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A review by randikaye
A Beautiful Mess by Brenda S. Anderson
4.0
A Beautiful Mess is the 4th book in The Mosaic Collection. If you've not read the others, no worries. Each book is a completely standalone novel written by different Christian authors to make up this unique collection of novels.
To be honest, A Beautiful Mess was unlike any Christian novel I've read in the past. What set it apart to me? Christian novels are more often than not VERY squeaky clean... A Beautiful Mess was not. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty clean as far as romances go but it doesn't shy away from real life either. There is no language actually written in the story, but there are several instances when it mentions characters using such language. Likewise, there are no graphic sex scenes... but the topic is certainly not glossed over. After all, this IS a story about a child who was conceived from an affair. It's real, it's messy, and it's quite frank in it's talk about the subject. It certainly puts more focus on the subject than you typically find in a Christian novel, but I felt like that added to the realness in the story... that's just life, and life isn't always squeaky clean. For this reason, I feel there are some Christian readers who are not going to enjoy the story, but I would encourage you to look past that discomfort because this truly is a fantastic story about forgiveness and the power of God to change our hearts and our lives.
As I read this book, I was drawn to the character of Erin. As a mother to an autistic child, I saw many descriptions that made me wonder if she was on the spectrum. But then I also saw some of myself as a socially anxious and rather awkward person too. It was never really addressed as to why Erin was the way she is, but it truly doesn't matter either way. I enjoyed getting to know her in all her quirks. She is just one of the well-written characters we came to know throughout this story...and not all of them were nearly as likable. Her ex-husband was in fact not very likable at all... nor was he supposed to be. One thing I did really love was that we got to get to know him through his journal entries and while he still wasn't a saint, it showed again just how God can change even the most unlikable.
This was the first book I had read my Brenda S Anderson, but I so enjoyed the realness of this story so I will definitely be checking out more in the future. This is another great addition to The Mosaic Collection and one I would certainly recommend.
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for consideration. All thoughts are 100% my own.
To be honest, A Beautiful Mess was unlike any Christian novel I've read in the past. What set it apart to me? Christian novels are more often than not VERY squeaky clean... A Beautiful Mess was not. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty clean as far as romances go but it doesn't shy away from real life either. There is no language actually written in the story, but there are several instances when it mentions characters using such language. Likewise, there are no graphic sex scenes... but the topic is certainly not glossed over. After all, this IS a story about a child who was conceived from an affair. It's real, it's messy, and it's quite frank in it's talk about the subject. It certainly puts more focus on the subject than you typically find in a Christian novel, but I felt like that added to the realness in the story... that's just life, and life isn't always squeaky clean. For this reason, I feel there are some Christian readers who are not going to enjoy the story, but I would encourage you to look past that discomfort because this truly is a fantastic story about forgiveness and the power of God to change our hearts and our lives.
As I read this book, I was drawn to the character of Erin. As a mother to an autistic child, I saw many descriptions that made me wonder if she was on the spectrum. But then I also saw some of myself as a socially anxious and rather awkward person too. It was never really addressed as to why Erin was the way she is, but it truly doesn't matter either way. I enjoyed getting to know her in all her quirks. She is just one of the well-written characters we came to know throughout this story...and not all of them were nearly as likable. Her ex-husband was in fact not very likable at all... nor was he supposed to be. One thing I did really love was that we got to get to know him through his journal entries and while he still wasn't a saint, it showed again just how God can change even the most unlikable.
This was the first book I had read my Brenda S Anderson, but I so enjoyed the realness of this story so I will definitely be checking out more in the future. This is another great addition to The Mosaic Collection and one I would certainly recommend.
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for consideration. All thoughts are 100% my own.