*Welcome to Post 2 from a series of scheduled posts I've set up for this week. :)*
Author: Betsy St. Amant (random tidbit, but her last name is spelled like the Latin verb for love! That's so cute! :) )
Release Date: January 1st, 2012
Publisher: Barbour Books
Genre(s): YA Christian Contemporary
Pages: 368
*Standalone*
Summary (Goodreads):
Sixteen-year-old Addison Blakely has tireless played the role of PK—preacher’s kid—her entire life. But after Wes Keegan revs his motorcycle into town and into her heart, Addison begins to wonder how much of her faith is her own and how much has been handed to her. She isn’t so sure she wants to be the good girl anymore. Join Addison Blakely as she attempts to separate love from lust, facts from faith, and keep her head above water in her murky, fishbowl existence.
Review:
** So, I’ve had this review for a while actually, but I sort of lost it under all the other reviews and random ramblings in my master word doc (if I lost this word doc, I’d be so screwed >.< Eek!). I found it again when I was scrolling through to see if there was anything I hadn't posted before to post for the scheduled post series. (So many posts LOL) I also found other ramblings about books that’d I’d never posted before either, but this one was actually complete, so I’ve decided to just make it a part of this series. :) Maybe some day I’ll post all the other ramblings-with serious revisions of course. ;) Enjoy!**
The thing that caught my eye about this book
was the PK (pastor’s kid). I know that
stereotypes of Pks: either they’re holier-than-thou or rebellious punk rock
stars. Apparently, there’s no in-between, and I’ve
never really read a book that had an in-between character. Until, of course, I met this book.
Addison isn’t exactly a punk rock star (she wipes noses of the
unfortunate) or holier-than-thou (her wit’s almost at the Percy Jackson
level). She’s just a regular girl trying
to find God in a time where feelings rule hearts and friendships are broken and
made in a blink of an eye. She’s a
refreshing character, and I absolutely loved getting to know her. Addison isn’t perfect; she’s real, and she’s
just like everyone else else. I really like how the author broke that stereotype of a PK (and Christians) with
Addison.
So, time to get down to the real meat: the lessons in the story.
Before I say anything else, I want to shout this:
THIS BOOK IS NOT PREACHY.
I REPEAT: THIS BOOK IS NOT PREACHY.
I’VE READ PREACHY; THIS BOOK IS NOT PREACHY!!
But it is YA Christian, and so it will have Christian morals and
lessons. The theme/subject that I loved the most was the subject on navigating
relationships in a Christian way. Not just bf/gf relationships but also relationships with friends and families. Being a Christian doesn't mean being a doormat, but it also doesn't mean that you should be rude. Finding that balance is often tough (how can I be kind, but not be a push-over?), but one of the sub-emphasises (???) of this book was doing everything out of love and not out of duty (which I think is the way to finding that balance- but finding that love can be tough sometimes). Another subject
this book focuses a lot on is really making that decision for yourself to give
your life to Christ; no one is born being a Christian, and I love the journey
that Addison took to understand that. This something I feel a lot of
teens these days don’t really seem to get (I didn't get it either until much later), that just going to church and doing
good stuff doesn’t make you a Christian. There’s so much more to being a Christian than church and doing good stuff; it’s
about relationship with God, and Addison explores that topic as well. She learns and she grows, and the reader follows her, learning and growing as well.
Now the guys of this book… The love triangle in this novel between
Addison, Luke (the quintessential good boy), and Wes (the residential bad boy)
is an… interesting one. I didn’t really like it, but it wasn’t too bad. My main iffy was that Luke was a bit
of flat character (he was just really good), while Wes was deep and complex, so it automatically made me
biased towards him. It’s
also interesting in that Addison knows what everyone expects of her -to fall
for Luke- but instead she goes against her PK image of wiping noses and falls for Wes, the bad boy who has numerous
issues. But she does go back and forth between what she feels she has to choose and what she wants to choose, and I like the ending (which does tie in with the love triangle) a lot because it
ends with something beginning instead of ending. At the risk of spoilers, I shall just leave
this vague statement here and hope when you read the book it makes sense lol. ;)
Marta, a foreign exchange student from Germany, is Addison’s wise
mentor, and one of my favorite characters in this book. She guides Addison through her journey of
discovering her identity in Christ and helps her grow spiritually. She also teaches Addison that though her
earthly father may fail, Her Heavenly Father is perfect. With her blunt way of speaking, she’s honest
and passionate about what she believes in and is an awesome friend to
Addison.
This book is heart driven and absolutely sweet and lovely. The characters really carry the book, and I love the ending. I thank God that this is a stand alone because it’s perfect that way. :)
Thanks for reading! :)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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