Travel Back in Time
One day, Kiya is living in Ancient Egypt like a princess, the next, she finds herself a slave in the household of 
her parent’s friend, Shefu. Kiya’s father has lost almost all his wealth, and Kiya is forced into slavery as payment for his debts. As if her new life as a slave isn’t hard enough, Shefu ‘s wife Tekurah, hates Kiya, and makes her life as hard as possible. Tekurah uses every opportunity to shame Kiya, especially in front of her former friends. Even Akhum, the young, handsome military officer who had been betrothed to Kiya offers little hope.
Shira, a slave in Shefu’s household, is Kiya’s only friend. Try as she might, Shira is someone Kiya cannot figure out. Not only is her friend a Hebrew, she believes in only one God, and that God is invisible. Kiya doesn’t understand that since Egyptian gods have many statues and figurines depicting them. The biggest puzzling fact about Shira is that she took the blame, along with the punishment, from Tekurah when Kiya was the guilty person.
Suddenly, Kiya finds herself living through the plagues that descend on Egypt when the pharaoh refuses to let the Israelite people go. Through Kiya’s eyes, one will experience what it might have been like for an ordinary person, a slave, to live through that time. Before the story is done, Kiya will discover shocking truths about her mother and herself. She will be faced with individuals who are lying to her, along with those who are speaking the truth. Based on that information, Kiya will make decisions that will have life altering effects on her family and herself.
This is an amazing book. Kiya’s story is exciting, and really held my interest. It was a real page turner–I loved it. Even though Counted With the Stars is a fictionalized account of the story of Moses, the plagues, and the Hebrew flight out of Egypt, this book makes the Biblical story really come alive. It is like listening to a first-person account of someone who was actually there–what an ordinary person might have thought, and done, in light of all those plagues and miracles. When I read this book, I felt like I stepped into a time machine, and was in Egypt during the time of the Hebrew exodus. The author brought to life the people, sights, sounds, smells and tastes of that time period. I highly recommend this 5-star book to anyone who enjoys well-written fiction.
The publisher has provided bookreadingtic with a complimentary copy of Counted With the Stars, through Bethany House Publishing for the purpose of review. I have not been compensated in any other manner. All opinions expressed are my own, and I was not required, or influenced, to give anything but an honest appraisal. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
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