Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce

After reading this book I have no idea how to rate it! On the one hand, it was comical and even engaging. At times I caught myself laughing and reading some great one liners out loud to my husband. Author Bethany Pierce had my attention early - in the prologue. I could easily picture a child with an over active imagination eating baby food all week while pretending to be an astronaut eating "moon food". Yet, on the other hand the book definitely had its faults. I felt blindsided with depressing information and a story line concerning breast cancer.

At times the author left me wondering what she was trying to say. For example, the main character Amy Gallagher believes that being opposed to two people of the opposite sex living together is legalistic. In the story, Eli, a 32 year old man is stranded and ends up staying in Amy's apartment. This temporary arrangement ends up being a semi-permanent set up. The story goes on to tell of the two sleeping together (no sex) and realizing the shame in that. But was the author showing that living together is a bad idea, or just using that situation to carry the story along? I'm not sure. There is at least one more example, but I'll stop there. Maybe the author simply failed to bring her points to a strong conclusion or maybe I just missed it. Is she trying to portray real life struggles with a Christian wrestling to do what is right rather than rebelling? Again, I'm not sure.

I'm disappointed that this book was labeled as a Christian novel. It falls short of being clear on the gospel and while there were no actual sex scenes it comes very close. One scene has Amy standing with only a bra and underwear, admitting to a boyfriend that she is a virgin. I will say that others are giving the book a very good rating so perhaps I'm being overly critical and prudish. You decide.
I must admit that I'm as ambiguous as Bethany Pierce because I think I can rate the book after all. Even though the book was entertaining and the author a good wordsmith I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars.
A big Thank you to Bethany House Publishing Group for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.