"Wisdom to Know" by Elizabeth Maddrey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Possible Spoiler near the end!*

Lydia Brown is the classic preacher's daughter daughter gone wrong. She's pretty much made every terrible choice she could possibly make, and now her life is out of control. A single car accident brings everything down around her.

Kevin McGregor has been in love with Lydia since high school and truly believes that she is the woman God has for him. Now he has to deal with all of her secrets, and he's not sure he can forgive them all.

This book deals with a myriad of issues from inappropriate relationships, to drug abuse to abortion. I wasn't sure about the book in the beginning, but it drew me in and I began to care for the characters and what happened to them. It was good to see characters that weren't perfect--that didn't always have the right reactions or words to say--but people that were trying to live for God and do what they should.

There were a couple of negatives to the book. It was never explained why Lydia felt she never measured up in her parents eyes to her sisters. When she realizes she is pregnant, she feels she can't tell her parents as there would be yelling, tears and looks of disappointment. Okay, the last two make sense, but the way her parents are portrayed throughout the book, she had to know they wouldn't yell at her. I'm not sure if that was just an excuse to not tell them, or a mistake by the author. *POSSIBLE SPOILER*!!! Finally, the last few pages felt rushed. From not talking to each other to marriage in 12 pages was a bit much. The book was only 237 pages long, so it's not like it was a terribly long book that had to be rushed. I wish the author would have taken a bit more time with that aspect of the book.

All in all, I felt this was a good book dealing with sensitive issues, and I would recommend it. I realize some thought the abortion was glossed over with no description of her decision, thoughts, doubts, etc. but I felt that was covered quite well when Lydia talks with Becky in the hospital. All she was thinking of was that she couldn't hide the pregnancy, she couldn't marry quickly as she was no longer with the father, disappointing her parents and best friend, so she did it quickly--on purpose--before she could think about it too much and change her mind. Unfortunately, I'm afraid so many do the same thing, rushing into it without letting themselves think about it hardly at all. That felt pretty realistic to me.

I received a copy of this book from Hope Springs Books through BookCrash.com for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.