Allison Moore's life is in turmoil; conflict with her business partner, a crisis with her mom, a brother who's been out of touch for months, she doesn't know where she's going or how she's going to get there. She turns to prayer, and seemingly gets immediate responses, yet even those answers bring more problems, forcing her to figure out who she really is and how she's going to handle the chaos. Along the way, she overhears a conversation in a coffee shop about a strange journal that she finds herself inexplicably drawn to. Soon after, the coffee shop owner tells her that a man left the journal there for Allison, and she begins a strange journey of discovering herself through a journal that may be edited by angels.
As with the previous book by this author that I read, Rooms, Pages looks at unusual ways that God might choose to communicate with us today, to draw us back to Him. In this book, He uses a journal to call Allison's attention to who He's made her to be, and to get her to question her choices and goals in life. She continues to doubt whether this is even possible, but when she says to her mom "'God writing in there? That's crazy. God doesn't do things like that anymore.'" Her mom responds with "'God is the same yesterday, today and forever. If he did it thousands of years ago, why couldn't he do it today.'" Allison then finds herself trying to rely on the journal for specific instructions and becomes frustrated when she can't use it like a magic genie. As she reflects on its place in her life with Richard, a mysterious friend whom she tracked down after seeing him with the journal's previous owner, she says, "'I need change in here.' Allison pointed at her chest. 'It has to be more than pretending I believe in myself. More than positive thinking. It has to be real.'" She begins to see that more than God wanting to direct her life, He wants her to seek Him and make the changes that make her life more meaningful.
In general, I really enjoyed this book. The idea of an angel speaking for God through a journal and well-placed strangers was an intriguing concept, and it was satisfying to see Allison learn and grow through the process. There were, however, two characters whose sole purpose in the book seemed to be to frustrate Allison out of her complacency, and they were so devious and hypocritical that it raised my stress level to read their sections. They did serve their purpose, but it's frustrating to watch a character repeatedly fall for traps that the author has clearly set up as such. I really wanted to see them get theirs, or for them to change from Allison's persistence, but that didn't happen, and I just ended up still feeling angry at them.
I give the book 4 stars; it was well-paced, I enjoyed the secondary characters, and aside from the naivete or trustfulness of Allison and her mother towards untrustworthy characters, it was thought provoking and tied up well.
You can find The Pages of Her Life HERE.
You can find the author's site HERE.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment