Never Saw You Coming
by Erin Hahn
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"18-year-old Meg Hennessey just found out her entire childhood was a lie. Instead of taking a gap year before college to find herself, she ends up traveling north to meet what's left of the family she never knew existed. While there, she meets Micah Allen, a former pastor's kid whose dad ended up in prison, leaving Micah with his own complicated relationship about the church. The clock is ticking on Pastor Allen's probation hearing and Micah, now 19, feels the pressure to forgive - even when show more he can't possibly forget. As Meg and Micah grow closer, they are confronted with the heavy flutterings of first love and all the complications it brings. Together, they must navigate the sometimes-painful process of cutting ties with childhood beliefs as they build toward something truer and straight from the heart"-- show lessTags
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Meg has been raised under strict Christian guidelines, so strict that most would automatically roll their eyes at hearing of them. She's never strayed, is horrified at the slightest sinful thought, never kissed, never even held hands. When she applies to be a counselor at a bible-oriented ranch camp in California, what she learns thanks to the information they require, including her birth certificate, shatters her eighteen years of reality completely. Her feeling of betrayal, coupled with the immediate fallout between her parents, sends her north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to meet her great grandmother, a woman she never knew existed.
It's a multi-faceted journey, part geographic, part emotional, part self-discovery. She bonds show more with Betty, her purple-haired great-gram immediately, but more importantly, she meets Micah, who has his own issues with religion and the church. His father, a local pastor, betrayed the community and his family when Micah was thirteen, leaving huge emotional scars. His parole hearing is coming up and has brought lots of pain and anger to Micah's surface. The more Meg and Micah get to know each other, the closer they become and that intimacy allows them to sort out their conflicted feelings about God and religion. The author does a stellar job of pulling readers through this process as though they were an invisible friend in the same room.
I couldn't stop thinking about something my son-in-law said several years ago as I was reading the story. He was raised as a Catholic, but no linger attends services. He said, "I love God, but I hate the church." Meg and Micah could relate to his sentiments.
There are several other important people in the story, Meg's uncle, Micah's best friend, the woman who hires Meg to work in her bakery and the man who Meg grew up believing was her dad. This is a book that addresses the conflicts so many young adults face when they have been raised with overly strict and onerous religious values. It does it in a sympathetic and even handed way. You come away understanding there's plenty of room to love God without being tied to heavy chains of guilt for being a normal teen. Please read the author's note at the back. I'm so glad she persevered and didn't let this book languish in a drawer. show less
It's a multi-faceted journey, part geographic, part emotional, part self-discovery. She bonds show more with Betty, her purple-haired great-gram immediately, but more importantly, she meets Micah, who has his own issues with religion and the church. His father, a local pastor, betrayed the community and his family when Micah was thirteen, leaving huge emotional scars. His parole hearing is coming up and has brought lots of pain and anger to Micah's surface. The more Meg and Micah get to know each other, the closer they become and that intimacy allows them to sort out their conflicted feelings about God and religion. The author does a stellar job of pulling readers through this process as though they were an invisible friend in the same room.
I couldn't stop thinking about something my son-in-law said several years ago as I was reading the story. He was raised as a Catholic, but no linger attends services. He said, "I love God, but I hate the church." Meg and Micah could relate to his sentiments.
There are several other important people in the story, Meg's uncle, Micah's best friend, the woman who hires Meg to work in her bakery and the man who Meg grew up believing was her dad. This is a book that addresses the conflicts so many young adults face when they have been raised with overly strict and onerous religious values. It does it in a sympathetic and even handed way. You come away understanding there's plenty of room to love God without being tied to heavy chains of guilt for being a normal teen. Please read the author's note at the back. I'm so glad she persevered and didn't let this book languish in a drawer. show less
This is going to be too long, sorry. I doubt I have taken this much time to mull over the review of any book. There are some points that really spoke to my heart, and some that turned me off. But the mulling was necessitated by the fact that the book appealed to me in two distinct ways:
1. The cover, which promises a liberating and relaxing novel.
2. The blurb, which mentions a connection to the church (via a misbehaving pastor).
The first point appealed to the reader in me while the second called out to the believer in me. As a practising Christian, I wanted to see how the book tackles this controversial topic of misbehaviour by a church insider. Both these subparts of myself are now clamouring to give a feedback for this book. I’ll show more succumb to the demands of this momentary split personality and allow both of them a voice. But first, let me say thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. It turned out to be a thought-provoking experience, as is evident in this long rambling review.
