THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE
This is the first time I’ve read something by Katherine Center.
But I’ll definitely be enjoying more.
Because I truly did enjoy this story!
I give it 4 stars which means that you should read it, too.
I adore the main character, Cassie; she is strong and brilliant and not ashamed to be a good person. With the help of her mom, we learn valuable lessons in the importance of forgiveness as well as HOW to actually go about forgiving. That includes forgiving ourselves, which might just be the most challenging forgiveness to ever give!
Don’t even get me started on Rookie (Cassie’s love interest). I will tell you he’s got it all, but you’ll have to read it for yourself to get the details. Trust me, though; it’s he’s worth it!
Like I said above, this one is a delight! I took many great reminders away from it, life lessons I can benefit from hearing over and over again.
Here are a couple that I simply have to share with you:
It’s important to note that this was not a makeover moment like some teen movie where the homely girl becomes a swan. I wasn’t homely before this moment, and I wouldn’t be homely later…
I think this is such an important lesson to teach our girls.
(And to teach ourselves!)
You are beautiful in workout clothes. You are beautiful in a floor-length evening gown.
You are fun and fetching in $2.50 flip flops from Old Navy. You are fun and fetching in ankle-stretching stilettos.
You are pretty with your hair up in a messy pony. You are pretty with your hair spritzed and sprayed and set to perfection.
You are stunning without a single speck of make up. You are stunning with smokey eyes and that bodaciously bold lipstick you love.
You are gorgeous as YOU. The clothes and accessories and styles and shoes are just different varieties of trimming. You are the package. You are the gift.
You are gorgeous as you!
Now, here is my second favorite section:
Yes, the world is full of unspeakable cruelty. But the answer wasn’t to never feel hope, or bliss, or love – but to savor every fleeting, precious second of those feelings when they came.
The answer wasn’t to never love anyone.
It was to love like crazy whenever you could.
Amen, sister!! LOVE IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER!
I’ve now read 26 books in 2019, and I’ve come across several that I want to tell you about…a thought-provoking non-fiction that reads like wild, imaginative make-believe, a stunning story of grit and survival that is fiction but feels too real, and even a few audio books that I’ve become addicted to playing in the background while I sew and quilt.
The old adage, “so many books, so little time,” is one-thousand percent true in my life! Not to worry, though, I’ll keep chipping away at my many stacks of “to be read” materials. In the meantime, please send me your recommendations, too!
With love and hugs,
Ashli
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