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butterflied4life's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
b_r_e_a_d's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
I loved this book. The author has inspired me with his story.
juliasilge's review against another edition
3.0
I first read this book when I was in high school, and I liked it more at that stage in my life. In the first 1/4 or so of the book this time around, I thought I was going to hate it because the romance seemed melodramatic and immature and the privilege of the author (economic, class, etc) grated on me. I came around eventually, though, after getting further into their story of love, marriage, conversion to Christianity, and then death and grief. I felt kind of similarly about the role of C.S. Lewis in this book. I am a big, big fan of C.S. Lewis. At the beginning of this book I felt like, "Hmmmm, name-dropping much?" but by the end I came around to the importance of Lewis' role in Vanauken's life. Perhaps 3.5 stars.
sharlappalachia's review against another edition
5.0
Hard to explain how good this book is in a short review, but this book is really so hopeful and beautiful. I've not read it and have no intentions to, but this seems like the anti-A Little Life from what I've read about that title. I can't recommend A Severe Mercy enough.
arspeak's review against another edition
5.0
going back on the to-read shelf—deep and dense but so good
lukedaloop's review
4.0
A beautiful story of conversion. While the connection with C.S. Lewis may be a big draw for this novel, I actually found the journey of the narrator most compelling. I enjoyed his descriptions of the feelings and observances during his conversion. It was an enjoyable and heartwarming book, even considering the way it ends. It is comforting in the same way that God is fearsome: in that it seems contradictory but actually is grounding in it's truth.