A review by gracefulbooks
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I want to start this by saying I am a white Christian woman. So I can not speak to the accuracy of some of the experiences written in this book but I can feel some relation with the stories because of my faith and those in my life.

I just want to say I am completely floored by this collection of short stories. I rarely ever find myself so fully enjoying short stories because I'm just not used to having to fall for characters or a plot within a couple of pages. It's just not my speed by Philyaw has changed that-because I legit fell for so many of the stories within this book.

First of all, I listened to this on audiobook, and Janina Edwards has such a soothing voice and she's incredibly versatile. I'd love to listen to more audiobooks narrated by her. I fell in love with her talent. 

Also, I want to say that I also really enjoyed the versatility within this collection of short stories. I feel like Philyaw really worked to make each story have its own sort of style and it really worked. None of the stories felt completely the same whether it was the plot, the style, or the characters. She managed to take these short stories that spanned only a couple of pages each and give them life.

I will also say she managed to make me cry about two times because of one particular short story which I did not think was possible given how I have such a hard time with short stories BUT Philyaw did it. She worked a miracle. I really really highly recommend this collection of short stories.
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