That it's possible to be resilient and uncompromising, but still submit to God and your authorities. Nadine, through Parvin, reminded me that it's possible to be tenacious, but not the picture that modern-day secular sources pin to the word, specifically when it applies to women. Parvin is strong, but she's not the tough-as-life-itself independently obnoxious modern feminist you'd imagine when you hear the words 'strong woman.' She's quietly in control of her emotions she has the full ability to guard her heart, to manage how she reacts to pressing and stressful situations. I don't want mother to have to sit in this black space that smells of blood and trauma. I don't want to weave my way around the ragdoll bodies bleeding into the thin straw covering the floor. 'I don't want to step into the boxcar graveyard.

(if that sounded morbid, so help me, this book is not :) Ultimately, A Time to Speak taught me to value my time as if there was no tomorrow. Living every day like it is the future you've been waiting for.

Living like today is the last day, that this is your chance to leave a legacy. I realized that it's wrong to focus on just one - the present or the future. This book, along with the first in the series, edited my mindset on the whole. I've found myself stuck, unsure of which to believe and live out. I've heard everything from 'live in the here and now' to 'focus on your future' - and the message that goes with each is equally persuading. 'Now that the Clock is gone, I never know if today is my last day. This is a first, so bear with me, please :) So, I think I shall resign myself to a random post on the way this book spiritually impacted me. I feel that I covered the themes and leading technology in the first review, as well as the characters (there weren't many new voices, but there were several characters who showed up that were mentioned in the last book, and you got to know them better *heart*). Spoiler Alert: If you have yet to read or finish A Time to Die, I wouldn't recommend reading the following review, as it might give away several things that are inherent to the plot of this book, but still a mystery in the first novel. Brandes stunned us all again and left us hanging on her every word. If you happened to read my raving review of the last novel, you'd know how head-over-heels I am with Nadine's work, and how exceptionally hard it is to surpass A Time to Die's fabulousness. A Time to Speak transcended its predecessor, A Time To Die, in so many ways I can hardly recount them all.

A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes