A review by rmarcher
Love and the Sea and Everything in Between by Brian McBride

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense

4.0

So. Given the fact that it's been almost a month and I still can't quite sort out my thoughts on this book into something as thorough as I would like, I'm just going to acknowledge that that's never going to happen, lol. But I can compile at least some of my thoughts.

- The sense of adventure. Spontaneous adventure is such a central part of the relationship between the MCs and I love it. Adventure and travel are fantastic and I loved that aspect of this story.
- The prose. Oh my word, the prose was beautiful. The prose is what immediately sucked me in.
- Related to that, the character voice. It felt very organic to Adam's character, and it was really gripping.
- The rawness of the story. This book is definitely intended for older readers, and it doesn't pull punches. It's honest, but tactful, about most of the issues it focuses on, and it strikes a balance of realistic-but-hopeful.
- Music. Adam listens to music on a regular basis, and it was awesome to get a glimpse at that and at the kind of things he listens to. For some reason it doesn't seem like that's a super common thing in fiction, and it really appealed to me as a music-lover.
- It's definitely thought provoking. I mean... I finished it almost a month ago and I'm still thinking about it and trying to sort it out, lol. Personally, it not only got me thinking about the issues put forth in the book but also the way they were presented and the idea of content in Christian books in general (a topic that was already really important to me).
- Speaking to the content again... A decent chunk of this book contained stuff I wouldn't agree with and might not even ordinarily read about, but it was handled in such a way that it never seemed glorified and it always seemed to fit with the characters (aside from one thing that I'll bring up in a moment). It all seemed... objective? Like it was shining a light on reality without giving too much commentary on it (what commentary did come through--organically--was positive, in my opinion); just... revealing it for what it is? So it never seemed gratuitous and it always seemed to serve a purpose.
- The one exception was smoking. Smoking did seem in character for Adam, and it was handled like everything else. But later Liz tries one of his cigarettes, and the characters say it's bad for them but then... Liz also starts smoking. Which I didn't think felt as organic to her character, and I thought contributed to a more positive view on smoking than I necessarily was comfortable with.
- I might have liked the ending to have more of a God-focus, even subtly. I felt like the Christianity toward the end was sort of tacked on and then glossed over? I definitely understand not wanting it to be preachy, but I thought a little more could have maybe been done.
- There's a discussion toward the beginning of the book about Heaven and Hell that I found really thought-provoking, in particular.
"I believe that hell is something we see every day." I pause. "Every time we see suffering and pain, we see a fragment of what Hell is like. When you walk past the homeless man, the addict. When you hear stories about murder, rape, assault, or robbery. When you see the orphan, the widow, the lost, the poor. Those are mere fragments of what Hell is like.
"Take those times when you feel most alone, most scared, most lost, most hopeless, most worthless, most abandoned, most hurt, most broken, most separated from God... and multiply it by infinity. That is hell."

I mean... how much more seriously might we take evangelism, how much more might we feel the gravity and importance of reaching out to people with the gospel, if we really realized how horrible Hell is? This just... framed that idea in a way I hadn't really thought about before.
But it's not all hopeless. Liz's response is equally eye-opening.
"Adding onto what Adam said, we can apply the same perspective to Heaven. While, yes, we see fragments of Hell seeping in through the fractures of a broken world, we can also see fragments of Heaven breaking in. When a stranger buys that homeless man a meal. When people from all backgrounds and faiths join together to provide relief to those who suffered from natural disasters. When a mother holds her baby for the first time. When the sun sets at the end of a perfect day. These are the moments when Heaven shines through in the midst of Hell on earth."
She looks right at me and says, "Yeah. Hell is real. But I think heaven is the greater reality. Most people just don't look for it."


And those were just a couple of the sections I highlighted, lol. So, overall, I definitely appreciated this book. I can't put any blanket recommendation on it, because it is raw and it is real and I know some readers won't be comfortable with that. But I definitely think it's worth checking out if you're looking for a thought-provoking read.

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