Story:
What the bibliophile in me enjoyed:
• I liked (liked, not loved) many of the characters in the book. Micah and Meg are pretty well-written and you will love them both. Their best friends Duke and Vada respectively are also adorable. Cash the dog and Micah’s parents and siblings are also loveable characters.
• The book is aimed at teenagers and I think it does pretty well for its target audience as it raises many issues that teens, especially those coming from such families, go through.
• I loved the audacity of the book in putting forth many issues that are hardly ever found in Christian fiction. This novelty factor worked very well in making me complete the story faster.
What the bibliophile in me didn’t enjoy:
• As a contrast to the first point above, some of the characters were too good to be true. There needed to be a bit more spice in them to make them realistic. I can’t believe anyone in the real world will be sooooo goody-goody.
• Some of the character sketching and their appearances in the plot needed work. Meg moves to the north mainly for her grandma Betty so it’s quite surprising to see that Betty is hardly present in the rest of the story. Meg’s mom and dad also come in minor appearances, which is unbelievable to be honest. What overprotective mother would allow a daughter to go off and live in a stranger’s house for months on end without checking in personally? Meg’s uncle James is in a relationship with a divorcee, a strict no-no for traditional believers. His going against Meg’s relations with Micah was also at odds with the rest of his character portrayal. Dani’s daughter Noel is mentioned in a couple of scenes but conveniently disappears when Dani is with James. Micah’s dad’s appearance in the story is poorly plotted. So there is a lot of convenience-based character plotting in the book.
• Sometimes, the content dragged because it became too preachy. (More on this below.) This killed the pace of the book.
• The cover makes you feel that this will be a light-hearted romance. It is not. The religious content takes centre stage, though there are many moments of humour. So the cover creates very wrong expectations about the story.
The bibliophile’s rating: 2.5 stars.
What the Christian in me loved:
Yay for its stinging censure of the fire-and-brimstone approach and finger-pointing tactics of conservative evangelical Christian practices. I loved all the points of criticism directed at the duplicitous behaviour of so-called practising Christians who forget that the basic principle of the religion is based on forgiveness and acceptance. When asked the greatest commandment of all, Jesus had said, “Love God with all your heart. And love your neighbour as yourself.” Most practising Christians forget this and jump to judge others.
When Micah says he loves God and the church but hates the people comprising it, I totally get what he's saying. As a practising Christian, and being active in the church choir and children’s ministries, I have seen first-hand how people proclaiming themselves as devout Christians are quite the opposite of Christian values when it comes to their work. One line in the book says, “Church folk aren’t any purer than the rest of the world; they just hide it better.” 100% true! There are many hypocrites in the church. Another line says, “The only time churches are worried about modesty and purity is when it comes to their teenage girls.” Again, absolutely true. (Though I think this is applicable to all faiths. Everyone wants to make rules only for girls.)
The Author’s note at the end of the book is a revelation. If you are in the habit of skipping this section in a book, don’t do so at least for this book. She says that she has opened a can of worms with this book, and I absolutely agree with her. But this was a can that needed to be opened. This book is going to ruffle conservative Christians a lot. And I want to applaud her for her bravery. To confront religious bigots without giving up on your faith is a big task.
What the Christian in me didn’t enjoy:
This is going to sound ironic. But there was too much of religious stuff in this book for me. I feel that the overload of biblical fervour and repeated espousals of God’s eternal love and mercies work counterproductively as it drives progressive believers away from the book. Conservative Christians will anyway shun this book for heresy.
Furthermore, the book represents only a specific subset of believers. To elaborate on why this is a problem, let me give an example. When I read a book on Indian religious mythology (which I rarely pick up due to my lack of familiarity with the content), I feel confused about the accuracy of the book and tend to take whatever is written to be true. Similarly, those who don’t have any clue about Christian mythology might take whatever is written in this book as representative of all Christian beliefs. But it is not. To highlight just one such discrepancy, the book mentions that James is the brother of Jesus. But this isn’t the accepted doctrine in all churches, and the word ‘brother’ is still being debated as to whether it indicates sibling or cousin. The extreme conservative beliefs as highlighted in the book are also only in some Christian denominations, usually in the evangelical ministries. So I hate the fact that outsiders to the faith might take this book as indicative of the entire Christian faithful.
The Christian’s rating: 4.25 stars.
