The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water: A Novel

This was such an intriguing book. It took me awhile to get my head around the way it was written, I found it very confusing at first. Once I got that straight I could focus on and understand the story better. While I found it an interesting story and quite impactful it won't be for everyone and should definitely have trigger warnings as it deals with some heavy topics. I'm not sure who I could recommend this to, it will certainly be for a smaller audience than your general Christian fiction book. I however found it intriguing and impactful and I'm glad I read it. It's one that stays with you, not easily forgotten.

While this novel is expertly written with a style that grips your attention, it is a hard story to read because it involves serious themes and deep wounds, made even more somber as the author admits on drawing on her own real-life experiences. So it's certainly not a novel to read for pleasure or relaxation, but rather one that challenges and stretches the reader, opening their eyes to the brokenness that some have to carry. But the novel is not without hope: it is a beautiful reminder that all human beings have worth and dignity, and that forgiveness and healing comes when we look beyond our own pain, and respond with compassion to the pain of others.

The first half of this novel was dark and depressing. Really serious topics of sexual harassment and more among children and teens. Other hard topics emerge in the 2nd half of the book. I wouldn't recommend reading in public if you get emotional. The ending was very hopeful. I liked the forgiveness and moving forward toward a better self. The change in perspectives and acknowledging others suffering was well done. I wish it was more overtly Christian.

The Girl Who Could Breath Under Water was brilliant. It's a compelling story about a wounded character who doesn't give up her secrets easily, or the secrets she knows about other people. It's a multi-layered story that is good on the outside and even better underneath. It's a (mostly) made-up story that rings true because it's anchored in truth, in the way real people think and feel and act. \\n\\nIt's a story that reminds us that our truth is not the only truth, and reminds us that our past makes our present, and sometimes we have o to overcome that past in order to have a future. \\n\\nWhat it isn't is """"classic"""" Christian fiction with nice Christian characters who pray and read their Bibles and go to church. But it is a powerful examination of truth, and it's a story you won't soon forget. \\n\\nThanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.