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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I probably need to turn in my “Book-Loving Christian Millennial” card with my confession that until now I had never read any of the dozens of books in Karen Kingsbury’s Baxter Family series. But after Luke and I watched the first episode of the new Baxter Family show on Amazon Prime, I felt I needed to know more before continuing with the tv series, and this prequel seemed the best place to start.
Set a few years prior to the events of the show (which I’ve since learned is based on the Redemption series), the book takes place on the day of Kari Baxter’s wedding to Tim. Kari’s four sisters, brother, and parents all have misgivings about the wedding and wonder if she should be moving forward with this new relationship so soon after an abrupt breakup with her high school love. Meanwhile, Kari’s younger sister Ashley is adjusting to single motherhood after returning home from Paris a year ago carrying the son of a married man. Ashley’s siblings disapprove of her parenting and lifestyle choices, but her long-ago love, Landon Blake, still cares for Ashley and sees her sister’s wedding as an opportunity to win back the woman who has his heart.
The novel’s POV shifts between many of the Baxter family members and others close to the family, with flashbacks to Ashley and Kari’s childhood loves stories and the breakups that led to their current—possibly poor—decisions and lifestyle choices. And at the forefront is a fraught wedding, a threatening tornado, and a family that was built on love and faith but is threatening to break apart at the seems.
I REALLY wanted to love this book. The Baxters are a wonderful, Christ-centered family and I appreciated the themes of redemption, second chances, forgiveness, and family love that are woven into each storyline and conversation. The theme of parenting young adults led me to think more deeply about entering that stage one day myself, which has brought some much-needed perspective and focus to my prayers for my own kids. Some may find the novel’s overt Christian themes preachy or forced, but I really enjoy reading books about committed believers whose faith influences every corner of their story. Throughout the book the family prays together, discusses God and His will, and encourages one another with Biblical truth; these are things we try to do in my own family, so these parts of the story felt natural rather than cheesy or forced.
However, the story itself IS pretty cheesy with too much over-the-top drama and angst. As I haven’t read the other books involving the Baxter family, I’m unsure how much of the content in this novel is repeated elsewhere, but as a newcomer this felt like an information dump with with an overwhelming amount of backstory and foreshadowing. I liked these characters and wanted to get to know them better, but my attention was pulled in too many directions to feel invested in any one part of the story.
Having read this and now watched a little more of the TV series, I do plan to begin the “official” first books of the Baxter series and have higher hopes for those, although Kingsbury’s writing style is not a favorite so I doubt I will become a Baxter devotee any time soon.
I’m curious to hear from those who do have experience with the other books in this series: what did you think of this prequel? Did it tie in well with the other books? If I didn’t love this, will I like the other books more?
My Rating: 3 Stars // Book Format: Kindle
Set a few years prior to the events of the show (which I’ve since learned is based on the Redemption series), the book takes place on the day of Kari Baxter’s wedding to Tim. Kari’s four sisters, brother, and parents all have misgivings about the wedding and wonder if she should be moving forward with this new relationship so soon after an abrupt breakup with her high school love. Meanwhile, Kari’s younger sister Ashley is adjusting to single motherhood after returning home from Paris a year ago carrying the son of a married man. Ashley’s siblings disapprove of her parenting and lifestyle choices, but her long-ago love, Landon Blake, still cares for Ashley and sees her sister’s wedding as an opportunity to win back the woman who has his heart.
The novel’s POV shifts between many of the Baxter family members and others close to the family, with flashbacks to Ashley and Kari’s childhood loves stories and the breakups that led to their current—possibly poor—decisions and lifestyle choices. And at the forefront is a fraught wedding, a threatening tornado, and a family that was built on love and faith but is threatening to break apart at the seems.
I REALLY wanted to love this book. The Baxters are a wonderful, Christ-centered family and I appreciated the themes of redemption, second chances, forgiveness, and family love that are woven into each storyline and conversation. The theme of parenting young adults led me to think more deeply about entering that stage one day myself, which has brought some much-needed perspective and focus to my prayers for my own kids. Some may find the novel’s overt Christian themes preachy or forced, but I really enjoy reading books about committed believers whose faith influences every corner of their story. Throughout the book the family prays together, discusses God and His will, and encourages one another with Biblical truth; these are things we try to do in my own family, so these parts of the story felt natural rather than cheesy or forced.
However, the story itself IS pretty cheesy with too much over-the-top drama and angst. As I haven’t read the other books involving the Baxter family, I’m unsure how much of the content in this novel is repeated elsewhere, but as a newcomer this felt like an information dump with with an overwhelming amount of backstory and foreshadowing. I liked these characters and wanted to get to know them better, but my attention was pulled in too many directions to feel invested in any one part of the story.
Having read this and now watched a little more of the TV series, I do plan to begin the “official” first books of the Baxter series and have higher hopes for those, although Kingsbury’s writing style is not a favorite so I doubt I will become a Baxter devotee any time soon.
I’m curious to hear from those who do have experience with the other books in this series: what did you think of this prequel? Did it tie in well with the other books? If I didn’t love this, will I like the other books more?
My Rating: 3 Stars // Book Format: Kindle
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really wanted to love this book—the first I’ve read in the Baxters series. The plot was fine but it felt preachy and extremely judgmental and had poor theology.
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Disclaimer: Christian Fiction
The summer before Covid I read the first couple of Baxter books but never got around to the rest. After recently watching some of the show on Amazon prime I decided to give them another go.
The Baxters is the prequel book and set before the author’s Redemption series. That is the series that I had originally started as this book had not been published yet. The author now recommends starting with this if you are new to the Baxters and then making your way through the others.
This was well written and a good refresher for trying to read through these books again. Just from this I could tell/remember that there are differences between the show and books but both can still be enjoyable. Looking forward to trying the Baxters again.
Definitely read if you are interested in the Baxter family.
The summer before Covid I read the first couple of Baxter books but never got around to the rest. After recently watching some of the show on Amazon prime I decided to give them another go.
The Baxters is the prequel book and set before the author’s Redemption series. That is the series that I had originally started as this book had not been published yet. The author now recommends starting with this if you are new to the Baxters and then making your way through the others.
This was well written and a good refresher for trying to read through these books again. Just from this I could tell/remember that there are differences between the show and books but both can still be enjoyable. Looking forward to trying the Baxters again.
Definitely read if you are interested in the Baxter family.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced