The plot centers around the Warren family, and how secrets will be revealed. The parents, Annie and Nate, are successful, and way disappointed in their son, Josh. He's in his twenties, disabled from an accident and waiting for his settlement to come in. There is a chance that Josh has a daughter, Savannah, half across the country--but his parents won't consider the possibility of that being true. Will Josh ever get his settlement? Will he ever find out if Savannah is his? Would his parents ever be proud of him? How will God move in this family?
I did relate to Josh Warren. He's a dreamer, but held back by circumstances. His life is miserable and all his time is spent waiting, waiting, waiting for his settlement check. Like the song goes, he is just waiting for his real life to begin. Josh's parents love him, but are severely disappointed that he never did anything great with his life. They are embarrassed when people ask how he's doing. Sigh. I relate to Josh. I'm a dreamer, I probably have too many dreams...and I do feel my circumstances don't enable me to achieve them. I also relate to the waiting theme. I feel like my life is one big wait, like I'm at the back of a huge line, waiting, waiting, just waiting. And I also, think my parents probably feel that way about me at least in part. I mean, yes, I did graduate from college, but haven't done much else with my life. Since Josh & I had so much in common, I became emotionally attached to his character and wanted to see how he'd turn out.
For anyone wanting to read this book, you've got to be a trooper. The first few chapters are hard to get into, but if you keep reading, it does get better. The beginning chapters focus on the main character communicating on Facebook, so if you're not tech-savy, you may not enjoy that.
I kept reading and found the book to be enjoyable. Whenever I read a book, I picture it in my head like a movie, which helps it "come to life" for me as a reader. It's a fast read, easy read. It's definitely worth reading once.
My favorite thing about This Side of Heaven is that it's an entertaining book, but has lots of talk about God, and diving into your faith when times are tough. It's refreshing to read from a Christian author, instead of a secular one.
My biggest complaint about Kingsbury's novel, is that something very unexpected happens before 150 pages. It was so shocking and abrupt that I considered stopping the book and not caring what happened to the characters. I certainly wouldn't have wrote this particular storyline for the book, haha. I was so disappointed by this low-blow that I actually ceased reading for a few days, until I felt like I wanted to continue.
I am glad I decided to finish reading the some 300 page book. Like I said, it was a easy read, and by the end, I did feel connected to the characters. Bonus, the ending was really good! I even had tears in my eyes! I'd certainly recommend this book to anyone. I hope if you read it, you'll be blessed by it.
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