Tuesday, June 21, 2011

She Makes it Look Easy - Reviewed

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
She Makes It Look Easy
David C. Cook (June 1, 2011)
by
Marybeth Whalen




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:





Marybeth Whalen is the wife of Curt and mom of six children. The family lives outside Charlotte, NC. Marybeth is a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries writing team and a regular contributor to their daily devotions. Her first novel,The Mailbox was released in June 2010. Her next novel, She Makes It Look Easy, will be released in June 2011. Additionally, she serves as director of She Reads, Proverbs 31 Ministries' fiction division.





ABOUT THE BOOK



Ariel Baxter has just moved into the neighborhood of her dreams. The chaos of domestic life and the loneliness of motherhood, however, moved with her. Then she meets her neighbor, Justine Miller. Justine ushers Ariel into a world of clutter-free houses, fresh-baked bread, homemade crafts, neighborhood play dates, and organization techniques designed to make marriage better and parenting manageable.



Soon Ariel realizes there is hope for peace, friendship, and clean kitchen counters. But when rumors start to circulate about Justine’s real home life, Ariel must choose whether to believe the best about the friend she admires or consider the possibility that “perfection” isn’t always what it seems to be.



If you would like to read an excerpt of She Makes It Look Easy, go HERE.

My Thoughts: This was a very disappointing book! At the beginning I thought Justine was a little off, it was like she wanted Ariel to be her little protege` with all the organizational, being a better Mom skills, and recipes. It turned out that Ariel and her husband David were actually the better grounded couple and Justine had the nerve to use that against her when her husband lost his job, because they were swimming in debt. What annoyed me the most about this book is that adultery was not put in it's proper place. It was not called a sin, nor was it looked upon at as a bad thing. This is a Christian book, written by a Christian author and in the course of the story she did not have one person stick up for the woman in the neighborhood that Justine had been maliciously gossiping about, whose husband had cheated on her. There was no show of Christ's love or grace towards any of the ladies outside of Justine's circle. The book ended abruptly with no real show of a conclusion. Having been Betsy, Tom's wife the one cheated on, I would've liked to have seen some kind of remorse or at least Justine being honest with herself at the end. None of that happened. It was all swept under the rug, just like it is done in the day to day world. I can't in all good conscious recommend this book because it doesn't line up with anything that I believe or what God says about adultery. I have reviewed and endorsed this beautiful book by my friend Michelle Sutton titled Never Without Hope, and it also deals with adultery. If you want to see how a Christian woman who is caught in the throws of adultery is handled I suggest you read this book. I know it will touch your heart!

2 comments:

Mandy said...

I am so glad I am not alone in my thoughts on this book. I could handle the book if the ending had been a LOT different with some gospel conclusion. I agree that it was more like reading a soap opera in the world. Thanks for the book recommendation (book by your friend) I have seen it around and was wondering about it...I'll have to get it now!

Andi said...

Mandy,
I know exactly how you feel! I contacted Marybeth out of respect to let her know about my review because I thought that was the right thing to do. It wasn't received very well. You will absolutely love Michelle's book! You will see a true gospel conclusion!

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