Book Synopsis:
Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she’s been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who’s just entered hospice care. But there’s more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she’s not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it’s a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that’s just what Mrs. Kip will give her—but she’s going to have to work for it.
My Review:
5/5 stars. A Christian fiction about a journalist that takes place in Kansas -- right away, this was set up to be a book I would love, and it definitely lived up to my expectations. It was beautiful, both in writing and in message, and I was tearing up at the end. The story itself was also very interesting.
This book had lots of nice connections to me. I'm from Kansas -- specifically the Kansas City area where this book takes place -- and I'm going into journalism. I loved all the little mentions of cities or places I've been to, and I could relate to Aidyn on a lot of things. Towards the end, I loved the scenes with her gathering research and interviewing lots of people. Feature writing is what I specifically love to do, so I will have to go through similar processes in the future. From a story standpoint, it was also just nice to see everything coming together.
Like I already mentioned, the prose was beautiful, with lots of very highlightable lines, mostly from Mrs. Kip. Here are a few of my favorites:
"A good writer knows how to find the story. She can hear it where no one else does."
"God was good to provide a better story. His stories usually are better than anything we can come up with."
"No effort in Jesus’s name is ever wasted."
"The Lord will give you all the words you need. It’s not about whether they sound pretty. It’s about what he will do with them."
“Authentic love is the greatest joy there is, Miss Kelley, but it requires a thousand little deaths to self.”
"She never did feel more alive than when she fought for the sake of someone else."
There were more, but those were just a few that I loved.
Mrs. Kip's story of her past was so interesting and cool. I won't say much without getting into spoilers, but it was powerful. According to the author's notes, it was based on a real part of Kansas City's history, which makes it even more interesting to read and learn about. If I was Aidyn, I would also think Mrs. Kip's story was one worth writing.
The faith content in this book was great! As a writer, one theme I loved was about how God is the ultimate storyteller, bringing people together and ordaining everything for a reason. Some of the quotes above relate to this theme. The book is also about creativity in general, and how God is creative and gives people creative gifts. I love that.
Finally, I absolutely LOVE the title and its meaning. It took me until the last couple of chapters to understand the double meaning, but once it clicked it was awesome. At first, the title seemed to only be about Mrs. Kip wanting Aidyn to invent unique, crazy deaths for her, but then the "extraordinary deaths" also meant the deaths to self that come with loving people.
Content:
Language: None
Sexual Content: None
Violence/Gore: Not violent, but there are descriptions of people dying and nearing death that are somewhat descriptive
Drugs/Alcohol: Mention of someone being an alcoholic
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