Friday, November 15, 2013

Throwback Thursday Book Edition #5: The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall


I am sorry it is a day late.


General Analysis

Book Title: The Ultimate Gift


Author: Jim Stovall


Publish Date: June 15, 2001


Genres: Christian Fiction, Inspirational, Adult













Plot (from GoodReads): What would you do to inherit a million dollars? Would you be willing to change your life? Jason Stevens is about to find out in Jim Stovall's The Ultimate Gift.

Red Stevens has died, and the older members of his family receive their millions with greedy anticipation. But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family.

"Although to date your life seems to be a sorry excuse for anything I would call promising, there does seem to be a spark of something in you that I hope we can fan into a flame. For that reason, I am not making you an instant millionaire."

What Stevens does give Jason leads to The Ultimate Gift. Young and old will take this timeless tale to heart.



Why and When I Read This Book:  I read this book two years ago as a freshman in college.  I had seen the movie and to date it is still my favorite movie.

In Depth Analysis

The concept of this book is really great.  A man dies and leaves these secret gifts to his grandson.  If all the tasks are completed as asked in his will, his grandson will get "the ultimate gift".  When I had started reading this book, I had already seen the movie and that affected my view of the book some.  I really enjoyed the movie and had very high expectations for the book.  The plot and the characters in the book are very enjoyable.  My only complaint is the point of view that the book has.  The book is in third person and follows the grandfather's assistant.  I think that it would have been executed better if it was in third person, but following the grandson, like the movie.  The movie does not give a very good view of the lives of the characters, and I really enjoyed that in the movie.

Nonetheless, The Ultimate Gift  was a very inspirational novel.  The grandson learns life lessons throughout the novel.  The novel really made me think about the way I view life and what is really important in life.  I was excited to see what the next step would be that the grandson would need to do and whether he would continue to do things that he did not really want to do.


Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age:  Any age


Overall Rating:  4/5

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