A beautiful, thought-provoking story of love, death, faith, and family, Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo has truly stuck with me, earning a resounding five stars.
5/5 stars ★★★★★
Read more about the story at: https://amzn.to/3XKx4zj
Published on: September 9th, 2025
From the publisher: A heart too big for this world. A life that changes everyone.
“Life, and Death, and Giants is an intriguing and alluring novel from beginning to end. The events are startling, sad, amusing, invigorating, and informative. Reading it is like meeting a family that you never knew existed and becoming close friends in a few weeks. Highly recommended.” –Jane Smiley, author of Lucky and A Thousand Acres
What I Liked About Life, and Death, and Giants
The story pulled me in right from the beginning. Gabriel Fisher was born weighing 18 pounds and was 27 inches long to an unmarried, shunned Amish woman in Wisconsin. This was also the day that his mother died. I don’t want to give away too much of the story from there.
I am intrigued by the Amish community, which is why I chose this book. With Gabriel’s love of animals and his gift of athleticism, it was hard to keep this 8-foot teenage giant hidden from the outside world, turning him from a boy into a figure of modern legend. The story is told through multiple points of view: his Amish grandmother, his football coach, the local veterinarian who became his mentor, and his friend, a local bar owner. All of these points of view truly added to the story. Each character is flawed in his/her own beautiful way.
I also loved the spirituality throughout, which isn’t surprising that it was included since his grandparents are Amish. The references to the poems of Emily Dickinson made my English teacher’s heart happy.
I think this will be a book that you keep hearing about this year. I hope you love it as much as I did.
My Favorite Quote From Life, and Death, and Giants:
The writing in this book is well-done. Although this quote isn’t a major part of the story, I appreciated the imagery of this paragraph.
“He looked a little chunkier than I’d remembered. I think every man’s front porch gets a little bigger with age. His beard was streaked with gray, with bits of sawdust clinging to it near the bottom and dusting the hair on his arms. He sat slumped over, elbows on the bar, staring down at his hands.”
In Rindo’s Acknowledgments section, this sentence made me smile. Hopefully, someday one of my students will feel the same way.
“Thank you to all of the teachers and professors I’ve had over the years who inspired with their passion for books and writing.”
Where To Buy Life, and Giants, and Death and More:
- Purchase Life, and Death, and Giants: https://amzn.to/4rcjLW5
- If you liked this book, and you might like these other family-driven dramas:
- Michael Without Apology by Catherine Ryan Hyde
- The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
- Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodsen Harvey
- Read more of my book reviews: https://judiholst.com/book-reviews/
- Missed my Top Books of 2024? Find them here: https://judiholst.com/top-20-books-that-i-loved-in-2024/
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Ron Rindo for my free copy. This is my honest opinion.
Now, I’d love to hear from you: Do you think that a community defines the person? Or does a person define himself? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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