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One of the blurbs on the back of the book was comparing the work if Jane Austen and Dorothy Parker got together, but I heartily disagree. Sure there was the standard frilliness of emptiness, but both Austen and Parker always have an underlying desire of change. Franson never makes her character come to be the agent of change.
When the main character decided to change finally, it is the after an assault by someone famous - that became her turning point and how she turned. It wasn't on her own accord, she reacted and therefore change. She could have evolved earlier in the novel, but Franson, in the last pages, decided that a male character would cause her to change - which is so typical that I just sighed when I read it in the book. Then I was disappointed that the male trope is still one of the significant catalysts of change in women's stories.
The novel is okay, shows the vapidness of early adulthood but the main character doesn't change in my humble opinion.
When the main character decided to change finally, it is the after an assault by someone famous - that became her turning point and how she turned. It wasn't on her own accord, she reacted and therefore change. She could have evolved earlier in the novel, but Franson, in the last pages, decided that a male character would cause her to change - which is so typical that I just sighed when I read it in the book. Then I was disappointed that the male trope is still one of the significant catalysts of change in women's stories.
The novel is okay, shows the vapidness of early adulthood but the main character doesn't change in my humble opinion.
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3.5 Stars
This book barely scratches the surface of the problems of Mars Hill in 193 pages. But Johnson does a good job highlighting the issues that made the news and how they became problems. Cult of Personality, unfettered power, the ability to control and surveil the congregation at their own free will or out of fear because of the retribution from the Mark Driscoll himself.
This book is more textbook with lots of theories and topics that a person may not know. So be ready to either research or be willing to skim some parts. However, Johnson does immerse herself as best as she can as a non-member into Mars Hill by attending all that she can or is allowed to because Mars Hill knows Johnson is doing research - which I thought was interesting.
Interesting for those who want to know the reasoning behind particular things that went on in Mars Hill. But finishing it, I feel no closer to the hopes of Evangelical churches changing.
This book barely scratches the surface of the problems of Mars Hill in 193 pages. But Johnson does a good job highlighting the issues that made the news and how they became problems. Cult of Personality, unfettered power, the ability to control and surveil the congregation at their own free will or out of fear because of the retribution from the Mark Driscoll himself.
This book is more textbook with lots of theories and topics that a person may not know. So be ready to either research or be willing to skim some parts. However, Johnson does immerse herself as best as she can as a non-member into Mars Hill by attending all that she can or is allowed to because Mars Hill knows Johnson is doing research - which I thought was interesting.
Interesting for those who want to know the reasoning behind particular things that went on in Mars Hill. But finishing it, I feel no closer to the hopes of Evangelical churches changing.
Jordan had good plot ideas and then falls flat. This novel had a great premise, but for some reason, the whole books were telling but not showing. It felt like a movie that couldn't express emotion. Most Romance Novels follows a protocol that included working through external and internal conflicts; this book only works on outer. All the moments that were about to delve into character development were cut short.