4 Things I Liked About Wild in the Hollow by Amber C. Haines.

Title: Wild in the Hollow

Author: Amber C. Haines

Length: 208 pages

Publication date: July 28, 2015

Genre: memoir

Rating: 4/5 stars

I had heard literally zero things about Wild in the Hollow, and I'd never heard about Amber C. Haines either, but I saw the cover on Netgalley and decided that I wanted to read it. I am so glad that I did. I'm not going to say that the book was perfect, but it was definitely enjoyable and gave me a lot to think about.

1. The writing of the book was extremely poetic, which was a nice change of pace for me. I have read books that try to weave a faith story, trying to be poetic and meaningful, but it ends up feeling forced and fake. I did not find this to be the case (in general) with this book. Haines' writing is legitimately poetic. I will admit, there were times when her usage of metaphor was a bit much - in one instance, she was speaking of something literally, and I thought she was using a metaphor! But the writing style did grow on me. It was nice to see someone's life through such a poetic lens.

God's love is before my eyes, and it is staid. It is my hope. I keep my eyes on him. If I do not see his love, it is my eyes that have moved.

2. Haine's life has been very tumultuous. There have been a lot of pains and hurts in her life, and the honesty with which she wrote about them was very refreshing. Even though my hurts have been different from hers, I still felt like I could connect with her on a deeper level because of her honesty.

3. One of my favourite things about the book was seeing the emphasis she places on community in her life. So often I see that the god of individualism and self in our society has lead us to believe that community is not important, but that is such a lie. I was so refreshed to see someone praising community and the importance of it in our lives.

4. The whole story was constantly a reminder that God can take all of the ugly, broken things in our lives, and somehow give us beauty and joy in the midst of it.

I wouldn't say that I agreed with every viewpoint that Haine's has, but through the book you can also see how her viewpoint on things changed over her life. If you are looking to read a moving memoir, I would recommend this one!


I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.