Verdict: Despite some preachy moments, a positive read for young Christian adults looking for support and guidance in their life.

Author Acacia Slaton Beumer has written a book that is geared towards young adults and those who are “tired of battling with unbelief and tired of hearing sugar-coated responses and half-truths about life’s most perplexing questions.”

The book consists of parable-like stories, quotations from the bible, discussion points, poems and some pencil sketches, and addresses a wide variety of issues, that can affect everyone but are often associated with young adults, such as depression, peer pressure, sex and loneliness.Beumer professes to offer “sound knowledge and prophetic insights geared for our fast-paced and rapidly changing culture.”

The language in the stories is simple and straightforward, and the majority of the stories are about the lessons learned from the author’s own experiences, or conversations with friends. The narrative can get a little overbearing and moralistic at times when trying to drive home the message of staying pure until marriage.

The poetry lacks the solid writing presented in the narrative text, detracting from the overall effectiveness of the book with its heading “(A Poem)”, over-simplified rhymes and generic, flat images:

“False Hopes (A Poem)

Her heart is broken, torn to pieces;

When he steps through the door all

the crying ceases.”

The discussion questions are thought provoking and offer references for bible passages that relate to the chapter topic, to stimulate further conversation.

Despite some preachy moments, a positive read for young Christian adults looking for support and guidance in their life.

Reviewed by Maya Fleischmann for IndieReader