Hey, Jude Carpenter by Storm Shultz

Book Synopsis:

Jude Carpenter likes his life. Sure, his mom is a little intense sometimes, and sure, it would be great if his older brother would help out more on their family dairy farm, but overall, Jude is happy. That is, until he finds out his family could lose their farm, and Jude’s life goes from peaceful stability to tense uncertainty.

Enter Mona Montgomery, whose life revolves around her cat, Shakespeare, the Beatles, and church. There’s not much else to do in Clearwater. Then she meets Jude, and life gets interesting.

With Jude's family losing their dairy farm, Mona is desperate to help. Though helping isn't as easy as she had hoped it would be. Jude's mom distrusts the Montgomery family, and that includes Mona. Mona's family did split a whole church, after all.

Romeo and Juliet had less trouble being near each other than Jude and Mona do. As time slips by and the deadline to lose the farm approaches, can Mona help Jude save the farm he loves?

My Review:

4/5 stars. This was a cute and engaging story. It had good family dynamics and good social commentary about churches splitting for less important issues. Some of the writing style felt too casual though, and the character voices were a little annoying at times. I also thought the ending was a bit too perfect.

Writing style is a big thing for me in books, and right away I wasn't the biggest fan of this one. It wasn't confusing or hard to read - it was actually very easy to read - but it was too casual for my liking. The use of words like "totally" and times when they spoke to the readers like, "you get the idea," took me out of it. I understand that the characters are only 14, but it felt very young and simplified. Eventually, I noticed it less as I got used to it, though.

Similarly, Mona's character felt a little bit like an "I'm not like other girls" girl. It was never explicitly said, nor was she compared to "other girls," but there was a big emphasis on her hobbies that made her "unique." There were a lot of reminders that she liked the Beatles and Shakespeare, as if those are so quirky.

I'll move onto positives. The plot itself was very engaging. I was invested, wanting to find out what would happen with Jude's family's farm and how Mona would work toward helping him. I was able to read through it pretty fast as it started to pick up. However, I will say that the whole forbidden love, Romeo and Juliet retelling this book was marketed as having was actually not that big of a deal. That conflict was resolved pretty soon after it started, so it didn't feel like real conflict.

Another thing I loved was the family dynamics. Jude and Silas, especially, had a fun and realistic relationship. They were kind of rocky at the start, but they got along better as it went on and had some funny banter. I liked the parents' dynamics with the kids, too. They were very realistic - not perfect but having reasons for their flaws.

A big theme of this book was the church split between Jude and Mona's separate churches. That was a big source of conflict, and there was good social commentary on how miscommunication and dividing over small things isn't good for the body of Christ and fellowship of believers. This was another enjoyable element.

Finally, the ending was cute and sweet but almost felt like everything was wrapped up too perfectly. Everyone got what you expected, and there was no nuance or realism. You can have a satisfying, happy ending in a way that still has some things that didn't work out, because that's life.

Content:

Language: None

Sexual Content: Kisses, on the lips, cheeks, and forehead, but not described in much detail

Violence/Gore: Two boys get into a fight that results in bloody noses and bruises, a mention of a guy who "attacks girls" and a later mention that he follows girls back to their dorms and has tried to grab a girl.

Drugs/Alcohol: None