Book Synopsis:
Katie Weldon catches more than just the bouquet at the wedding of her best friend, Christy Miller. She also snags a job offer that launches her into an adventure she never imagined.
Katie eagerly accepts the job as resident assistant at Rancho Corona University, only to find herself in a community of conflict. She thought this was where God wanted her, but how can God use her—and love her—when everything is falling apart? Especially when it comes to her boyfriend, Rick.
Katie turns to the women in her life for solace, including Christy. In the safety of their love and encouragement she finally allows herself to spill her heart about her relationship with Rick. But even their advice can’t postpone the decision Katie must face, a decision that will define who she is and the woman she’s becoming.
My Review:
3.75/5 stars. I don't know why exactly, but I just didn't like it as much as most of the Christy series or the Sierra series. Maybe the rest of the series will be more enjoyable, but I wasn't feeling this first book too much.
I like Katie, I think she's a fun character, so I was looking forward to reading a series of books from her perspective that dealt with her life experiences. I liked this first book, but there were a few reasons it didn't live up to my expectations. Some books I finish very quickly because I want to keep going back to it, but this didn't do that for me.
This book was a lot longer than any of the previous Christy, Sierra, and even college years books - almost 300 pages, and I feel like it could've been a little shorter. The beginning of the book was pretty slow, not too much was actually happening. In general, the pacing throughout the book felt weird at times. There would be some chapters where nothing really happened and then other chapters would skip over weeks of time passing in just a few paragraphs.
There isn't really one main plot in this book. So many different things happen and nothing is a big focus throughout the whole thing. A running storyline is with Katie's relationship with Rick, but even that had so many different plots and things that happened with it. Because so much time passed from the beginning of the book to the end of the book, as mentioned previously, I felt like RJG tried to include so many different events and plots that it felt disjointed. It would've been better if she focused on just one or two specific parts of the story, instead trying to fit it all in.
Now I'll talk about some things I really liked. I loved learning more about Katie's backstory and her family life and childhood. That was something we got hints about in the original Christy series, but because Katie wasn't the main character it was never the focus. Learning more about her relationship with her mom and the type of childhood she had adds more depth to an already interesting character. Her feelings and reactions to events in the book made more sense based on what was learned about her past.
I also enjoyed reading about Katie becoming an RA and everything she got up to, like figuring out room assignments, planning a big event, and dealing with rulebreakers. Those moments were fun to read about and reminded me of how excited I am to be in college in a year and a half.
Comentarios