Book Review: Rare Bird

So I recently found out on Twitter about this awesome program called Blogging for Books. It's pretty much like it sounds; you request a book from their list of books, they mail it to you (or some are eBooks), then you read and review it, simple, and FREE, as that :-) I love reading so I quick signed up and got my first book within like 10 days or something crazy fast like that. Anyways, here's what you really came to this post to read, my review of Rare Bird:

*Disclaimer: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.*

Part of the description of the book from the publisher's site:

On an ordinary September day, twelve-year-old Jack is swept away in a freak neighborhood flood. His parents and younger sister are left to wrestle with the awful questions: How could God let this happen? And, Can we ever be happy again? They each fall into the abyss of grief in different ways. And in the days and months to come, they each find their faltering way toward peace.

In Rare Bird, Anna Whiston-Donaldson unfolds a mother’s story of loss that leads, in time, to enduring hope. “Anna’s storytelling,” says Glennon Doyle Melton, “is raw and real and intense and funny.”

My thoughts:

I really, really liked this book. I've been reading Glennon Doyle Melton from Momastery for years, and she, as a good friend of author Anna Whiston-Donaldson, wrote the foreward to this book. I actually knew of this story before the book came out from reading Glennon's blog, and a few days ago marked three years since Jack's death.

Anna tells the story of her son's death and the aftermath, how her family is coping and wrestling through their emotions. She writes in the first person so it really helps you connect more to her story and feel what she's feeling. I kept marveling at how strong of a person she is!

Yes, it is a very sad story, obviously, but it's not one that has you sobbing the entire time. It was such a tragic situation, and she doesn't sugar coat it, not at all, which is refreshing because sometimes when you read memoirs like this the author seems to have too easy a time coming through a horrible event. Anna questions God, and understandably so, and she also leans on him as well. Anna explains how their neighbors, friends, and family really stepped up to help her family in so many ways after Jack's accident, and it makes you realize that people, even those you may not expect, really can come through in hard times.

The Bottom Line: I totally recommend this book guys. Two thumbs enthusiastically up!