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Leaving (2011)

by Karen Kingsbury(Favorite Author)

4.19 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0310266289 (ISBN13: 9780310266280)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Zondervan

series

Bailey Flanigan

review 1: This book was a little to preachy for me. God tells them too much of what they should be doing. Karen writes about God having a plan for each of us. I believe in a God that gives us free will to make choices, but one that will help guide each of us. Karen give up too much of the individuals decisions to God. I believe in obeying God's laws, and with in that frame work, making my choices in this life. The main character is in love with Cody, but she is attracted to another boy, who stared in a movie with her. She doesn't know what God's plan is for her. She is going off to be in a Broadway production of Hair Spray at the end of this first book in a series. Cody has just been hired to be the football coach at a small high school. All of the main characters are goin... moreg in different directions. None of them seem to have compatible dreams.
review 2: I am conflicted about this book. It is Christian fiction which is refreshing. The characters speak of God and their relationship with Him in positive terms. There are several stories running parallel. The most poignant is of the young family where the firefighter Dad is suffering badly from the effect of being at ground zero at the Twin Towers on 9/11. One scene in particular gave me a little attack of anxiety. It was describing the asthma-like attack he goes through in such realistic details which reminded me of a similar attack I experienced while hiking last summer. It was so real it brought me back to that scary moment --no bueno. I had to work hard to calm down. Pheww...I think the main reason I am conflicted about this book is that I get annoyed many times with two of the main characters which are in love with each other but many issues keep separating them, one of the most glaring and, I thought, most easily fixed is the following. The guy, Cody, has a mother who is in jail for drug dealing. She had a loser drug dealer boyfriend who threatened Cody's girlfriend's life. So he ends it with Bailey, the girl, to protect her, BUT without telling her the reason. Well, Bailey knows all about Cody's mother, has even visited her in jail, you would think she would understand Cody's reason for breaking up with her. Why hide this and make things worse in Bailey's mind??? Another thing is that I find it hard to feel for poor widdle Bailey who is a movie star, lands her dream of being on Broadway's musical "Hairspray" and has hunky boyfriends lined up and still carries on about her trial of Cody not calling her and hunky co-star Brandon, wanting to marry her but blah-blah-blah. Paralleled with the firefighter story, it pales and annoys. I don't mind a bit of romance in a story but I just had a hard time with this one. less

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Reviews (see all)

Adremarkie

I listened to the eBook of this novel. When beginning the story, I was unaware of its Christian foundation so was a little surprised by the early references. Kingsbury has a good, clear writing style though it's hard to place her in a genre. The main character Bailey is definitely targeted towards young adult women which slightly conflicts with her age of 21, while Cody's character seems to target an older male audience, closer to late 20s. This hindered the continuity of the storyline some, though overall Kingsbury succeeded in conveying good life lessons and encouragement to the reader. I especially admire her courage of tackling a subject most authors stay away from, a young soldier returned home from war and the personal struggles they silently endure.

April2741

This book was definitely a great read! I can relate to Bailey in this book. It's a similar journey I'm on. I'm in a place of transition and sense that God is about to do something new and is about to take me to a place where I have never been before. Like Bailey, I have so many questions on this journey. I recommend this book for every Christian fiction reader to read. We all face transition, change and new beginnings at some point in our lives. This book reminds us that no matter God has a plan and that He will bring about the promises in lives in His time. We just have to trust Him through it. 'Leaving' definitely speaks to my heart and mind and brings a message of hope. It minister to me like never before.

vopiscus

An awesome book and shows the power of love and the working of our Savior!

Kat

I loved it. great story and very well written!

theapplefreak

Enjoying this series immensely

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