Tag: teen pregnancy

REVIEW: Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn

REVIEW: Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

When Meg discovers everything she thought was true was a lie, it’s like the rug has been pulled out from under her feet. Her plans for the summer and for a gap year before college don’t even feel right any more. So she heads north looking for the family she never knew existed – and looking for her sense of self as well.

Meg meets Micah early on in her stay – and they click! Sure, he’s cute and built. But he also seems to know how it feels to have your world – your foundations – upended. Micah’s dad is in jail. A pastor, he had been Micah’s hero before he found out the truth about what his father was hiding behind his perfect Christian façade.

As each of the young adults explores the potential in their relationship, they also process the upheaval from their family secrets and consider how those secrets impact their faith.

Review

Wow. This is outstanding!

I have followed the author, Erin Hahn, online for years. I’ve always been intrigued by her faith story. You can see evidence of it in her online interactions, and in her books, but she doesn’t fit the stereotype of a “Christian public figure” or “Christian author.” This book feels like a peek into some of that story. And I was here for every page.

Meg and Micah hooked me from the beginning. They are characters I would hang out with, people I would want to know. And they wrestle with faith and the Church and the rules of Church in ways that felt honest – and familiar.

I found the faith pieces of this so engaging and compelling. Honestly, this is one of the best examples I can think of for how to weave faith into a story in a way that feels natural – something I can struggle to find in “Christian fiction.” Yet, the faith pieces aren’t the most important parts of the book. This is a coming-of-age story for both Meg and Micah. It’s also a swoony romance. And it’s a story about family, identity, and emotional healing in addition to the parts about faith, “purity,” sex, sexual identity, and more.

It’s amazing to think of how many ideas the author wove into this story. And it felt like a story – not like a sermon or like a vehicle to carry forced messages from the author. The story is never short-changed for the issues and questions raised. The whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts.

Do not miss this romantic, engaging, and thought-provoking novel! I adored it. (Language, LGBTQ+, references to sex, references to teen pregnancy, references to abuses in the Church)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!

REVIEW: Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

REVIEW: Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Rob is a social outcast at school – and in the community. His dad was caught embezzling. He lost people’s entire life savings. He tried to commit suicide, but survived. He’s in no state for a trial – or even a conversation or eye contact. And Rob and his mom have to take care of him. Even after he cost them so much. People at school even whisper (loudly) that Rob probably knew what his dad was doing all along.

Maegan is something of an outcast, too, although at least her best friend has stayed by her side. Maegan cheated on the SAT. The whole cohort at her school had their scores thrown out. The dark looks and “cheater” reputation is easier to take than her parents’ disappointment. Although now that Maegan’s sister is home mid-semester from college, pregnant, the focus has shifted off of Maegan for awhile.

Rob and Maegan are thrown together for a school project. The weight of their loneliness and the secrets each of them carry push them together in a way that never would have happened a year or two ago. But it’s nice to have someone to share that weight after all this time.

Review

After each book I say, “Brigid Kemmerer is a must-buy author for me.” And once again, that is absolutely true!

This is an amazing character-driven story, my favorite kind of book. I loved each of these characters – even when I wasn’t sure I liked one of them. The complexity – of their situations, their emotions and their choices – was stunning. I am  in awe of how the author put all of those pieces together in a quickly-moving story. It never felt weighed down by the complexity. But it was absolutely compelling. I didn’t mean to read this in one sitting, but I couldn’t help myself.

I have come to love stories with multiple point-of-view characters. And I can’t think of how this story would have even worked if Maegan and Rob couldn’t have told their own pieces of it. They had too many burdens, secrets and conflicting emotions to not tell their own stories.

While there’s a TON of character work in this, there’s an intricate plot, too. Maegan is trying to support her sister while carrying her secrets and wondering if she should. Rob looks at his old life, his former friends, and the people around him in new ways after the corruption and tragedy in his family. And he makes some questionable-to-bad choices as he tries to figure things out almost entirely on his own. And then there’s the matter of finding in each other someone who gets the feelings of shame and isolation, the weight of secrets, and the cutting remarks of outsiders who think they know the truth.

It’s all SO good!
Do not miss this one!

(Language, LGBTQ, Trigger Warning: Suicide Attempt)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½