this book is a beautiful example of why i love buying and keeping books, and why it’s great to reread things!!! 

swipe to see my review from when i first read this in 2015 as a young naïve baby who was SO TRUSTING AND CONFIDENT that she just could ~not relate~ to a book about leaving church or imagine being friends with someone who doubted. 🤮🤮🤮

THANK GOD FOR GROWTH. wow wow wow so much has changed in 8 years!!!

reading this in 2023 after leaving the church i once loved was a DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE. i can’t tell you quite how much i needed this book and rachel’s words. what a gift. her legacy and impact lives on and will continue bearing so much light and bringing so much hope. 

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This was the first book I've read from Evans, and I've heard mixed reviews about her as a writer from close friends of mine. This book found me one day in the Christian section of Barnes & Noble, feeling like every book was a cliche or a puff piece. It seemed like an honest breath of fresh air, and I'm glad I read it. I don't think Evans and I would be great friends in real life-- she's more of a doubter, a questioner, a wanderer, and I'm more direct, trusting, confident. I appreciated her perspective even though I disagreed with her often and felt differently about church and faith most of the time. This book is broken up into chapters based on the sacraments of faith, which was an interesting structure. There were several chunks I absolutely loved, but most that just didn't really resonate much with me at all.