Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Amy Inspired, 2010



I debated putting my thoughts about this book on the good old blog. Mostly because I like to be supportive of writers, especially those that may be newer in their career. But I want to record my readings in an authentic way so that includes books I didn't really like or think very well written.

This book didn't strike a positive cord with me for several reasons. First, the plot is labored and it seems artificially forced. Second, there was this undertone of religious faith in a very disinteresting way. Third, the ending was so cliche! I should also admit that I don't really like Christian fiction as a genre, in fact usually I stay far away from it. I know other people love it and thats great! It's just not for me. I do read lots of books with religious themes and imagery and find them amazingly compelling. Perhaps it's my Reformed theology, but I prefer to have the faith story emerge from the narrative of life rather than present in the forced fashion I usually find in Christian fiction.

I want to say one other thing about this book, I think it is difficult to write about a writer. The main character is a young woman who is scraping by on adjunct teaching work in order to devote herself to writing fiction. She appears to be fairly unsuccessful on the writing front thus far which also seems to be true in her personal life. But it's hard to write about what you are doing, I think replicating the practice of writing onto your character can be more complicated than many writers can accomplish well.

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