Books for Christian Girls: "Barefoot Memories" by Taylor Bennett

About this book:

“What if the biggest decision of your life wasn’t yours to make?

With the New Year upon her, Olive Galloway is determined to put the past behind her and uncover the new future waiting for her in her island home. However, her best friend Jazz seems dangerously close to giving up on her alcoholic mom—as well as her own dreams. Together with an unlikely ally, Olive helps Jazz regain her confidence and enter a high-stakes race, but there’s still trouble on the horizon. Their friend Brander is due to come home from a whirlwind music tour on the mainland, but he’s holding tight to a secret that could change their friendship forever.

Offered the chance to fulfill all of her wildest dreams with a single word, Olive realizes that she could be headed back to the mainland sooner than she’d imagined. Caught up in a whirl of possibility, Olive struggles to decide between returning home to fulfill her childhood wish or building a new life in Hawaii. The choice could change her life forever.”

Series: Considered Book #4 (technically the third full-length book) in the “Tradewinds” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, and the Christmas novella (considered to be book #2.5 or #3) Here!

Spiritual Content- A Scripture is remembered; Many Prayers; Thanking God; Many, many talks about God, His will, listening to His voice, praying, peace, & forgiveness; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Going to church & youth group and partaking in worship and listening to the sermons/messages; Many mentions of God, Jesus, His plan, making the right decisions, peace, & forgiveness; Many mentions of prayers, praying, blessings over food, & prayer lists; Many mentions of church, church going, pastors, sermons, worship, support groups, Sunday school classes, & youth groups; Mentions of those in & events in the Bible; Mentions of Christian music & singers; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A few mentions of Heaven; A few mentions of miracles; A mention of someone wanting to ask Jesus into her heart; A mention of a Bible study;

*Note: A mention of Santa Claus.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn it’, a ‘sheesh’, three ‘shut up’s, six ‘dumb’s, six ‘idiot’s, six ‘stupid’s, and seven ‘rats’; Eye rolling & sarcasm; Like in the prior books, Olive is struggling with grief over her mom’s death & resentment towards her Dad and his actions; They argue a bit in this one & he doesn’t like her tone at times (Olive realizes that it’s not her place to scold him on his actions in Book #1); Being nipped by a puppy, Pain, Blood/Bleeding; Telling a fib & half truths (which Olive feels very guilty over); Mentions of a loved one’s death & seeing them die (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of someone who lost their leg to cancer, amputation, & phantom pain (noting this as a possible trigger for some readers); Mentions of a verbally abusive mother & her mean comments; Mentions of a family losing their house & being homeless; Mentions of an alcohol rehab clinic, a drunk, drinking, alcohol, & staying sober; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of lies/fibs, lying, liars, & eavesdropping; Mentions of when a pit bull killed Olive’s childhood kitten & her fear/dislike of dogs; Mentions of being bit by a dog, pain, & blood/bleeding; A couple mentions of World War II; A couple mentions of hatred (Olive has thought that her dad hatred her guts and wanted her to fall of the face of the earth, which is not true); A couple mentions of drugs; A couple mentions of piercings & tattoos; A mention of bullying; A mention of a parent being a report card Nazi;

*Note: Mentions of classic books (Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Animal Farm); Mentions of a social media platform (Instagram); A few mentions of a car brand (Porsche); A few mentions of bands (Fleetwood Mac & Metallica); A couple mentions of fictional characters (Tarzan & Pinocchio); A mention of the movie Gone with the Wind; A mention of Duck Dynasty; A mention of Hallmark movies.

Sexual Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Recalling a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Friendly touches, embraces, & hand holding (between friends of the opposite gender); A tiny bit of Noticing & Blushes; Mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends, girlfriends, being dumped, & falling in love; Mentions of celebrity crushes & a heartthrob; Mentions of (forehead) kisses & kissing; A few mentions of a picture that looks like a couple is about to kiss; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of receiving The Talk from a parent about boys and love; A mention of a mom’s creepy boyfriends;

*Note: A few mentions of a girl wearing a bikini, a curve-hugging crop-top, & a dress that barely covers her hind end; A couple mentions of a girl’s curves; A couple mentions of butting in & someone telling another to get their butt somewhere; A mention of Olive’s father leaving her and her mother.

-Olive Galloway, age 16

1^st person P.O.V. of Olive

298 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Have you ever read a book or series where it’s hard to write your thoughts on it? Where all you can think is “It was so good. The characters *heart eyes*. The faith content was amazing. I just love it so much.” Because that’s what I’m currently struggling with. All I can think of is fangirling thoughts.

I adored this book, the growth development and most of all the incredible faith content between Olive and those around her. It’s so refreshing and inspiring to see a group of teens talking about God, their faiths, and sincerely pray for each other, I just love it.

I’m nearly positive that this series is going to be one of my all-time favorites after I read the last book (review next month!) and I’m absolutely tickled pink about it.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!