When I first read the description for A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert, I was somewhat skeptical.  A model in the fashion industry?  Not my typical type of book.  But the last few sentences on the back cover made me decide to try it.  “It seems that everyone Ivy comes across in Greenbrier challenges what she has come to believe about beauty and worth.  Is it possible that God sees her – a woman stained and broken by the world – yet wants her still?”

For modern fiction, I appreciated the author’s writing style.  She isn’t wordy, but she also doesn’t make you feel like you are just listening to someone talk.

I had a chance to participate in a live Q&A with the author and I love how she said the story came about.  She saw that society is pressuring girls and women so much in the area of beauty and she knew that God was prompting her to write about that.  There are some mentions of substance abuse and it is clear that Ivy had a sexual past, but no details are given and it was far from graphic.  The best parts of the book were the scenes where Ivy is learning how God is pursuing her and loves her.

The theme verse of the book I did find to be taken out of context.  This was troubling.  But there were many other amazing scenes that spoke to my heart so much.  Not only did the author talk about Ivy coming to faith, but she wrote a character named Davis, who learns to deal with guilt after being a Christian for years.

There was one other portion of the book that was troubling to me. As that part of my review contains a spoiler, I will write it below.

Overall, I did really enjoy the book.  I was very blessed by it and was so touched by the depth of some of the characters.  Katie Ganshert wrote believable characters who go through various struggles and life experiences that I believe many Christians can identify with.

Read chapter one here!

Spoiler alert!  Davis, a man who finds God prompting him to befriend Ivy, finds himself in love with her.  I really loved how their whole friendship and love came about.  It was very special.  There were also a few scenes where Davis knew he was being physically attracted to her, but he also knew that God was first calling him to simply speak His love to her.  My concern came at the very end, when Davis kissed Ivy.  The readers know that Ivy has already become a Christian, but Davis does not.  As the Bible is clear that believers should not be unequally yoked, I believe that would be an important conversation to have before kissing someone.

Note: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

-Bonnie