A Lesson We Must Learn

In this novel full of judgment, confusion, misunderstanding, refusing to understand, and ultimately finding that those you love are the ones that you must support, Christa Allan teaches every reader a lesson. It's a book that readers can connect with on different levels. Choose any character and feel the invisible tug that connects you to them.

It's a lesson on the controversial topic of homosexuality and religion. One which Allan teaches with all of her characters in the Edge of Grace. We learn that it isn't completely about understanding those you love in your life, but knowing that you love them, which can come to mean putting their desires and their happiness before yours. Not an easy task to master, but definitely one we all must learn.



Edge of Grace on Amazon

Lifelines

The world is full of truths, common phrases that we hear throughout our lives that we never take to heart. Taking what we have in our lives for granted happens to be one of those truths, unfortunately. We never know what we have until the threat of it not being there sounds off like an alarm in our head forcing us to cling to it as a lifeline.

In Edge of Grace by Christa Allan, Caryn pushes her brother to arm's length and refuses to let him come closer because he announced that he's a homosexual. The tables turn quickly when her brother, David, is the target of an in-home attack, because of his sexuality. Caryn is forced to see her brother in the hospital - beaten, bruised, and drifting in and out of consciousness. The guilt overwhelms her. Now that the worst has happened can she continue to cut David out of her life because of his lifestyle?

It's truly sad that it's in our nature to take things in life for granted. I know I'm guilty of it. And while emergencies are never expected and are horrible to live through, to be the ever-optimist, they do force us to realize what we have may not last forever.

Judgement

"And, as I said goodbye I realized the person questioning his church attendance was the very person who didn't attend church herself."

Christa Allan - Edge of Grace


As I finished another chapter of this novel, this specific line made me wonder if judgement has become a sort of blaming system. Do we judge others so that we don't have to judge ourselves? And if we can lay the blame on others in our life, do we do it to make ourselves feel better?

In the book, Caryn does nothing to try to help her brother through this hard time. He's just come out as a homosexual man and needs his family there for him, Caryn specifically. But she refuses to look at herself as a mirror - reflecting the good and bad. She judges her brother yet, doesn't want to accept the blame for what she's putting her brother through.

Is this what judgment has come to? Judging others so we can avoid judging ourselves?

Sexuality as a Choice

It's a controversial topic across the United States: is sexuality a choice or genetic? Edge of Grace, by Christa Allan, forces the reader to consider this question while watching a woman's family life fall apart around her.

When David tells his sister that he's gay, she shuts down. Caryn ignores her brother and acts quite selfish throughout the beginning of this ordeal. She doesn't want her brother to be gay, as if she has any say (or that her wants for David's sexuality matter). Caryn acts like her brother's homosexuality is the worst thing to happen to her - worse than her husband's death. She can't realize that he's the same person, with a new perspective on which gender he finds himself attracted to.

Is this a common occurrence everywhere? Do family members and friends really veer away from those close to them whose sexuality doesn't meet their standards? Do we get so caught up in the labels that we give people that we can't just accept them for who they are?

Love is love is love. And bonds should be stronger than the words that threaten to break them.

Error Free Please?

Editors and authors both have a responsibility to make sure the novel they release is error-free. Or as close as it can be. I just began Edge of Grace by Christa Allan, and I'm not even through the first chapter. What's keeping me snagged so long? The repeated error throughout the entire chapter. 

A paragraph has been repeated at least five times -- and it makes no sense what-so-ever. What I thought would be a good controversial novel to read has already turned annoying. 

The plot line I like. Caryn's brother, David, calls her first thing on her Saturday morning cleaning spree to announce that he's gay. Caryn isn't exactly excited about this, in fact, she's falling toward rock bottom. With no one to turn to because her husband and mother are deceased, she's facing this one by herself. Hopefully, the help of a long time neighbor can set her down on the ground gently. 

I'm committed to finish the entire novel, but this major error is driving me crazy. How is a reader supposed to connect with the characters when the description of a birthday present (bubble bath) is repeated five times and has no relation to anything around it? I wish I could say something more positive about this book, especially so close to the beginning. But I'm disappointed already. Wouldn't you be?