and find that her voice is on point for you). But I’ll get more to this later. 

And now for my FAVORITE character: Obed! I love Obed’s character! He is so sweet, strong, noble, humble, protective and willing to stand up for what is right. His voice was so strong, from the very first line from him I was pulled into his story and wanted to know MORE. He had such a wonderful transformation from start to finish and I was rooting for him the whole way. 

My favorite part of his journey was his faith in God. He went from not believing in God to having encounters with God and believing in Him. He put his full faith in God and that journey was SO beautiful to see! *misty eyes* I love how He trusted God and how he learned to listen to God’s still small voice. *heart eyes* 

“My forgiveness has covered you. My calling has marked you. My heart is strong within you. Fight noe beside Me to master yourself and the voices that lie to you. Step forth into the destiny you were born into and the provision you will bring to the nation.”  

One of my favorite parts (besides his faith journey) was him stepping into his God given calling. I’m not going to spoil it but that was one of my FAVORITE themes—knowing God has a calling on your life and stepping into that calling and trusting in what God says. Ahhh! I just LOVE it SO much! So, yah, he is my favorite of all the characters. Definitely. XD

“I see it in you…the leadership. That purpose was taken from you, but you were meant to be a leader. To carry this. To change this…You were meant to lead and restore.” 

Granny is precious. I thought she was really well written. Granny has mental health issues and went through so much awful trauma that ended up taking away her memories. Still, even through her issues she was a pillar of faith for both Obed and Violet. I think she is just wonderful. 

“Violet thought she had schooled her features a little better than that, but apparently Granny had seen past her look and into her heart, as always.” 

**Spoiler I do admit that at the part when she leaves to heaven has me tearing up. That part was just so precious and wholesome and I just wanted to bawl. It was so beautiful and emotional. ** 

Marcus is so sweet. He is just precious and my heart breaks for all he has gone through. I love his strong faith! I am SO glad he gets his own book! I need to read This Life Of Mine NOW!!! 

“If there was one thing about Marcus it was that he had the most joyful heart mixed with the most compassionate spirit and could make just about anyone smile, even in the worst of times.” 

Everard is amazing! I love how he was Violet’s protector and how much he genuinely loves Violet. He is just the fatherly figure/protector she desperately needs. I love him and I really hope he shows up in the sequel! <3 

“One couldn’t miss the way that he hovered over Violet, as if he were a massive angel ready to safeguard his treasure. There was a knowing between the big man and his little woodland flower.” 

Things…I had issues with

One issue I had was (and I know this was a part of the story) the excessive amount of leering and men with bad motives sexually with the main character Violet. At least 4 times this happens when an evil ‘kingsmen’ comes and looks at Violet and makes suggestive comments and basically says he will take what he wants from her. Yes, those situations are a bit hard to read (it also lowered my rating) but it's meant to be that way. It's in a way a cautionary story. The problem I have with it, even more than it being there, is how it is resolved or rather the lack of it. These men time and time again make advances on Violet only to change their mind and not follow through even though they could have. I’m glad she was never actually harmed but the way it was written felt a bit too…convenient. They just left and she got away unharmed without herself or anyone else putting up a real fight. Maybe I’m being harsh (I kinda am being really nit picky) but it bothered me. If it was written maybe more like The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson (a book where there is a vile man who is constantly trying to hurt and take advantage of the protagonist Annabel) I would have liked it more. In The Merchant’s Daughter, she learns to defend herself and people come to defend Annabel (something that actually ends up being a part of the plot and the big conflict in the story so it had a reason to be there). In this book the descriptions are just a bit…too much and left me feeling gross after reading it and honestly…skipping over those parts (which maybe is more to do with what I’m okay and not okay to read but that is a part of my personal reading experience). 

I would NOT recommend this to young tweens or teens. With this content, I would say 15+. I would not want to hand this book to my sweet 14 year old sister because I know this would bother her and I feel like it would also bother other young Christian readers (since this is aimed towards a Christian audience, I just don’t personally think young tween-teen readers should read this or if they do, do it with an older sibling or parent or have the older sibling or parent read it first to see if its the kind of content they are comfortable with). 

My other issue has to do with character voice—mainly that of Violet. For the first five chapters I had no emotional connection to Violet. She is a closed off character which I understand, but the way she was written was very closed off in such a way I did not care about her and struggled to care about her through about half of the book. 

I’ve read characters who are distant, reserved, and are closed off but you can still feel for them and connect to them as a character. Some of my favorites are Carter from IRON (he can be more distant as in not showing his feelings but you still care for him incredibly and in his POVs you understand where he is coming from and you see his emotions, desires, fears, and things that make you care about him), Nerissa from KEY (she battled with letting people (strangers) into her heart and trust so she could be standoffish at times but through her POV you saw why and realize she has a lot of feelings and so wanted to protect her family and herself from harm she ended up pushing others not in her trusted circle away), Valten from The Captive Maiden (he is a really strong, closed off, seeming emotionless character until you are in his POV and you get to understand him) and the list goes on (even Mr. Darcy goes on this list). 

