I found it difficult to get into Stand by Me. The first chapter intrigued me, and I turned the page to chapter two, settling in for an interesting read. But I felt betrayed. The first chapter featured Kathryn Davies, “Kat,” who surprised even herself by taking a dramatic turn in her life, dropping out of med school to pursue an unknown future at a Christian liberal arts school.
But in the subsequent chapters, Kat seems to be a radically different character than is promised in the first chapter, and we are introduced to Avis, a member of the SouledOut Community Church, the church Kat has adopted in her quest to live a radical Christian life.
Avis is immediately turned off by Kat, and as a character, I found Avis equally difficult to warm up to.
Eventually, however, I came to like both characters, was moved by both Avis’s secret heartache and Kat’s quirky charm, and pulled for both of them. Although Avis was a character previously introduced in another series of books (of which this series is a spin-off), I felt the author gave enough background information for this book/series to stand on its own. The author did a beautiful job of weaving all the story threads into a touching and satisfying ending.
Note: I was provided an electronic copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was given.
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Thanks for the review! I’ll be at the Maranatha Christian Writers’ Conference next month and Neta Jackson is one of the speakers. I haven’t read any of her books, so this gave me an idea of what she writes. Glad to know it turned out to be a good read in the long run.
Thanks, Lanita! I look forward to seeing you at Maranatha! I gulped when I saw that Carey was at first disappointed with Stand By Me, but grateful that she found it satisfying by the end. The next book picks up Kat’s story and I’m excited at the development of the characters (Book #2 is titled: “Come to the Table”).
God bless! See you in September!
P.S. to Carey–I appreciate your honest review.
Neta, Thank you for stopping by. I’m a book finisher. When I see a story with promise, I want to find out how it ends. I was not disappointed. I cried through the ending. I’ll have to check out Come to the Table! When does it release?
Hi Lanita, Thanks for stopping by. We’ve been thinking of you guys a lot. Your picture is sitting on our entertainment unit with all the rest of our family pictures. :) Have a wonderful time at the writer’s conference. Learn something for me, please.