Whom do I recommend this book to? I honestly don’t know. Conservative Christians, if you have the courage to accept the errors of indoctrination, please read this book. Progressive Christians, you might enjoy this book, if only to know that your being a liberal believer is a Godsend. Those outside the Christian faith, you might not be able to connect with many of the points in this book. Having some know-how about traditional (or should I say, conservative) Christian beliefs would help if you are picking it up. But if you can skip over the religious content and focus on the people, you will find an interesting story of a young girl and a young boy learning to accept themselves outside of religious and societal shackles. Remember though that it is a teen/YA book. Don’t expect a lot of maturity in the writing.
Overall rating: 3.4 stars, the average of above two ratings.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever!, for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun. show less
1. The cover, which promises a liberating and relaxing novel.
2. The blurb, which mentions a connection to the church (via a misbehaving pastor).
The first point appealed to the reader in me while the second called out to the believer in me. As a practising Christian, I wanted to see how the book tackles this controversial topic of misbehaviour by a church insider. Both these subparts of myself are now clamouring to give a feedback for this book. I’ll show more succumb to the demands of this momentary split personality and allow both of them a voice. But first, let me say thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. It turned out to be a thought-provoking experience, as is evident in this long rambling review.
Story:
Meg Hennessey is an eighteen year old who has lived her life as per the demands of her strict conservative Christian family. But now, she has discovered that her entire childhood has been a fabrication. Shattered by the extent of the deceit, she ends up travelling to the north to reconnect with the part of her family she had never known earlier. Will she ever reconcile with the past and allow herself the dream of a better future within the realms of her faith?
Micah Allen is a nineteen year old who is struggling to escape the skeletons in his closet. As the son of a pastor who has been imprisoned for his misdemeanours, Micah has lost his connect with the church, though he still hasn’t lost faith in God. Micah knows he is expected to forgive his father to prove that he is a true Christian, but is it ever that easy?
While struggling through their familial issues, Meg and Micah discover each other. But their budding romance creates new hurdles along the way of their faith and their togetherness. How will their relationship survive under the intense scrutiny of the “godly” people around them?
The story comes to us in alternating perspectives of Meg and Micah, with all chapters written in first person.
What the bibliophile in me enjoyed:
• I liked (liked, not loved) many of the characters in the book. Micah and Meg are pretty well-written and you will love them both. Their best friends Duke and Vada respectively are also adorable. Cash the dog and Micah’s parents and siblings are also loveable characters.
• The book is aimed at teenagers and I think it does pretty well for its target audience as it raises many issues that teens, especially those coming from such families, go through.
• I loved the audacity of the book in putting forth many issues that are hardly ever found in Christian fiction. This novelty factor worked very well in making me complete the story faster.
What the bibliophile in me didn’t enjoy:
• As a contrast to the first point above, some of the characters were too good to be true. There needed to be a bit more spice in them to make them realistic. I can’t believe anyone in the real world will be sooooo goody-goody.
• Some of the character sketching and their appearances in the plot needed work.
• Sometimes, the content dragged because it became too preachy. (More on this below.) This killed the pace of the book.
• The cover makes you feel that this will be a light-hearted romance. It is not. The religious content takes centre stage, though there are many moments of humour. So the cover creates very wrong expectations about the story.
The bibliophile’s rating: 2.5 stars.
What the Christian in me loved:
Yay for its stinging censure of the fire-and-brimstone approach and finger-pointing tactics of conservative evangelical Christian practices. I loved all the points of criticism directed at the duplicitous behaviour of so-called practising Christians who forget that the basic principle of the religion is based on forgiveness and acceptance. When asked the greatest commandment of all, Jesus had said, “Love God with all your heart. And love your neighbour as yourself.” Most practising Christians forget this and jump to judge others.
When Micah says he loves God and the church but hates the people comprising it, I totally get what he's saying. As a practising Christian, and being active in the church choir and children’s ministries, I have seen first-hand how people proclaiming themselves as devout Christians are quite the opposite of Christian values when it comes to their work. One line in the book says, “Church folk aren’t any purer than the rest of the world; they just hide it better.” 100% true! There are many hypocrites in the church. Another line says, “The only time churches are worried about modesty and purity is when it comes to their teenage girls.” Again, absolutely true. (Though I think this is applicable to all faiths. Everyone wants to make rules only for girls.)
