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A review by parklandmom
Above All Things by Deborah Raney
3.0
Read: November 2024
Format: audiobook from Chirp
Narrator: Julie Lancelot (do not care for - makes most of the females sound ditzy or simple)
Book #124 of 2024: Out of the books I've read by Raney, this is my least favourite unfortunately. The premise is interesting. A married couple learns of a child that the husband unknowingly fathered in his previous relationship. The mom is unconscious from a stroke and requires constant care. The grandmother cannot provide care for the granddaughter as well. She contacts Judd and his life is instantly changed. In some ways it succeeded, and in others, it didn't.
Sometimes it seemed as though the book was pushing criticism over things where it shouldn't have. The hair and skin issues being the primary areas. Care for hair and skin of a little girl with half African-American heritage is something that Judd and Evette should have been told and shown. Evette was practically being shamed for not knowing. It felt like this story was back in the fifties with the attitudes of the main character's parents and some of the basketball parents.
I didn't care for Evette much at the start of this book. While the situation wasn't easy, she reacted as if her husband cheated on her. It took her a while before she ever acknowledged what the most important issue was in this scenario - a girl that needed support and love. However, I grew to respect her immense growth and adaptation to the turn in their life.
I liked Judd more as a main character. He was dedicated to praying and leaving things in God's hands. BUT his confusion about who he loved when he got married, however, was very disturbing and
disrespectful.
Parts of the story were dull and whiny for me. The best part of their story was that having his daughter in their lives gave them far more than they could have imagined. Their lives were much richer for having her.
Format: audiobook from Chirp
Narrator: Julie Lancelot (do not care for - makes most of the females sound ditzy or simple)
Book #124 of 2024: Out of the books I've read by Raney, this is my least favourite unfortunately. The premise is interesting. A married couple learns of a child that the husband unknowingly fathered in his previous relationship. The mom is unconscious from a stroke and requires constant care. The grandmother cannot provide care for the granddaughter as well. She contacts Judd and his life is instantly changed. In some ways it succeeded, and in others, it didn't.
Sometimes it seemed as though the book was pushing criticism over things where it shouldn't have. The hair and skin issues being the primary areas. Care for hair and skin of a little girl with half African-American heritage is something that Judd and Evette should have been told and shown. Evette was practically being shamed for not knowing. It felt like this story was back in the fifties with the attitudes of the main character's parents and some of the basketball parents.
I didn't care for Evette much at the start of this book. While the situation wasn't easy, she reacted as if her husband cheated on her. It took her a while before she ever acknowledged what the most important issue was in this scenario - a girl that needed support and love. However, I grew to respect her immense growth and adaptation to the turn in their life.
I liked Judd more as a main character. He was dedicated to praying and leaving things in God's hands. BUT his confusion about who he loved when he got married, however, was very disturbing and
disrespectful.
Parts of the story were dull and whiny for me. The best part of their story was that having his daughter in their lives gave them far more than they could have imagined. Their lives were much richer for having her.