alltheradreads's Reviews (1.9k)

This was a random library book sale grab I almost didn’t get, but am SO GLAD I did. It was gooooood, you all. Definitely in the YA genre, with some Cheaper by the Dozen vibes mixed with a classic boy next door love interest plot, and a busy single mom in politics with a not so great younger campaign manager boy toy, and some drama towards the end that really amped it all up. I thoroughly enjoyed this one! (And the rebel in me loves finding good books I’ve never heard of before and that nobody else is talking about!)

Took it all the way back to Moriarty’s debut novel to try to get out of my reading slump... and let me just say this — time has done her work wonders! This was a really different style and reading experience than her newer books and I wasn’t nearly as into it, but if you love family and character driven novels (this one dives deep into a year in the life of adult triplets!), you might love it!

This one has been on my shelf for months (sent from the publisher to my former company!) and I’m so glad I read it now. I’m on a mission to dive deeper into the whole arena of faith + the LGBTQ+ community and explore more of what it means to be a believer but also love people like Jesus. My beliefs and opinions have evolved SO much as I’ve grown up, especially in the last few years, and i never want to stop that process. I’m so grateful for this book from @calebwilds. He’s a pastor with a lesbian mom and a gay dad, and his perspective is unique and incredibly helpful. More than anything, I so appreciate his emphasis on living in the tension of grace and truth — that’s something I often feel like Christians especially fail at, and I personally struggle with. I highly recommend reading this one (I underlined and highlighted so much, copied down quotes and wrote out new thoughts and questions, agreed with a lot and wanted to push back and debate some as well) and encourage you to not stop with just this one but to keep exploring and learning from other perspectives as well! To help with that, I compiled all the recommendations I received into a list that I’ve linked in my bio — check that out if you’re ready to dive in, too. @calebwilds sent me some of his recommendations even! Thankful for him and for this book and for his example in so many ways.

This one was not for me at ALL. I was so annoyed by it— so cliche and obnoxious and 100% revolves around how much overspending and shopping she did... like I get that the book is called “shopaholic” but that was ALL it was about. I skimmed the rest to see if it got better and it’s kind of a stretch to even really say I read this one... but yeah, not a fan. I haven’t read any of the other books Kinsella has written so maybe others are better? But I’ll pass, thanks!

Know Chanel Miller’s name. ⁣
Know her story. ⁣
Read her words. ⁣
And be changed by them. ⁣
Be empowered by them. ⁣
Be better because of what you learn from them.

The checkout aisle at B&N got me and I AM SO GLAD. This book is like The Velveteen Rabbit meets Narnia meets a counseling session, and I had tears in my eyes the whole time. I want to wallpaper my room with these pages— profoundly simple and beautiful and poignant and pure. Loved every word, loved the art, loved it all.

People told me these Three Pines books would get EVEN BETTER around book 5, and here I am finishing book 6 wishing I could read SO MUCH FASTER because SO SO SO GOOD. The layers! The mystery! The intrigue! The parallel storylines! The building suspense! I cannot get enough.