Friday, January 17, 2020

"Double Take" by Melody Carlson


About this book:

  “What do you do when your life is not all it's cracked up to be? Get a new one.
  It's spring break of her senior year and Madison Van Buren is fed up. Stressed over decisions on colleges, her parents' bickering, and pressures from her boyfriend, Madison gets in her car and just drives away.
  Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Anna Fisher wants to escape the so-called simple life of the Amish--which for her consists of caring for younger children, sewing, cooking, and gardening--and she's well aware that her future will simply be more of the same with a man she doesn't love.
  Worlds collide when Madison and Anna meet for the first time in a small town, realize they look uncannily alike, and decide the grass is greener on the other side. Neither of them will ever be the same.”


Series: As of now, no.


Spiritual Content- Prayers; Talks about God; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Both Madison and Anna grow in their faiths during this book; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Amish beliefs, Ordnung, and shunnings (Anna does wonder if God will be able to hear her prayers when she doesn’t wear her head covering); Mentions of churches, church going, bishops, & being baptized; A few mentions of being blessed & blessings; A few mentions of the YMCA; A couple mentions of Scriptures; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of Christian fiction; A mention of religious freedom & those who died for it; A mention of hymns;
             *Note: Someone comments about the Amish being witches, a cult, & putting spells on their visitors; A mention of something being uglier than sin; A mention of idle hands being the devil’s workshop; A mention of monks.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘freaking’, a form of ‘idiot’, and three ‘stupid’s; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Madison & Anna lie/deceive about being each other; Mentions of Madison’s parents’ divorce & their fighting (her mother comes across as very materialistic); Mentions of wine, alcohol, & hangovers (an Amish aunt drinks a bit of homemade wine while being pregnant); A few mentions of clubbing; A few mentions of lying & lies; A few mentions of eye rolling; A few mentions of urine; A couple mentions of the war & fighting; A couple mentions of a wife leaving her husband; A couple mentions of criminals & a kidnapping ring; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of running over a child (used as an example, does not happen); A (joking) mention of drowning yourself; A mention of drug addicts; A mention of vomiting;
             *Note: Mentions of designer names, car brands, & phone brands; Mentions of TV shows & movies (including The Real Housewives of New York City); A mention of a magazine.


Sexual Content- a forehead kiss; Noticing a guy’s chest and muscles (barely-above-not-detailed); Boyfriends, dating, & drama; Touches & Shivers (barely-above-not-detailed); A woman gives birth & mentions of her pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of kisses, kissing, & hand holding; Mentions of touches; Mentions of flirting & embraces; Mentions of crushes & toying with someone’s feelings; A couple mentions of adolescent boys and girls jumping up and down together on a mattress; A mention of the possibility of having beautiful children with a guy; A mention of a model for a romance book;
             *Note: Mentions of underwear & seeing women on a TV show in skimpy undergarments; A few mentions of birth control; A few mentions of short dresses; A couple mentions of tight dresses; A couple mentions of shaving legs; A couple mentions of models being practically naked and/or starved; A couple mentions of skinny-dipping at age 13; A mention of PMS.

-Madison Van Buren, age 17
-Anna Fisher, she 17
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        271 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I first read this book many years ago and according to my Goodreads rating of five stars, I’d say I really must have enjoyed it. Fast forward for recent days, though, I don’t remember anything about this book expect what the back cover says. After rereading this book, I can see why I enjoyed it so much. I wouldn’t say it’s a five star read for me now, but I still enjoyed it and had fun reading this story. 
Both Anna and Madison have to do some hard thinking by the end of this YA book and faiths are grown, which I liked seeing. Those sensitive to lying probably would not enjoy this book’s plot, but if it helps, both main girls at the end do feel bad deceiving those around them—even though they feel like these events needed to happen for their growth/changes in perspective. 


See y’all on Friday with a new review!


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

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