All That We Carried

     BOOK REVIEW:   Ten years ago, sisters Olivia and Melanie Greene were on a hiking trip when their parents were in a fatal car accident. They haven't seen each other since the funeral. Olivia coped with the loss by plunging herself into law school, work, and a materialist view of the world---what you see is what you get, and that's all you get. Melanie dropped out of college and developed an online life coaching business around her DIY spirituality---a little of this, a little of that, whatever makes you happy.  

     Now, at Melanie's insistence (and against Olivia's better judgement), they are embarking on a hike in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In this remote wilderness they'll face their deepest fears, question their most dearly held beliefs, and begin to see that perhaps the best way to move forward is the one way they had never considered. 

     MY REVIEW:   This book follows two sisters as they hike and work to regain a relationship. Both struggle with knowing what to believe, or whether to believe at all. From Melanie who tries a little of everything in hopes to have the right one, to Olivia who believes only in what she can see and rationalize. This hike pushes them to their limits, and one hiker in particular makes them question what really to believe. Neither sister can connect with how the other looks at life, nor offer much grace. Beyond repairing their relationship, Melanie wants Olivia to forgive the man who was involved in their parents accident---and Olivia will have none of it. 

     I'm not sure quite how to rate this book. I enjoyed the story. Not a lot really happens, as not much time is covered throughout the whole book, but it didn't seem dragging or overly-detailed. The end does throw in some surprises. I did like that there are flashbacks included with memories of their parents and a little of what the girls felt after the accident. They are kept distinct and don't at all confuse with the current storyline. The book is labeled as contemporary fiction, which I'd say is accurate, but marketed as Christian fiction. There is a Christian theme in the last half of the book, but it's not very strong. Basically, it's an interesting, clean story, but carries little by way of lessons to learn. There is a theme of forgiveness that's good, but it's "the right thing to do" more than "through Christ we can forgive". 

I recieved a copy of this book from REVELL and was not required to write a positive review.