“You are my madness, my sanity, my darkness, and my light. I will never know one without the other. I don’t want to live a life if it isn’t a life with you.”
I was lucky enough to discover Christine Brae’s In This Life through Tarryn Fisher’s Facebook group at the beginning of this year. Without Tarryn’s suggestion, I never would have known about Christine, which would have been a tragedy. Christine is one of the sweetest, most selfless human beings, and I’m happy to be able to call her a friend because of this book! In This Life remains one of my favorite books of 2016 because only a few books have made me feel as deeply as this one. I was invested in these characters- they were developed, human, and flawed. I didn’t feel as if this was a typical predictable, happy love story. Instead, it was filled with angst, heartbreak, lies, and love.
Prior to reading this story, I had never encountered a book that made me literally sob. Here is what I wrote on Goodreads immediately following the end of In This Life: “I’m not a big crier when it comes to books, but this book had me big time ugly crying. Christine Brae needs more love and recognition for this amazing work of art. Her words have touched my soul and will stay with me. My heart is still beating funny. Read this book. And Hollywood, make it a movie…a good one. ❤️”
Though some, won’t find the Catholic aspect of the story to be their favorite. To me, it seemed very minor and added an extra element that was essential to the storyline. Without it, the story simply would not have been as good, in my humble opinion. I loved how Divine fate was woven so perfectly into the book without feeling overwhelming or preachy.
I cannot wait to do a re-read of Christine’s updated version and finally meet Christine face-to-face at The Bookworm Box on December 10th. Be on the lookout for lots of pictures on our Instagram!
I cannot give this book a higher recommendation. The writing is beautiful, deep and emotional, which can help us evaluate our own morals and values as human beings. You will not want to put this one down.
By the way– TEAM JUDE! 😉
Ashes Books & Bobs 
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