What readers think of Life, and Death, and Giants, plus links to write your own review.

LIFE, & DEATH, & GIANTS
By Ron Rindo
Narrated by Christina Moore, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, and Will Damron

A Giant in So Many Ways—

4.5 stars (rounded up)

This was such a moving and emotionally satisfying read, with a gentle sprinkle of magical realism. The character development is exceptional. Sometimes a character—or several—nestles into my heart and stays there, and that’s exactly what happened with Gabriel, his grandmother, and Thomas the veterinarian.

Set in a rural Amish community in Wisconsin, this is the story of Gabriel, who is born weighing a whopping eighteen pounds and measuring twenty-seven inches long. After the deaths of his mother and brother, Gabriel moves in with his Amish grandparents. As he grows—both in size and in interests—his life begins to stretch beyond the boundaries of the Amish household. His presence impacts not only those in his community, but eventually the world beyond it.

The characters are real, layered, and flawed, making this an excellent choice for book club discussion. This is a story of faith, hope, values, family, love, secrets, and belonging.

The narration was flawless and captivating, truly enhancing the emotional depth of the story. Hannah, the grandmother, was the heart of the book for me, and Christina Moore’s performance was absolutely spot-on—bringing warmth and authenticity that made it easy to connect with her.

The writing is beautiful in its clarity and simplicity. Plot is secondary to emotional impact, and the pacing is unhurried and reflective. If you like stories that are thoughtful, character-driven, and emotionally resonant, then you will like this.

Life and Death and Giants is a moving, heartwarming, character rich story about a young man of uncommon size. There is a magical realism aspect to the story, which was very well done and felt totally natural. The book takes its time setting up its premise. A young Amish woman becomes pregnant out of wedlock. When she refuses to name the father, she is excommunicated and forced to leave the community. She gives birth to a normal son but later becomes pregnant again to an overly large baby and dies.

That son, Gabriel, goes to live with his Amish grandparents after his older brother dies. He grows up to be over 8’ tall. To put this in context, Andre the Giant was 7’4”.
The story is told from multiple POVs, including the Amish grandmother, a local bar owner who knew the grandfather as a child, the local veterinarian and the HS football coach. Despite Gabriel being the focus of the book, we never hear directly from him.
It handles the Amish religion thoughtfully and respectfully. I liked the juxtaposition between “English” interests, like sports, books or artworks, against the Amish beliefs about a simple life. While there are many sad scenes, overall it’s a heartwarming story about the multitude of people who look after Gabriel. The weaving of Emily Dickinson's poetry into the story was just an added bonus. Several times I was caught off guard to the point of gasping. I never saw the twists coming.

This would make a wonderful book club selection. There’s so much meat to this story and multiple themes about family, community, religion, forgiveness and values.
I listened to this and the cast all did a wonderful job.