I suppose the problem I had with Violet was that you didn’t really know her motives and understand even why she was so closed off until over halfway through the book. Then I could understand her motives and relate to her but it was a bit late for me personally (but this may not be the case for you. Remember: this is my opinion and personal reading experience). 

When Violet finally showed ACTUAL EMOTION (not just crying because she cries a lot but revealed things that mattered to her) that’s when I started to root for her. I’m not saying anything against the author because I know she can write incredible character voice like Obed’s. 

The first time we get a POV from Obed, his voice (to me) is very strong and present. In two paragraphs I feel way more for him than Violet. Obed is what made me want to keep reading because his voice is so strong. He is my favorite of the characters (besides Marcus and Granny). 

I think part of why Violet’s voice is so hard for me to find is because of the descriptions. The descriptions in places I think became too showy (look at how gloriously beautiful this tree is) without showing what Violet felt or thought besides telling that she was crying or what she was seeing. 

The descriptions, though beautiful, took away a lot of her voice so you couldn’t hear her. Descriptions are fine…just not when it takes away from the character and obscures the character so you can’t feel for them. This of course is my own opinion, and I felt like I could hear her more in the middle of the book but I wish I could have felt and connected with her at the beginning and not halfway into her own story. *sigh* But again, this is my own opinion. 

Some Quotes I Love:

“I pray God gives you the gift of love that heals and restores every wound you have received.” 

“Don’t walk yourself off this time. The pain will be greater than before…” 

“Lord, give me strength. With all that is in me, I give You my hopes and dreams and will sacrifice anything I have to set this to rights.” 

“I can’t lose someone I love. Not again.” 

“For God and for country.” 

 

“We need to remember, that He does have it all in control. He knows when the breaking point is, not us. We have to realize that, while we are weak and want all of this to be over, He knows every single piece of the puzzle and the perfect timing for it all to fit together.”

 

“You are all the dowry that I desire and all the wealth I could ever possess. Nothing else compares to the wealth of your spirit and the strength of your heart. I love you with all that is within me, my flower. Only let me show you and I will cherish you for all of my days.” 

*Cleanness: 

This is an okay clean book. It’s really clean in some areas (like no real bad language—though he’ll is used a bit) but then really not…in some areas (like the rape of a side characters and multiple attempted raping from the main girl character). 

Romance/suggestive content: There is a really sweet romance and they didn’t even kiss! It was just a head kiss and it was so sweet! The romance reminds me of IRON which I loved! 

As I talked about the things I didn’t like, there were a lot of evil gross men who attacked and made many suggestive comments to the protagonist and to others. There was a rape in the story and multiple “almost” rapes. 

There are also flashbacks and conversations that imply that a character used to be a “player” and would be intimate with multiple women. 

Violence: There are fight scenes, a fair amount of violence, blood, wounds etc. Both protagonists (and side characters) get beat up multiple times suffering many injuries and close to death experiences. 

Alcohol: this is alcohol in this book and one character (in their past) would get drunk frequently to drown their sorrow and responsibility in drunkenness. There is also poisoning (not alcohol but is a substance that harms) 

Frightening and intense scenes: Violet does almost get raped multiple times which can be frightening. The kingsmen are an oppressive force that destroy lives and are a source of fear in this book. Granny has mental health issues that in different situations can be hard to read about (and can be triggering). 

The backstory of how Violet’s dad does is really violent and can be hard to read about. 

Marcus’s backstory and how he has a limp is also very tragic and violent and can be hard to read about. 

At the end there is a death that is…traumatic…and very emotional to read about (I had tears). 

Books Like This: 

• A Worthy Rebel by Jody Hedlund (a character is saved in the woods and taken in and protected while they have a secret that will change everything) 

• Never Forget by Jody Hedlund (main guy has amnesia) 

• The Pipers Pursuit by Melanie Dickerson 

• The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson 

• The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale 

• IRON by Madisyn Carlin 

The Pinterest board : 

Okay, if you know me, you know how much I love book aesthetics! Laurel made this wonderful aesthetic Pinterest board! I highly recommend you check it out! 

https://www.pinterest.com/fablerosemc/book-%2B-fandoms-part-ii/once-i-knew/ 

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Discussion Time

I hope you liked this book review!!! Thank you so much for reading this post! <3 

I want to hear from you! Meet me in the comments and tell me what you thought of this post? Have you read Once I Knew? If so, who is your favorite character? If not, do you want to read it? I would love to chat! 

ALSO, if you have any topic you’d like me to cover—writing help or tips, book/movie reviews, thoughts on faith/life, anything—please let me know down in the comments! I want to write posts that can help you and that you would find valuable in (I’m also always looking for new post ideas to write about)!

AND don’t forget to come back TOMORROW for a special Masterclass in writing Climaxes with lots of fun examples! 

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Love, Moriyah 💛