April 2020 Book Review! ⋆ Growing Up Kemper

Happy Book Review Day!! I’ve been looking forward to this post for most of the month of April because I started off reading a book that may be in my top 5 favorite books of all time, and then each book I read after was just SO GOOD in it’s very own way!

So let’s get started. Here are the four books I read this month and a quick description…without giving too much away. 🙂

The Wife Between Us

Ohhhh my, you guys. This book had me shook about four times over as I was reading it. The plot twists are SHOCKING and are so unexpected. I’ve thought about this book several different times, and have actually considered reading it over again to see if I catch some clues that I missed from the first read. Yes, it’s that good. I recommend this one over and over again.

The story bounces between two different perspectives, an ex-spouse and the new love. The ex-wife has been left shook, haunted with a story from her past and the demise of her marriage, while battling with how he seems to have moved on. This book was suspenseful to the tenth degree and had me anxious for the bulk of the book. I loved the twists and turns and was genuinely blindsided by how it ended.

Sometimes suspense novels run into each other and I can’t remember which was which months later. This one…you’ll remember. I promise!

If You Tell

When I described this one to Jerod, he just shook his head at me and asked why I would ever want to read about these things. 🙂 To be honest, this story was fascinating but one that I would never recommend another to read. It’s based on a true story of three sisters stuck in a physically and emotionally abusive home with their mother and step-father. It deeply describes the years and years of abuse they, as well as others, suffered by the hands of their mother.

I was fascinated by the story and the mindset of the victims. You see stories on the news or hear a victim recount multiple opportunities they had to escape their abuser, but never took it. Someone who has never been in that situation may look at them and not understand why. Just run, right? In the case of this story, the daughters had so many chances to escape. To leave and never come back. Yet, they kept coming back to their mother’s side. 20+ years of abuse and they still stood by her side. It was burdensome and enlightening to read.

If You Tell was a difficult read. Heartbreaking, sickening, and graphic. Three-fourths of the story was solely the abuse they had to withstand. A story that will probably forever stick with me, but I wouldn’t want a friend to have to read.

Open Book

Jessica Simpson’s memoir was exactly what the title states. It’s her in the most honest portrayal of herself, her career, her family, and her loves. She did an amazing job of being honest about her deficiencies and her failures instead of breaking down the people in her life. We all know she could have really bashed someone (ahhhh…Nick Lachey…) but she kept it very open, honest, and about her.

I really enjoyed this read and was genuinely shocked on some of the parts of her life that I never knew she struggled with or had happened to her. An easy read and a memoir that definitely made me like the person even more after reading.

Dear Edward

Another one that could possibly be a favorite for the entire year. A beautiful story that had me going through all the emotions, but ending the book so satisfied and warm.

Edward, or “Eddie,” (you’ll get more of that when you read it) is a 12-year old boy moving across the country with his family to start a new life for his mother’s career. Halfway through the flight, the plane crashes. 191 passengers, 1 survivor. Eddie.

It’s a story of survival and how the people we meet in this world change us, even if our interactions are small. How our connections with one another drive us to be a better person and shape us. It’s about carving a life worth living. I thought this story was so beautiful and although it’s a very heavy topic and the pain is real, I found so much hope in the story. Really, really loved this one, guys! I couldn’t pick up another book for days after because I just wanted to revisit this one a little longer. I re-read favorite parts and just wanted to think about it a bit more. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

Moving into May today, I have several new books I’m excited to open, as well as a new bible study coming in this month from Amazon. A Beth Moore study called A Woman’s Heart – Bible Study Book: God’s Dwelling Place. I’ve heard amazing things about Beth Moore’s study and I’m excited to get started. Come study along with me!

Now here’s to May. To a fresh month, a fresh start, and hopefully the start of things getting a little bit more back to normal. Normal is good. I’m ready for normal.