Remembrancy

*Inspirational and clean reads to remember and see

hurt

Never Said by Carol Lynch Williams

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nver said

Sixteen year old Sarah has spent her life in the shadows—the shadows in the halls of school, the shadows of her family, and mostly in the shadow of her out going and vibrant twin sister, Annie. With crippling social anxiety, Sarah panics when she has to perform in front of a group, speak with someone or any attention is placed on her. The only person she has felt like she can be herself with is her boyfriend. Then one day, Garrett breaks up with her and Sarah is left alone. And even though Annie has quit competing in beauty pageants, gained weight, chopped her hair and added piercings, she still gets all of the attention from her parents. Over the course of one week, Sarah and Annie start to do something they haven’t done in years: talk to each other. And through those conversations and time spend together, Sarah feels heartache, pain, anger, and hope with Annie by her side.

Let me just say this…Wow!! What an emotionally charged book. While this book is not overtly Christian (there is no mention of anyone in the family having a relationship with God or even going to church but there is one passing mention of Christ), it is an excellent study on strained relationships. Familial relationship, friendship, romantic relationship, and academic relationship are all included. As Sarah spends time with Annie, she begins to learn her vibrant, outspoken sister is hurting too. She finds the desire and courage to protect and defend her sister, to stand up for injustices done to her. The guilt from not knowing pressures her—shouldn’t twins feel when something is wrong? With narrative told from Sarah’s perspective and poetic diary entries from Annie, the whole story is slowly revealed to the reader, leaving them torn open and hurting with both of these sisters by the end. I highly recommend this book for anyone struggling with sibling relationships and for any teenagers struggling to find their place in the school hierarchy. I also recommend you read it with a box of tissues near.

Available for purchase Aug. 25, 2015

***Zondervan and BookLook Bloggers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A Woman’s Guide to Healing after Rejection

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As a woman who is almost forty and has not been married or in a serious relationship with a man before, Left at the Altar did not seem like a book I could get anything out of. And so, it sat on my bookshelf for months.
Determined to get back to writing reviews and clearing off my bookshelf, I finally opened the cover of Kimberley Kennedy’s book and could not put it down. Kennedy shares her story of heartbreak and the ultimate rejection from the man she was planning to marry leaving her the day of their wedding rehearsal, the day before their wedding.
Baring her soul, weaknesses and all, Kennedy shares her downward spiral after she was left at the altar along with many other women’s stories of hurt and rejection, some choosing to stay in their relationships and some leaving them. One thing I really appreciated about the author’s insights was that she included stories from and about women who are single and have chosen to remain that way. She showed that being happy and whole isn’t about a relationship with a man for everyone.
The main emphasis of Left at the Altar is that no matter how we are rejected by the people in our lives, God always loves us and is always there. Using the story of Leah, a woman who was rejected by her husband but eventually learned how much she was loved by God, Kennedy shows that rejection is not something that is new. She shares the path she took to recover from her own rejection, warning readers that everyone’s paths will be different by they can know they are never alone.