One Other Love (Book Review)

Scripture Connection

For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

Psalm 103:11

Spiritual Themes

After two overall “fluffy” books, I found book three to be extremely meaningful. There are some beautiful, insightful moments dealing with identity in Christ, our value in God’s sight and just letting go and trusting him. In a powerful and realistic moment (the series is loosely autobiographical), Dee reaches her breaking point, and He meets her there. So, so sweetly.

What I Liked

I had the most beautiful, delicious experience reading this book. It’s the last in the series, and the first two were overall pretty light, with a strong emphasis on dating and relationships. I noticed, as I read book three, that it had a bit more faith content than the first two, and I welcomed the change. But I was unprepared, after all the lightness, for the beautiful, powerful moment that slapped me in the face. Ahh, I praise God for it! I don’t want to do a spoiler, here, but I will say that it was really the payoff of the series, for me.

This book deals with Dee’s struggles as a perfectionist. This was an element I honestly hadn’t particularly noticed, in the first two books, but we really hone in on it in book three. And it made Dee an even more relatable character! There’s a line, towards the beginning of the book, when someone comments on Dee’s desire for perfection, and she thinks, “Funny thing was I never thought of myself as a perfectionist. I was just trying to be good enough.”

Exactly! This is exactly how I have felt over and over! But, during the book, Dee grows and encounters God in a more personal way than we’ve seen thus far. And it is beautiful. That personal moment was personal for me, too, and it was one of those rare(ish) times where I just put down the reading to simmer in the loveliness of it. I praise God for this point in the story. The first two books were definitely more shallow, but they were necessary in building up to the culmination of this theme, as well as the final resolution of the story.

That resolution was also both rewarding and beautiful. It was quite a bit of a departure from the first two books, but it was meaningful and, ultimately, worth it.

Also noteworthy was the discussion of idolizing a romantic partner. I mentioned in my content review of book two that there are a few lines about Dee’s steady boyfriend completing her and such. For this reason, I was delighted when these ideas were dismantled, in book three. Moreover, there is a brief mention about the importance of loving God, in the context of romance.

Content Notes

As with the first two books, I find it necessary to mention that the school mascot is a Native American. Although historically accurate, I cannot support this choice of a school mascot.

Kissing continued to be undescriptive, which was great. And, my concerns about shallow romance, from the first two books, were very much dealt with here. I would have liked to see even more about the importance of loving God, since this was a very tiny part of the story.

There’s one scene where a character angrily throws a branch in someone else’s yard. I was surprised that this wasn’t addressed as an inappropriate behavior.

Spoiler

Dee witnesses the gruesome death of her puppy. It is not particularly graphic, but it is a harsh moment in the story.

End of Spoiler

Recommendation Status

Overall, this is a book that I’d highly recommend. While it’s a bit different than the books I usually recommend to readers (and I still would really like to see a different mascot), the message about God’s love was so beautiful, and honestly, worth the wait. For more information on content in the series, and why I would more soon recommend it to readers who are also comfortable with secular novels, please see my reviews of books one and two).