Book Review: Forever Friday

I was intrigued when I saw the blurb for Forever Friday in the list of books available for review from the Blogging for Books program (WaterBrook press). So I went ahead and requested my free copy in exchange for an honest review and here we are.

The blurb reads:

Adam Colby is just doing his job, sorting through the unsold Alexander belongings after the estate sale. He is unprepared for what he finds in an old photo album, overlooked by the bargain hounds and treasure hunters—six decades of postcards and poems from Gabe Alexander to his wife, Pearl. The mystery of the Alexanders’ love entices Adam, a man unhinged by divorce and puzzled by the depth of commitment that he finds in the unabashedly romantic cards.

Forever Friday invites you to travel back in time to the early twentieth century Texas Coastal Bend where a young couple—Gabe and Pearl Alexander—are swept up in a miraculous love. As the heartwarming, pulse-quickening story of their relationship develops through Gabe’s poems, the Alexanders reveal a new way to consider what it means to be truly devoted to each other. Could the secrets of their love affair, laid to rest twenty years ago, hold the key to one man’s future?

I’ll admit I had a little trouble getting into the book – but things did pick up semi-quickly (maybe chapter 4.) From that point on, I was sucked into the story of Gabe and Pearl (known throughout as Huck, her preferred nickname) and found the modern day chapters with Adam an annoying interruption. I understand that the writer was going for the Nicholas Sparks treatment, and sure it works as a literary device, but Gabe and Huck are so engaging and their story worth telling, Adam really is superfluous. (In the blurb you get the idea that there’s some great character development and revelation that takes place modern day as Adam learns the story — not really.)

Overall, I liked it and give it a solid 4 stars. Even without the Adam storyline, I don’t think I’d’ve given it more than that and my main rationale for that is this: when you publish something with a Christian publisher, it stands to reason that there should be some mention of God in the book. Gabe and Huck are good people, but God is such a small part of their lives that they mention only in passing that they go to church and read the Psalms. (I know non-Christians who love the poetry of the Psalms.) The most spiritual element of the book is on the woo-woo side of things with Mr. Jack, and to call those interactions spiritual is a disservice, really. It’s like saying Touched by an Angel is a Christian TV show. It’s not that I think Christian fiction has to beat you over the head with a Bible – I don’t. Nor do I think it has to present the plan of salvation. But I do think Christian fiction needs to have some element that shows a Christian life and how the differs from a life lived without Christ. And that is something that is sadly missing from an otherwise delightful book.