The Author’s note at the end of the book is a revelation. If you are in the habit of skipping this section in a book, don’t do so at least for this book. She says that she has opened a can of worms with this book, and I absolutely agree with her. But this was a can that needed to be opened. This book is going to ruffle conservative Christians a lot. And I want to applaud her for her bravery. To confront religious bigots without giving up on your faith is a big task.
What the Christian in me didn’t enjoy:
This is going to sound ironic. But there was too much of religious stuff in this book for me. I feel that the overload of biblical fervour and repeated espousals of God’s eternal love and mercies work counterproductively as it drives progressive believers away from the book. Conservative Christians will anyway shun this book for heresy.
Furthermore, the book represents only a specific subset of believers. To elaborate on why this is a problem, let me give an example. When I read a book on Indian religious mythology (which I rarely pick up due to my lack of familiarity with the content), I feel confused about the accuracy of the book and tend to take whatever is written to be true. Similarly, those who don’t have any clue about Christian mythology might take whatever is written in this book as representative of all Christian beliefs. But it is not. To highlight just one such discrepancy, the book mentions that James is the brother of Jesus. But this isn’t the accepted doctrine in all churches, and the word ‘brother’ is still being debated as to whether it indicates sibling or cousin. The extreme conservative beliefs as highlighted in the book are also only in some Christian denominations, usually in the evangelical ministries. So I hate the fact that outsiders to the faith might take this book as indicative of the entire Christian faithful.
The Christian’s rating: 4.25 stars.
Whom do I recommend this book to? I honestly don’t know. Conservative Christians, if you have the courage to accept the errors of indoctrination, please read this book. Progressive Christians, you might enjoy this book, if only to know that your being a liberal believer is a Godsend. Those outside the Christian faith, you might not be able to connect with many of the points in this book. Having some know-how about traditional (or should I say, conservative) Christian beliefs would help if you are picking it up. But if you can skip over the religious content and focus on the people, you will find an interesting story of a young girl and a young boy learning to accept themselves outside of religious and societal shackles. Remember though that it is a teen/YA book. Don’t expect a lot of maturity in the writing.
Overall rating: 3.4 stars, the average of above two ratings.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever!, for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun. show less
NEVER SAW YOU COMING hooked me from the very beginning with two main characters with a lot of angsty, angsty drama going on in their lives. Meg and Micah have both been through a lot at the hands of their parents. Meg discovers before the book opens that her father who raised her for 18 years is in fact not her biological father. This shock is compounded by the fact that as soon as the truth is revealed, he decides he can no longer go along with the marriage to Meg’s mother, which was purely for the benefit of saving face. Meg goes to the upper Michigan peninsula to seek out family on her father’s side.
Micah is the son of a former pastor who had affairs, used his position to take advantage of female churchgoers sexually, and stole show more from his congregation. He’s been in prison for five years and Micah’s mom has remarried. These were both just such intense set-ups. Micah and Meg were both raised in the church and faith is a big part of their lives, so they struggle to figure things out and how it relates to their faith. I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to readers who don’t mind a book with very strong Christian/church themes as that is a big message of the book and present throughout.
Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less
Micah is the son of a former pastor who had affairs, used his position to take advantage of female churchgoers sexually, and stole show more from his congregation. He’s been in prison for five years and Micah’s mom has remarried. These were both just such intense set-ups. Micah and Meg were both raised in the church and faith is a big part of their lives, so they struggle to figure things out and how it relates to their faith. I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to readers who don’t mind a book with very strong Christian/church themes as that is a big message of the book and present throughout.
Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less
I loved this book! I am not going to lie. I almost didn’t read this book. I downloaded it without a lot of thought since I really enjoyed the author’s debut novel and wanted to read more of her work. A few weeks ago I opened up the book to start reading and realized that religion would play a big role in the story. As a general rule, I do not read religious books. I decided to read something else that day. Later, I decided to give the book a chance and I am really glad that I did. The characters are religious and their faith is a big part of who they are but I didn’t feel like the book was preachy in any way. I fell in love with Meg and Micah and was thoroughly entertained by this story.
Meg has been raised in a very conservative show more religious family. Everything ht she thought she knew is turned upside down when she learned that the man she thought was her father isn’t. It turns out that her mother became pregnant with her after a one-night stand at a youth group conference when she was Meg’s age. She was planning to take a gap year before college so she decides to head north to get to know her father’s family. Micah knows all about scandals. He looked up to his father, a pastor, and considered him to be his best friend. But then his father went to jail for the things he did and Micah’s world fell apart.
