Publisher: David C. Cook
Market: Christian
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Series: Mended Hearts #2
Length: 416 pages
Pub.
Date: June 1, 2015
In a small Texas town ruled by gossip, Fawn Blaylock believes
others are justified in condemning her untimely pregnancy. Stifled by guilt,
she yearns for grace while the local football coach treats her with gentle
respect.
Justified perfectly captures the rhythm and romance of life in a small town, telling the unforgettable story of a woman searching for renewal, a man looking beyond what others see, and a community torn between judgment and love. It is the unforgettable story of broken dreams, second chances, and relentless hope.
Justified perfectly captures the rhythm and romance of life in a small town, telling the unforgettable story of a woman searching for renewal, a man looking beyond what others see, and a community torn between judgment and love. It is the unforgettable story of broken dreams, second chances, and relentless hope.
My Review:
I
received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy via the publisher at NetGalley in
exchange for my honest review.
I
really didn’t know what to expect from this book. I received an email from the editor at The
Christian Manifesto asking for a reviewer.
After looking at the description, it sounded like a book that would
interest me; so I took on the assignment.
In hindsight, the description is deeper than the book itself.
I
had a lot of issues with this book.
The book was written in first person from Fawn’s perspective alternating with third person somewhat omniscient from Tyler and JohnScott’s perspectives.
Can
we just pause here for a moment and say how much I hated pretty much every
character’s name? Okay, small nitpick
done.
Fawn
is spoiled and whiney. One of her main focuses being to get back into her pre-pregnancy designer clothes. Tyler and
JohnScott are both more caricatures than realistic characters. The rest of the supporting characters really
don’t seem to have much to them. They
are really more plot devices, coming in to play their part and then stepping
out, than a part of the ongoing story. I
didn’t feel that any of the characters were more than one-dimensional or grew
as the story progressed.
The
dialogue was hard to follow and jumped around from topic to topic before
circling back around. The characters
also belabored their introspection.
I
really didn’t get a grasp of the small town feel that is mentioned in the
description. The characters are going
back and forth between bigger Texas cities a lot. There really is not a lot of gossip or
condemnation (other than self) for Fawn to deal with. A lot of it seems to be in her head.
The romantic relating…wasn’t. I felt like a lot of the interactions were cheesy or over the top. I didn’t really care if anyone got together or had a happily ever after.
As
far as spiritual elements to the story, it seems like Fawn tries to have some
sort of spiritual revelation of her worth and her forgiveness. However, it just missed the mark for me. There was not a lot about redemption or
justification aside from a few conversations Fawn and JohnScott have. The majority of the people who are nice to
Fawn are non-Christians. The church
people who are supposedly condemning her just simply aren’t mentioned much
(other than throwing her a baby shower.
Aside
from those overarching issues, there were so many minor things that just didn’t
make sense. For instance, when a
character drank some water and its wetness “washed the soot of bitterness from
her lungs.” What?!? Hopefully the water she drank didn’t get into
her lungs. That can be deadly. Then you have Tyler being able to observe
nuances of actions and facial expressions from Fawn’s parents across the street
in their car from where he was sitting in his truck (although the text had
previously said he’d driven off). Fawn
states that JohnScott was at fault along with her for an altercation she has
with Tyler at a football game. Nowhere
does the text support that JohnScott has any guilt to hold in that.
There
were also smaller inconsistencies. The
pastor walking to the front of the church then all of a sudden in the back with
other characters. Fawn thinking about
the football game and then the text saying by the time she got home she had already
pushed the game far from her mind. Later
she goes to one of JohnScott’s football games with the rationalization that
going will put him out of her mind. Other
inconsistencies or head scratching incidents would include spoilers but suffice
it to say there were plenty.
Then there was just wrong information like when Fawn’s doctor said the lotion she used interfered with hearing her baby’s heartbeat on the Doppler. To my knowledge (and Google research), there is no lotion that interferes in that way. Also, Fawn was pregnant for longer than the normal 9 months, clearly had no idea she was in labor, and was able to birth her baby in two pushes.
I’m
a detailed person and so while I can handle an inconsistency or two with grace,
a book full of them can send me over the edge – as this one did.
There
are some edgier topics covered – premarital sex, physical abuse, drinking,
etc. None are really written about in an
offensive way though. It is a pretty
safe book for all audiences.
In
conclusion, had this not been a review book I would have quit reading long
before the predictable, anticlimactic end.
***This
review also appears on The Christian Manifesto and Goodreads
Pros:
Cons: full of inconsistencies; stereotypical
characters;
My
Rating: 0.5 out of 5 (waste of time)
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