Thursday, June 16, 2011

Book Review - Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

Publish Date: September 7, 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 377
ISBN: 978-1-41699-609-5
Series: None
Source: Won from author


Goodreads Synopsis: 
A terrible secret. A terrible fate.
When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don’t know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.
As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith’s final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

My Review:
I don't generally read a lot of YA Contemporary. I usually read YA with magic, vampires, wolves, angels, etc. But once in a while I like to keep it real. Normally that's when I'd pull out a Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks novel to read but this time because I've had my eye on this one for some time, I read this!
Denise Jaden tackles a very tough issue - religion. I think this is one of the hardest types of books to get into and really enjoy because of all of the different views on religion. Sometimes authors come across as preachy, and I can't stand this. Thankfully Jaden writes about religion respectfully and not once does it come across as preaching things to us. Religion was merely there as part of the story- not to be drilled into our heads.
The characters in Losing Faith are simple but not dull. Brie seems just like any other girl her age trying to fit in, have friends and then find out answers about her sisters death. Tessa is your goth/bad-ass chick, but when you get to really know her, you realize there's much more to her than her appearance. Alis is your cute guy who comes into the picture and steals the heart of some. What I loved about this YA contempt book was that Denise Jaden didn't overdo Alis' good looks/rock solid arms/chiseled chin/ whatever else could describe a good looking male lead character (as some YA  books do -- nothing wrong with this -- but  we can't always have  unrealistically good looking males!) Jaden made it clear that while yes, Alis is a good looking guy, he isn't being drooled over by every single girl character in the book. So this is what I mean by simple but not dull.
It's refreshing to read a book with real life situations, and Losing Faith is full of real life. It's emotional and well written with a plot that moved along nicely. It's worth the read!

3 comments:

Cary Cheyenne. said...

I've never heard of this book up until now, but I'm inclined to read it. It draws me in for some reason :)

Natalie said...

I'm glad to hear that this book addresses religion, but in a way that isn't preachy. I've had a copy on my shelf for awhile, and I'm excited to read it!

Stopped by from the Saturday Situation.

Krystal said...

Thanks for stopping in!
It's a good book, worth the read in my opinion!



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