This book was like a blast of nostalgia. It took me back to another time in my life when this kind of book was what I loved. So I'm really pumped that today I get to bring you a review of it!
The Daily Life of Hailey Grace
Author: Beloved
Genre: Christian fiction with fantasy elements
Content: None
Synopsis:
For Hailey Grace, birthdays suck! She hopes with all her heart that her big day passes without gifts, or even a birthday wish. But with loving parents and two witty best friends who keep her on her toes, there’s no telling what adventure Hailey Grace will be forced to explore this time. Unexpectedly, her best friend Alex challenges her to do something she’s never done before. With that comes a whole new set of rules, and another life Hailey isn’t sure she’s quite ready for. Now questioning all that she has ever believed, she takes Alex up on the dare by asking for something that no one but God can give her. Her request also comes with a twenty-four-hour deadline. As the minutes slowly but surely tick by, Hailey’s life shifts into overdrive and she wonders if she has asked for too much too soon.
What I Thought:
This started out exactly as I expected, and then about 30% took a sharp turn and became something that was both completely different and completely the same. Certain plot developments had making this face:
and others had me making this face:
It was really something fascinating. I'm not going to go into details because spoilers are evil, but here's what I loved:
- Hailey's character. She was so cute and relatable, and I loved her struggles with her faith. They were totally realistic and I really enjoyed seeing them portrayed.
- ALEX is my FAVE! Sweet boy just wants to be loved.
- The friendship between these two was the most adorable thing. Y'all know I'm a sucker for friendship and I just love them a lot, okay? The way they rely on each other and know each other so well and just gah it's perfection. (also I can't wait to see where their relationship goes in the next books because the only thing I love more than friends are friends-to-lovers)
- Hailey's parents are the cutest, oh my word. And they're actually involved in their kids lives! And they both have a really solid relationship with Hailey and it's awesome.
- The book is set in Florida, and I'm from Florida, and I could totally picture the location even if the actual town is fictional.
- ALL the faith content!
- It did keep me on my toes. I had no idea where we were going for... most of the book, tbh.
The few things I didn't love mainly focus around spoilery stuff, so I won't go into them, and really, they were very minor. I almost felt like the author had too many plots going on at once? At one point I wanted to write down what I knew because I was having trouble keeping characters straight. But here's the thing - I think this is a problem that only 20-year-old Abby can experience. 13-year-old Abby would have had zero problem with it. So that brings me to my main point: I'm not the right audience for this book, but I can think of at least three or four kids in my life off the top of my head that I would hand this book to in a heartbeat. This is a story I would have adored as a tween. It was nostalgic because it reminded me of some of my favorite books of that time in my life. I'm not in there anymore, so while I enjoyed it, I didn't love it. But gosh, it's perfect for a tween, particularly one who isn't super firm in their faith.
So, I recommend this book! To a select audience, yes, but that select audience, I think, would get so much out of it. I kinda want to get a copy to put in our church library because seriously there are some kids I want to read it.
Overall rating: 4 food trucks out of 5
About the Author:
Beloved is a ministry leader and Christian Romance Author born and raised in Miami, FL. She spends much of her time studying the scriptures and has a gift for sharing the Gospel. Through her debut novel, Beloved hopes to inspire youth to seek God whole-heartedly, knowing there is nothing impossible with Him on their side!
Follow Beloved at: Her website ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Twitter
You can pick up a copy of The Daily Life of Hailey Grace on Amazon here and add it to your Goodreads shelves here!
There's also a super awesome giveaway for a paperback edition of this book going on right now, and you can enter it by clicking right here!
Huge thank you to Beloved and to Livy Lynn (who organized this awesome blog tour!) for letting me participate! I can't wait for book 2, haha!
~ Abby
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