Review: Before I Saw You by Amy K. Sorrells

Title: Before I Saw You
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Publish Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1496409560
Source: Publisher
Pages: 400
Rating:  5 Stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | CBD

About The Book
Folks are dying fast as the ash trees in the southern Indiana town ravaged by the heroin epidemic, where Jaycee Givens lives with nothing more than a thread of hope and a quirky neighbor, Sudie, who rescues injured wildlife. After a tragedy leaves her mother in prison, Jaycee is carrying grief and an unplanned pregnancy she conceals because she trusts no one, including the kind and handsome Gabe, who is new to town and to the local diner where she works.

Dividing her time between the diner and Sudie’s place, Jaycee nurses her broken heart among a collection of unlikely friends who are the closest thing to family that she has. Eventually, she realizes she can’t hide her pregnancy any longer—not even from the baby’s abusive father, who is furious when he finds out. The choices she must make for the safety of her unborn child threaten to derail any chance she ever had for hope and redemption. Ultimately, Jaycee must decide whether the truest form of love means hanging on or letting go.

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My Thoughts:
Wow! This is my first ever Amy K. Sorrells novel and it most definitely will not be my last one. This book, it’s setting, it’s characters, it’s messages……all of it absolutely gripped me and took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. I was up, down, sideways, in and out while reading this novel, and it left me with a feeling I haven’t had with a book in a long, long time.

As a former street drug abuser, I related with this book on so many levels, with it’s work of opioid abuse weaved into the story line. It’s a very real thing now a days, and so many people are dying from the use of it. Thankfully, with God’s love and kind forgiveness, I was saved and have been drug free for more than 15 years now, and this novel brought with the flood of emotions. Watching Jaycee struggle with certain decisions, watching her and her faith grow stronger through the novel, really made me see myself in her.

Throughout these pages, Ms. Sorrells has woven a message of the utmost importance from our God…….true love. I love my children more than life itself, but my truest love of all comes from, and for, our God. I could feel that message unweaving with each page turn, felt it envelope me and keep me hooked to the story.

This is more than a 5 star book. This is one that I highly recommend to everyone. This book is emotional, gripping, and may not be an easy read for some, but it’s one that will forever be on my shelf and one that I will turn to when I need a reminder that sometimes struggles are what are needed to over come the mountains that God puts in my life. Faith,hope, love and more make up this novel and I can’t wait to dive into another amazingly chiseled creation from this talented author! Well done, Ms. Sorrell!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

About The Author

Amy K. Sorrells is a long-time believer in the power of story to change lives. Her diverse writing career includes more than two decades of freelance writing, including medical journal publications and a popular op-ed newspaper column.

The driving mission behind all her writing is to bring words of hope to a hurting world. Praised by reviewers for the way they both poetically and accurately portray real-life hardship and hope, Amy’s novels are inspired by social issues that break her heart and the Bible stories that reflect God’s response to those issues. Her first novel, How Sweet the Sound, was a response to her personal questions about how God redeems the pain of sexual abuse. How Sweet the Sound won the 2011 Women of Faith Writing Contest.

Since then, she has published two more novels, Then Sings My Soul and Lead Me Home. Amy’s novels have been short-listed for various fiction awards.

In addition to being a writer, Amy is also grateful to be a practicing registered nurse at a busy suburban hospital. She loves doting on her husband, three young-adult sons, and their golden retrievers at their home in central Indiana. If there’s leftover time after that, she enjoys up-cycling, gardening, binge reading, exercising, and Bible journaling.

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