Joy Swallow, a freshly graduated professional, gets herself wrapped in secrets and superficial “friendships” until she’s been burned and left in ruins. Despite her plight, she grips and claws her way to where she wants to be… or is it where she wants to be?
At its core, this is Christian fiction and that is felt from beginning to end. If that’s not your jam, you’re not going to like this story. If it is, get ready to think on a spiritual and philosophical level even as Joy journeys through a surface-deep life.
Her realistic struggles forced me to think about my own life and led me to measure my ambitions against scripture.
Although Joy can be incredibly childish and self-centered, she slowly turns into the kind of person you want to see succeed. The kind of person that considers their friends and their actions. The kind of person that looks beyond superficial measurements of success like money and connections.
Admittedly, the story was very slow for me, but I tend to prefer action & adventure and fast-paced fantasy. It’s nearly 500 pages In complete fairness, the story required every page of that. If any area had been cut, I would have felt that loss. Even so, because of its length and the age of the protagonist, along with the presence of two affairs (not with the main character), I wouldn’t suggest this for anyone under 18.
I would suggest it to any Christian who enjoys contemporary Christian fiction and is sick of mundane love stories and the same, bland Amish books.