My review of Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce

I received a copy of Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce for my personal review from Bethany House Publishers. Amy is a woman who hits the age of 30 and her life has not gone as planned for her career, ambitions and love life. She lives with a quirky housemate and has a romantic interest in a man named Eli, who seems to have not caught any breaks in life, but his abstract and artistic nature attracts her, despite his lack of success in life.
I have to say that this was a difficult book for me to read. The characters were not people that I felt like a could relate to and I failed to experience the connection that the author tried to achieve. As I continued to read the story, I was hopeful that it would improve and that there would be some sort of a "hook" that would capture my interest. However, I continuously was bored with the story line and felt like I had to force myself to finish reading the novel. The ending did not provide the closure that I hoped for and left the future of the character somewhat open ended.
I also was disappointed in the way the story portrayed the morals of some of the characters. I felt that some of the situations the "Christian" characters in the book were a part of were somewhat questionable for a Christian novel. I didn't feel that there was a prevalent Christian message throughout the story. In my opinion, the book may be better received by a secular market. I also felt that the description of Eli's past was not graphic, but was overly blunt and to the point for my personal taste. I would not recommend this book to Christian readers. For whatever my personal opinion is worth, I feel that Christian fiction should have a stronger Christian message throughout its pages.
On the positive side, the author does have a unique way of wording her chapters and is obviously a gifted writer. I would be willing to read another novel by the author in hopes that some of her other stories would provide a more interesting story line.