But it really wasn’t the point of the story, so I can see why the author may have chosen not to show that point-of-view.

I would have liked even a minor character just to kind of nod to the fact that this happens. What’s sad in a way is that there isn’t really anyone on the other side whose faith is genuine, who has come through the fire of asking these big questions. It definitely captured some of the hallmark fails of church service and politics. Though this wasn’t my experience as someone raised in a church, I felt like I could see people that I knew in the faces of characters in this story. That also felt very real, and it was easy to understand how hurtful and frustrating some things between them were. I liked that Jace’s relationship with his dad is something he continues to wrestle with. Their relationship definitely felt like one of those life-changing ones, where each person gets to feel seen and truly understood. I liked the genuine conversations that Jace and Thera share. It’s really only the beginning of that journey in which he begins to take ownership of what he believes. This isn’t about Jace’s spiritual journey in terms of having a salvation experience or ultimately answering life’s big questions. One of the things I really liked about this book is that it brings faith into the story in a non-preachy way. But when he stumbles onto Eli’s unfinished business and a dilemma that could destroy his father’s church, Jace realizes he’s facing more than his own questions of faith, but questions of who he is and what it means to do the right thing regardless of who it might hurt.

Then he meets Thera and he discovers that perhaps a notorious psychic’s daughter and a prominent pastor’s son have more in common than he could have imagined.

The kinds of questions a pastor’s kid isn’t supposed to ask. Eli, the good son, the one who loved everyone around him, the one who made people feel loved, should have been the one to live.Īs Jace wrestles with his guilt and the injuries that make his dream of a baseball scholarship an impossibility, his family fractures further. And now that Jace has survived, he can’t help feeling like fate got it wrong. Jace almost shared his brother’s fate, and in that moment when his heart stopped, there was no light welcoming him to something after. The night his twin brother is killed in a car accident. A night that changes everything for Jacob Palmer. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsĪ bonfire he had to escape.

The Rules by Stacey Kade