Ellie is a girl who strives to be perfect. She’s one of the most popular girls at school. She’s got a boyfriend she’s known all her life and intends to marry. Her family is a God-fearing set of individuals and loving in every way. And she does everything she’s told to do. What could possibly go wrong?
Apparently, everything. Ellie is thrown into a mixture of emotions when she discovers that Dylan, her long-time boyfriend, cheats on her, her mother gets diagnosed with cancer and her perfect world seems to be falling apart. She begins to question why God would throw all these trials her way after she’d obeyed all His instructions and what exactly it means to be herself and not somebody’s shadow or the symbol of perfection.
I don’t read a lot of Christian novels since most of them are usually written by pious individuals who believe in legalistic ideals but “Worth the Wait” was nothing like that. It dealt with serious issues in an open, unbiased and real way that made me actually willing to give the genre another try.
When the novel’s protagonist, Ellie, comes to terms with the situation, she doesn’t try to be stoic or hide behind her religion and try to pretend everything is ‘ok’. She pours out her pain to her family when they try to help her move on after her break-up with Dylan, she expresses her feelings to God through genuine prayers and entries in her journal and she allows her friends to comfort her even though she desperately wants to keep up a façade.
I also admired how she dealt with her mother’s illness. Ofcourse, she’s confused as to why God would allow her mother to get cancer (as do so many people) but that doesn’t stop her from not trying to comfort her mom. In fact, they become even closer than before and her mom reveals the burden she’s been carrying around all her life. Ellie realizes that because of her mother’s ‘save face’ behaviour, she’s always felt the need to do the same and try to be the perfect girl she believes everyone loves.
Even though this type of behaviour is what drove Ellie’s boyfriend away from her, I couldn’t help but sympathize with him. Dylan is one of the many Christian kids who feel as if they need to escape the clutches of their overbearing religious parents. He’s tired of having to follow rules and because of this, begins to drift away from “goody two shoes” Ellie. I mean, as a teen, being impulsive and reckless is what living is all about and Dylan feels the need to be free. What I don’t like about him is how he goes about it. He hurts Ellie and the people around him in such a way and then has the balls to turn around and ask Ellie to date him again. Totally ridiculous. Luckily, Ellie has learnt her lesson and moves from behind Dylan’s shadow and focuses on finding out who she is and what exactly God wants her to do with her life.
Fortunately for Ellie, Cara and Josh – her two friends since forever – have her back. Even after Josh confesses that he’s always had a crush on her, they remain friends and Josh promises that he’ll wait for her. No matter how long.
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Overall, “Worth the Wait” was a pretty good read. It brought up issues that had me thinking about what I’d do if I were in a particular character’s position. It is a definite novel that I know I’ll find myself reading over again. And it’s also an inspirational story about how faith in Jesus can help you overcome even the toughest of situations.
Rating: 9 /10
Book Info:
Publisher: HopeSprings Books (February 4, 2014)
Length: 220 pages
Series: Waltham Academy #1
Source: Netgalley
Genre: Christians, Teens & YA
Completed: March 2014
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