I very much enjoyed this book. I can't explain why some books grab my attention better than others. Maybe it's the way the author writes. Maybe it's the story line or the content. Maybe it's a throw-away phrase on the backmatter that beckoned me. Or maybe it's all the above tightly woven into a complex novel that registers on a deeply emotional level.
This isn't a book that should be read as quickly as possible. This is a deep, rich novel filled with nuggets of wisdom and truth that must be chewed on and thought about. Applied to our own lives. There is so much, so many lessons in this story, it's hard for me to put it all into one single review. This is a read-again, think-again type of novel. One that helps put the past into perspective and allows ourselves to reach out to God and ask for the forgiveness He so willingly offers. Especially when it's so difficult for us to forgive ourselves for our own heinous past.
Have you ever heard someone say, "If I'd do anything in my life over, it'd be..." and out pours some past regrets of something they did or didn't do? Now, what if you had pulled a senseless prank on someone and had to live with the awful consequences for the rest of your life? Would you allow your regrets to consume you and change your future? Or would you know that choice rather than fate governs our lives and those actions are the ones that will define us for what we would become?
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone stumbles and falls. Bad things happen to good people. We all must live with the consequences of our actions; whether good or bad. Such is the case with Jake and Kate Barnett and Taylor Hathcock.
I've read my fair share of scary books, but I am convinced the scariest antagonist of a novel is one who is more than insane (if that's possible) and believes all the evil acts he/she does is God's will and is the right thing. The ones who look like us but who have been pushed or bullied so much and treated so badly that they break into a million scattered, hurting pieces that can only hurt in retaliation. The pitiful ones. The saddest ones who make each of us stop and remember all the terrible things we said or did as kids to others who were a little different.
"Am I good?"
"There is none good. There is only grace. Mercy and forgiveness." <~ No truer words were ever spoken.
Highly recommend.
*My thanks to the publisher who provided me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. These thoughts are my own and I was not required they be positive.*
This isn't a book that should be read as quickly as possible. This is a deep, rich novel filled with nuggets of wisdom and truth that must be chewed on and thought about. Applied to our own lives. There is so much, so many lessons in this story, it's hard for me to put it all into one single review. This is a read-again, think-again type of novel. One that helps put the past into perspective and allows ourselves to reach out to God and ask for the forgiveness He so willingly offers. Especially when it's so difficult for us to forgive ourselves for our own heinous past.
Have you ever heard someone say, "If I'd do anything in my life over, it'd be..." and out pours some past regrets of something they did or didn't do? Now, what if you had pulled a senseless prank on someone and had to live with the awful consequences for the rest of your life? Would you allow your regrets to consume you and change your future? Or would you know that choice rather than fate governs our lives and those actions are the ones that will define us for what we would become?
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone stumbles and falls. Bad things happen to good people. We all must live with the consequences of our actions; whether good or bad. Such is the case with Jake and Kate Barnett and Taylor Hathcock.
I've read my fair share of scary books, but I am convinced the scariest antagonist of a novel is one who is more than insane (if that's possible) and believes all the evil acts he/she does is God's will and is the right thing. The ones who look like us but who have been pushed or bullied so much and treated so badly that they break into a million scattered, hurting pieces that can only hurt in retaliation. The pitiful ones. The saddest ones who make each of us stop and remember all the terrible things we said or did as kids to others who were a little different.
"Am I good?"
"There is none good. There is only grace. Mercy and forgiveness." <~ No truer words were ever spoken.
Highly recommend.
*My thanks to the publisher who provided me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. These thoughts are my own and I was not required they be positive.*
