May We Make Them Proud: A Book Review
Wren is sure that all she needs in life are books, music, and her husky. Forget all her old plans to be a travel vlogger and see the world, now Wren's only concern is to make sure the bookshop she owns—her late father's greatest life work—doesn't fall under. But when her childhood friend suddenly arrives back in town two years after a disastrous fight that Wren prefers to leave forgotten, his presence resurfaces emotions she had thought were buried too deep to remember. Yet with the bookshop's many needs, she doesn't have time to dwell on childhood crushes and memories of life before her father's passing—when she knew what it was like to live.
May We Make Them Proud is a moving, inspiring novelette about love, healing, and learning to dream again.
Review
I adored this inspiring, heartwarming, realistic, powerful novelette!
First off, the characters are incredible! Wren is a very realistic character and I could feel her emotion, pain, and struggles through Issabelle's descriptions of her. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her grow in the story and I loved where her character ends up at the conclusion of the story. Jax…ah man he's a great guy. Yes, I could feel Wren's irritation with him and was irritated with him too cause I wouldn't always want a guy around who I clearly disliked haha. But really, he's a well-written character and had good intentions, even if he didn't always display them in the best way and got on Wren's nerves (but he grows and learns some lessons through that ;P). As for Remi? I don’t know what else to say other than that she's the coolest and is an amazing friend for Wren. XD
The faith aspects and wholesome truths shine through beautifully in the plot. And the romance is completely clean and so, so sweet. Issabelle also did a fantastic job with the pacing of the story and neatly wrapped everything up at the end! And her writing style is excellent! Overall, this is a heartfelt, engaging novelette with some valuable lessons on how to learn to love again, having the courage to move on in life, and finding dreams after tragedy. <3
Other Aspects I Loved:
~The small town/bookstore setting
~THE COVER!!
~The amazing quotes
~The Pride and Prejudice references XD
~The theme of second chances
~All the lovely references that involve stars <3
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
*I received an ARC*
About the Author
Issabelle Perry is a proud Jesus follower, an extroverted writer of historical fiction, and a homeschool graduate. When she's not writing, you can find her reading, jamming to Skillet, bullet journaling, hunting for Narnia in wardrobes, or envisioning herself wielding a magnificent sword (but due to her clumsiness, let’s hope that never happens). This self-proclaimed exclamation mark enthusiast can be found hanging out at Teen Writers’ Nook, a community of teen authors Issabelle co-founded in 2020. Her short story “Fairly Impish” was featured in Owl Hollow Press’s Change the World anthology, and Issabelle is the co-editor for Teen Writers’ Nook’s Imagine anthology and Grace A. Johnson's upcoming Christian romance anthology. What she’s probably doing right now is fangirling about her favorite books to random people or scanning the pantries for chocolate.
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I hope you enjoyed this review and if you're interested in reading May We Make Them Proud, you can buy it as a paperback or ebook here! (and if you have Kindle Unlimited, it's free!) Or if you have Goodreads, then add it to your TBR shelf!
~The Book Dragon
AWWWWWW EMMA I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has made my entire week! Thank you SOOO much for all your sweet words, and I am SO thrilled that you loved MWMTP. And you know those Pride and Prejudice references HAD to happen cuz it's a bookstore and P&P is like my favorite classic so... yeah, there was no way I was getting around not having it. ;) (And yes Remi IS the coolest friend ever!! I feel like she's been totally underappreciated so far!!) In answer to the questions: (1) Well, yes, I have read MWMTP, several times actually. XD (2) One of my favorite romances of all time is There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones. I was almost in tears by the end of it! (3) ENEMIES TO LOVERS ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What's your answer to these questions?
ReplyDeleteThank you again SO SO SO SO much, Emma!!!!!! <333333333
AWWWKKK GIRL!!!! I'm so happy you love it!!!! *grins so hard* You're so so welcome!! Hehe yesss P&P is literally the best, I was so excited when you referenced it! (Aww well I love her, she deserves more attention!) ( 1) *laughs* Good, you answered correctly because that's the only answer I will accept from you XDD 2) Oooo nice!! I've heard of that one, and it might be on my TBR? 3) AMEN SISTER! *high fives* Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite troupes as well! I also enjoy friends-to-lovers IF it's done in a slow, gentle realization and not too fast-paced lol.
DeleteYou're welcome girl!! <3