Meg and Micah were wonderful together. They had so much in common with each other and seemed to understand each other almost immediately. They both were very strong in their faith but were questioning some of the things that went on within the church. It was great seeing these two connect, and I really loved the way that they watched out for one another. I just really felt like these two were good for each other. The secondary characters were also very well done and I loved how important they were to the story. I especially like Duke and would love to see him featured in future novels.
I would recommend this book to others. This book was a wonderful surprise and I think that a lot of readers will find something to relate to within these pages. I definitely plan to read more of Erin Hahn’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Wednesday Books via NetGalley. show less
Meg has been raised in a very conservative show more religious family. Everything ht she thought she knew is turned upside down when she learned that the man she thought was her father isn’t. It turns out that her mother became pregnant with her after a one-night stand at a youth group conference when she was Meg’s age. She was planning to take a gap year before college so she decides to head north to get to know her father’s family. Micah knows all about scandals. He looked up to his father, a pastor, and considered him to be his best friend. But then his father went to jail for the things he did and Micah’s world fell apart.
Meg and Micah were wonderful together. They had so much in common with each other and seemed to understand each other almost immediately. They both were very strong in their faith but were questioning some of the things that went on within the church. It was great seeing these two connect, and I really loved the way that they watched out for one another. I just really felt like these two were good for each other. The secondary characters were also very well done and I loved how important they were to the story. I especially like Duke and would love to see him featured in future novels.
I would recommend this book to others. This book was a wonderful surprise and I think that a lot of readers will find something to relate to within these pages. I definitely plan to read more of Erin Hahn’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Wednesday Books via NetGalley. show less
I received an e-copy of this story for my honest review.
While the MCs were church raised, I think the situations they’re pushed into could apply to any human on Earth. It was their strength, courage, and fortitude to move forward with their lives that made me love these two. And, the secondary characters (Duke!) made this story all the more enjoyable.
I loudly applaud the author, Erin Hahn, for writing this story. There may be some people who would condemn this kind of story, but there are also some who would appreciate the forthrightness, clarity, thinking, and questioning of what You believe. As my Pa would have said: Read it, think about it. Then, go with what your heart and soul tells you is right for you.
While the MCs were church raised, I think the situations they’re pushed into could apply to any human on Earth. It was their strength, courage, and fortitude to move forward with their lives that made me love these two. And, the secondary characters (Duke!) made this story all the more enjoyable.
I loudly applaud the author, Erin Hahn, for writing this story. There may be some people who would condemn this kind of story, but there are also some who would appreciate the forthrightness, clarity, thinking, and questioning of what You believe. As my Pa would have said: Read it, think about it. Then, go with what your heart and soul tells you is right for you.
I loved this book so much, I not only adored the call backs to the previous books in this series. I also really just loved Meg and Micha so much. I really loved how this book explored church life and church expectations. I am a fan of large casts in small towns and this book was just what i needed. It is also rare to find a YA book set after high school and not only in the summer. It liked all the unique elements that made this book so much fun. Puppies and little kids made this story even more fun. I also really loved how this book focused on finding your own way in the world. I loved seeing Veda and Luke again. I would kill for a book about Duke.. Such a prefect summer read!! Hahn as done it again!
"We're quite the misfit pair, you and I," I say. "You, the former pastor's kid who knew too much, and me, the youth group girl who knew nothing at all."
This was a very cute story. I liked the main characters and the interesting struggles they were having. It's not often these issues are tackled in books and I'm glad that, here, it was handled with grace and respect. I really loved the supporting characters - the best friends on either side, the new family and even the little puppy.
But the message is a little heavy handed and I wasn't expecting it to be quite...so much. It's just not really my cup of tea - the whole Christian Fiction, but I know this story is so good for so many that need to hear it, so I'm glad it's out there.
A huge show more thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less
This was a very cute story. I liked the main characters and the interesting struggles they were having. It's not often these issues are tackled in books and I'm glad that, here, it was handled with grace and respect. I really loved the supporting characters - the best friends on either side, the new family and even the little puppy.
But the message is a little heavy handed and I wasn't expecting it to be quite...so much. It's just not really my cup of tea - the whole Christian Fiction, but I know this story is so good for so many that need to hear it, so I'm glad it's out there.
A huge show more thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less
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