Totally Free (Laurel Shadrach Series, 2)

Rating:
Summary: totally free book review
Review: "Totally Free" is the second installment in the Laurel Shadrach series. The book covers the bulk of the remainder of her senior year of high school. Laurel is now dating Foster, a Christian guy. But Branson, her ex, will not leave her alone, especially since he regrets leaving her only to find out that he might have AIDS because his girlfriend has it. Laurel has a hard time trying to keep away from Branson and Foster catches the two of them in some rather compromising situations. Then there is Laurel's best friend Brittany, who is now a Christian and of whom is struggling with her faith. Plus Laurel's brothers seem to be at war, especially when one discovers alcohol and becomes an alcoholic--and then takes up gamblimg on the side. Laurel and her world have been torn apart again--especially after a tragic accident unfolds that leaves Laurel wondering if she still likes Branson. This book is a slightly weaker installment than the first one, but is still a worthy read. I also recommend this author's "Payton Skky" series.

Rating:
Summary: totally free book review
Review: "Totally Free" is the second installment in the Laurel Shadrach series. The book covers the bulk of the remainder of her senior year of high school. Laurel is now dating Foster, a Christian guy. But Branson, her ex, will not leave her alone, especially since he regrets leaving her only to find out that he might have AIDS because his girlfriend has it. Laurel has a hard time trying to keep away from Branson and Foster catches the two of them in some rather compromising situations. Then there is Laurel's best friend Brittany, who is now a Christian and of whom is struggling with her faith. Plus Laurel's brothers seem to be at war, especially when one discovers alcohol and becomes an alcoholic--and then takes up gamblimg on the side. Laurel and her world have been torn apart again--especially after a tragic accident unfolds that leaves Laurel wondering if she still likes Branson. This book is a slightly weaker installment than the first one, but is still a worthy read. I also recommend this author's "Payton Skky" series.

Rating:
Summary: A total soap opera
Review: This book was horrible. I laughed my way through it. Marijuana, alcohol, gambling, HIV/AIDS, school shooting, cheating girlfriends, car accidents, unfaithful hearts, sleazy ex-boyfriends, sex out of wedlock... you name it, it was in this book. I'm sure the author's heart is in the right place, but this book tried to be a great Christian fiction novel for teenage girls and failed. It was so chaotic that any grains of spirituality or important lessons were completely lost. Laurel's attempts to "get right with God" or return to faithfulness are superficial, extremely short lived (a paragraph, at most), and are so quickly forgotten that if you weren't reading closely, you'd never know that this was supposed to be a Christian book. If Laurel Shadrack is supposed to be an inspiration or role model for young girls, she needs to seriously change in the later books of this series. Although the author clearly admires Robin Jones Gunn, this series is nothing compared to the Christy Miller series. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, unless they were looking for a good laugh.