juliasilge 's review for:

Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo

2.0

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I don't know about this book. It's not something I would have chosen on my own but I read it for a book club. I'm a person of faith and a Christ follower, but this book made me skeptical and uncomfortable. (It doesn't help that I didn't know it was supposed to be non-fiction until about 1/3 through.) This book tells the story of a small boy's near-death experience and, upon his recovery, his explanation of what he experienced. I was unable to overcome the facts that children are famously unreliable witnesses and that people in all cultures have near-death experiences where they come back having experienced meeting dead relatives, important religious figures, etc. It's also not well-written, although that seems like a cheap shot given the parents' backgrounds and their purpose in writing this book. I'm not willing to say that I'm 100% sure it's a sham and I don't question the parents' belief that this was all true, but I would not recommend it to other readers, Christian or no.