Sharon Garlough Brown

This was the last in a four book series and I'm very sad to see it end.
I really enjoyed this last book and really looked forward to reading the parts from Becca's POV the most, although I also really enjoyed Mara and Charissa. I haven't always enjoyed Hannah's POV as much but I actually found in this book that I enjoyed it a bit more and found that was where a lot of the depth of the book was, especially in her journal entries.
This book took place in the spring and had the theme of preparing for Easter.
Even though at times this book was sad I didn't find it depressing because there was so much hope as well.
I found it really well written and the characters continued to be well developed and very relatable. So many times I found myself being challenged and struggling right along with them.
I thought the author did a great job of having really strong faith content without coming across as preachy. The story just felt very real.
I really wanted to find out what's going to happen with all their different storylines and would have loved to read another book, but I guess the author needs to end it at some point.
I'm looking forward to re-reading it as I do the study that goes along with it.

This book was reviewed on the Literary Club Podcast episode 69
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1984185… (plus d'informations)

This was an interesting read. I was encouraged a lot by the stories of four different women going through their first experience of spiritual formation. It reminded em of a lot of practices I have used in formation with my spiritual director. Sometimes what we need shouldn't go on a list of spiritual todo's. Sometimes what we really need is a story about four people trying to do the same things we're trying to do. I would definitely recommend this story for anyone seeking encouragement i their own long journey towards holiness.… (plus d'informations)

This book is a clever way to talk about our emotions and understand that we don’t see the whole picture that God is painting, he isn’t done yet and it might look messy but in the end it will be perfect and beautiful. It reminds me of the song “the Artist” by Sarah Sparks. My daughter , who is nearly 4, enjoyed listening to the story and liked the pictures, as did I. It made me want to go paint my feelings and do paint prayers. I love that it communicates to that we can go to God with all of our feelings and He isn’t afraid of them but can allow us to speak them and then remind us of His truth.… (plus d'informations)

3.25 stars

It's not easy to find fiction in which the characters' conversations and thoughts revolve around the spiritual, so that was interesting to me.

I liked the first half, but the second half, where characters' issues are starting to be resolved, was disappointing to me. It seemed that all four characters had to understand God's love through the standard father and/or romantic relationship in their life. So Meg, a widow, has to remember how deeply her husband loved her when he was alive, and she has some daddy issues. Charissa decides that the best way to explore intimacy with God is to explore sexual intimacy with her husband, and Hannah, the only single, never married character, ends up in a relationship by the end of the book.

The various minor characters were very underdeveloped. Each was portrayed as being either nearly perfect and exuding wisdom, or godless unbelievers.

There were a couple instances of foreplay included that, while not super detailed, were unnecessary, nonetheless.

There were also a few uses of profanity and, again, they were unnecessary.… (plus d'informations)