Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu

Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu
Published by MacMillian, Roaring Book Press on June 2nd 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Fiction, General, YA, Young Adult
Goodreads

Rachel Walker is devoted to God. She prays every day, attends Calvary Christian Church with her family, helps care for her five younger siblings, dresses modestly, and prepares herself to be a wife and mother who serves the Lord with joy. But Rachel is curious about the world her family has turned away from, and increasingly finds that neither the church nor her homeschool education has the answers she craves. Rachel has always found solace in her beliefs, but now she can’t shake the feeling that her devotion might destroy her soul.

I received this book from the publisher for review, this does not affect my thoughts on the book. 

I’m going to be honest, I was iffy about reading Devoted. I am not the most religious person (nor do I know a lot about religion) but I do love reading from points of views that are not my own. I’m happy to say that Devoted really intrigued me and I really enjoyed it.

Rachel has been a part of the Calvary Christian community her whole life. Her entire family are devoted to God and work to serve him. But when Lauren, a young woman who left the Calvary community returns to town, Rachel starts to question whether the Calvary community is really where she belongs.

I really liked reading from Rachel’s point of view, I really connected to her story and it definitely makes for a great coming-of-age story. The writing was definitely fleshed-out and I could definitely picture Rachel as a real teenager and person.

It was also interesting to see all of the different family and religious themes Devoted and you can definitely see all of the research that went into the novel.

In terms of diversity, there isn’t much to discuss since Rachel lives in a very small community with a few select individuals, although it would have been nice to see some diversity later on in the novel.

Overall, I think that Devoted was definitely a though-provoking read from an author who I already really like. If you haven’t read Jennifer Mathieu’s debut, I encourage you to read this sophomore novel!