Secrets by Beckie Lindsey Will Change Your Spiritual Life

Hello lovely readers and followers! As many of you know, March is National Reading Month. I thought it would be cool to celebrate my passion for books with you all by doing a book review of Secrets for my dear friend, author, and blogger, Beckie Lindsey!

Secrets is the first book of Beckie’s new Christian Young Adult series, Beauties from Ashes. Get your copy here!

(Note: I was given an advanced reader’s copy of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.)

Plot Summary (No Spoilers)

As a fan of YA fiction, I have always wanted to read a Christian series that had the plot of a secular fantasy series. This is why I wrote my Slaying Shadows  series on my blog. Although Secrets reads like a fantasy series, there is more spiritual truth in it than in most non-fiction Christian self-help books.

Secrets focuses on the lives of four teenage girls living in the small town of Arcana, and the secrets they share.

Mackenzie is the new girl at school who’s trying to fit in while hiding a family secret. Krystal is a track star battling bulimia and her jealous feelings towards Mackenzie.

Tammi is a musician who is hiding a traumatic past, finding solace only in the comfort of her songs. Sadie is a dancer whose life looks perfect on the outside. That is, until her hidden insecurities are revealed and draw her close to Tammi.

As all four of these girls’ lives converge into one, we see the invisible spiritual battle happening all around them. Nasty and chilling demons plague our characters, while God’s heroic angels slay them through their faith.

Beckie Lindsey paints spiritual warfare in such a creative and Biblically sound way that makes you never want to put the book down!

Characters

Although Secrets centers on the four main characters listed above, I felt an intimate connection with each of them. Krystal was especially dear to my heart, as I could identify with her struggle of disordered eating and self-comparison.

This book deals with some difficult issues, including sexual abuse and suicide. But it does so in such an honest and spiritually powerful way, that it makes the reader feel stronger and encouraged after reading. These are issues that are not discussed enough in church, but are brought to the light in this YA novel.

I find that Beckie does a good job at developing her characters, especially regarding the love interest. What I thought would be a cliche romance turned out to be a delightfully surprising plot twist. The characters also act like real teens, with no pandering slang and cultural references found in many YA novels.

Final Thoughts

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Secrets is an exciting debut novel to the Beauties for Ashes series, and I can already tell that the rest of the series will not disappoint.

Although there are some predictable moments in Secrets, I believe they drive the plot along seamlessly and are not too distracting. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is clearly told, but not to the point of sounding fake or “preachy.”

If you want real and vulnerable young adult characters, Secrets will not disappoint. If you want a novel that will change your view on spiritual warfare forever, then Secrets is the novel for you.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

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