heasemom's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the beginning of the book. I went to many of the Acquire the Fire events, several mission trips and did the internship at the Teen Mania campus. It was interesting to read about her father from her perspective. I do feel like the end of the book was a little on the light side and I was hoping for more on what direction she was going with her faith. It was written very shortly after the crash and I believe she was still figuring things out. I would be interested in knowing where she is now that several years have past and Teen Mania is no longer around.
karibaumann's review against another edition
3.0
Hannah Luce is the daughter of Ron Luce, the founder of Teen Mania. This is the story of her life as the daughter of a very public ministry figure as well as the plane crash she survived last year which took the life of four of her friends. Hannah’s story was familiar to me–one of the chapters was titled “Growing Up Evangelical” and I remember attending a Teen Mania event once–but it was written so soon after the plane crash that there wasn’t really a lot of time to reflect on how it changed her beyond the immediate loss of her friends and the extensive burns she suffered. She spent quite a bit of the book expressing ambivalence (at best) about her father’s ministry without discussing what her relationship with her parents is now, which felt like a gaping hole. An interesting and compelling story marred by a rushed ending without a lot of resolution. Recommended for: former teen maniacs.
jsl's review against another edition
4.0
Alright, you guys. It is time for a little story time. After high school, I accidentally joined a teenage cult. I didn’t want to go to college and I loved Jesus and I heard the pitch and signed up and took a road trip to Texas (which is another story for another day… let’s just say: breakdown lane, mom to the rescue, bologna sandwiches.)… and found myself in the midst of the craziest thing ever.
Some may say “cult” is too strong a word but, evidence: we chanted things, we wore matching rings, there were lots (and lots) of ceremonies, there were (are) secret groups within the group, we fasted every week, for a 3 day stretch we were not allowed to eat or speak (this happened twice). I have rolled in the mud, went without sleep, watched as guys ziptied a girl to a tree overnight, threw someone in a pit, worked without pay- in fact, I was paying them, and slept in a 10×15 room with 5 (FIVE!) other girls. You get the picture. I think ” cult” is just the right word.
Anyway, the founder of the ministry is Ron Luce. He is huge on the evangelical scene. He’s passionate and loud and excitable and heads up events of tens of thousands of teens and just whips them into an absolute frenzy. He has three kids and even while I was part of the internship, I was totally curious about what life inside his house was like. How do you live with someone who is totally over the top? Is he like that at home too?
When I saw that his oldest daughter, Hannah, had written a book, I squealed out loud. Last year, the alumni group for the internship exploded with the news that Hannah had been in a terrible plane accident, that everyone else died and that Hannah was in bad, bad shape and was covered with burns. I followed the story closely because it is just utterly heartbreaking. This is her story about living with one of the biggest evangelical names of our day, figuring out her faith in the midst of that and then how this awful crash and losing two of her closest friends impacted that.
I LOVED IT. I mean, I read it in 12 hours loved it. I stayed up late reading loved it. I was hooked.
Here is the thing: I think that Hannah did this perfectly. She was obviously disillusioned with her dad and his take on Christianity and she was really blunt about that. But she also painted in him a light of “this is my dad, I love him, I respect him, I was desperate for his affection, but I knew that the things he preached were just wrong.” There was a great balance struck there and I was super impressed. I don’t think that she pulled many punches but I also don’t think that she punched too hard or needlessly.
I was totally drawn in by Hannah’s college life and friendships and then by the details on the plane crash. It was hard to read, of course, but I think that again a good balance was struck. There wasn’t too much emphasis on the crash but there were enough details to keep me reading. I really do think that the whole thing was well done.
The only problem is this: this is a memoir written by a 23 year old. Her story is so far from being complete that it kind of just ends abruptly. There is only so much perspective you have when you are 23 and this is, of course, no fault of Hannah’s, but it does make you wonder what she will think when she reads this in 5, 10, 25 years. I want her to write a follow up when her thoughts on friendship and family and faith are a little more fleshed out, but I think that this is a great first volume.
If you have been affiliated with Teen Mania Ministries or are just curious about evangelical Christianity in general, I would highly recommend this.
(I read an Advanced Reader Copy of this via NetGalley, but all opinions are my own!)
Some may say “cult” is too strong a word but, evidence: we chanted things, we wore matching rings, there were lots (and lots) of ceremonies, there were (are) secret groups within the group, we fasted every week, for a 3 day stretch we were not allowed to eat or speak (this happened twice). I have rolled in the mud, went without sleep, watched as guys ziptied a girl to a tree overnight, threw someone in a pit, worked without pay- in fact, I was paying them, and slept in a 10×15 room with 5 (FIVE!) other girls. You get the picture. I think ” cult” is just the right word.
Anyway, the founder of the ministry is Ron Luce. He is huge on the evangelical scene. He’s passionate and loud and excitable and heads up events of tens of thousands of teens and just whips them into an absolute frenzy. He has three kids and even while I was part of the internship, I was totally curious about what life inside his house was like. How do you live with someone who is totally over the top? Is he like that at home too?
When I saw that his oldest daughter, Hannah, had written a book, I squealed out loud. Last year, the alumni group for the internship exploded with the news that Hannah had been in a terrible plane accident, that everyone else died and that Hannah was in bad, bad shape and was covered with burns. I followed the story closely because it is just utterly heartbreaking. This is her story about living with one of the biggest evangelical names of our day, figuring out her faith in the midst of that and then how this awful crash and losing two of her closest friends impacted that.
I LOVED IT. I mean, I read it in 12 hours loved it. I stayed up late reading loved it. I was hooked.
Here is the thing: I think that Hannah did this perfectly. She was obviously disillusioned with her dad and his take on Christianity and she was really blunt about that. But she also painted in him a light of “this is my dad, I love him, I respect him, I was desperate for his affection, but I knew that the things he preached were just wrong.” There was a great balance struck there and I was super impressed. I don’t think that she pulled many punches but I also don’t think that she punched too hard or needlessly.
I was totally drawn in by Hannah’s college life and friendships and then by the details on the plane crash. It was hard to read, of course, but I think that again a good balance was struck. There wasn’t too much emphasis on the crash but there were enough details to keep me reading. I really do think that the whole thing was well done.
The only problem is this: this is a memoir written by a 23 year old. Her story is so far from being complete that it kind of just ends abruptly. There is only so much perspective you have when you are 23 and this is, of course, no fault of Hannah’s, but it does make you wonder what she will think when she reads this in 5, 10, 25 years. I want her to write a follow up when her thoughts on friendship and family and faith are a little more fleshed out, but I think that this is a great first volume.
If you have been affiliated with Teen Mania Ministries or are just curious about evangelical Christianity in general, I would highly recommend this.
(I read an Advanced Reader Copy of this via NetGalley, but all opinions are my own!)
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