Dream World by S.J. Hitchcock

Dream World is an interesting book following the stories and lives of 3 major people. Each of the teens is experiencing struggles and learning to cope with them.

First is Debbie. She is a witness to a horrific accident which takes her mom's life. In order to deal with the situation, she withdrawals to her room and starts to dream of her TV idol where he is a huge help in her recovery process. She begins to "see" him when she needs help. Her story is a journey of grief, struggle and forgiveness.

With Karen, Debbie's former friend, we find a girl who feels left out of her family. Her sister is the "golden child" and gets all of her parents attention. Karen feels invisible, and it seems to be with good reason. She deals with her home life and learns to relate to the kids at school in a destructive way, seemingly to gain the desired attention. Her journey relates to the notion of bad attention is better than no attention. She never really seems to find a healthy way to deal with her life.

Mark finds himself being sent to the UK while his parents jet off to a year long tour. While he is there he finds himself feeling a sense of abandonment by his parents and living life in the shadow of his cousin. He has to learn to survive and adapt to the life he is given.

This book has some good story lines, especially with Debbie's mothers accident and how she struggles with guilt and moving on. I felt this part had some real emotion and was realistic in her response to death.

To me, with so much back and forth of which story was being followed, it had a slightly confusing aspect to it. I think I would have liked to hear more about 1 or 2 characters with more depth, then trying to cover them all.

It was a good way to look at the differences in the teens and how they reacted to difficult situations however. This to me was realistic of how teens might feel and would be a good read for that age. It allows teens to see different ways situations can affect people and how relationships affect all aspects of life.

Teens would definitely be able to relate to many parts of the book and would grasp how the issues can affect people.


Disclosure: I received a free ebook copy of Dream World in order to do my review as part of the blog tour. I did not receive any other compensation. My reviews are my honest opinion and may differ from others.

I Carried an Angel by Staci A. Luker

I Carried an Angel is a true story about the short life of Barrett, Staci's first son.  Although Barrett never got the chance to live life on this earth, he has inspired countless people about a life of sacrifice, and the love of Christ. Through the heartbreak of learning about his death, to the days that followed, Staci has been able to share her family's love for Barrett and bring about a way to keep his name alive.
Each chapter follows Staci's journal of how she and her family learned to cope with the unspeakable tragedy.

When I first sat down to read the book, I grabbed a box of kleenex fully expecting to use it. Although the heartbreak is there, and as a mom, I found myself struggling to imagine what they went through, the book was different then I expected. Of course there are parts that were hard to read, but what was amazing was the focus while on the situation, brought about incredible joy of the Lord. Staci shares with us how Barrett's death caused her focus to be on Christ and in sharing it with others.

What I loved was how honest the book reads. It never sugar coated the feelings of despair, but allowed us to see that through Christ we can do all things, even things we never imagined we could conquer.

Barrett's Blankets is a ministry that Staci started because of her wishing she had the blanket from the time she held Barrett. Figuring others would benefit from it also, she began knitting wonderful blankets to share with other grieving parents. Before long, it was a huge success and she was able to not only share a blanket, but the message of Christ! You can find out more about it HERE

With how firmly planted in trusting God the family is, Barrett's short life will ultimately bring a multitude to Jesus. Barrett will never be forgotten.

Find out more about Staci on her blog at http://www.lukerfamilytales.com



Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Above and Beyond by Sandra Brown

Kyla's husband Richard was killed in a terrorist attack while overseas. As Kyla is trying to catch a breath and move on with her young son, she finds herself drawn to a man she doesn't realize she knows.

Trevor was a soldier alongside Richard. By a stroke of coincidence, Richard ends up dying in the bunk where Trevor normally would have been. To aid his recovery, Trevor finds himself reading, and re-reading the love letters to Richard from Kyla. When he finds himself in love with her, he devises a plan to meet her.

While they are getting to know each other, Trevor is holding back a huge secret that could ruin everything. There is something Kyla doesn't yet know and Trevor hopes will never know.

Through a series of events, we follow them through struggles, love,  trust issues and finally the truth. Can they survive what secrets lie in the past or will it keep them from a lasting love?


MY THOUGHTS:

This story will keep you engaged from beginning to end. It is full of creative plot lines which pull you into the story. There is great depth to the story which allows us to visualize realistic people and situations. When reading this book I found myself with many different emotions from disliking Trevor for keeping the secret, to wanting Kyla to forgive him, to laughing alongside the actions of a toddler.
You will not be disappointed with Above and Beyond. Again Sandra Brown has brought us a hit!
I have lost count of how many times I have read this book over the years. Certain books just fit in a way that brings you back time and again. This is that book!
You can find the book for yourself here at www.amazon.com

Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation for this review. I had the book in my personal collection. My reviews are always honest and my opinions are my own.