Things I Can't Forget

De: Miranda Kenneally

Narrado por: Holly Fielding

From the best-selling author of Catching Jordan comes a new teen romance sure to appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen.

Some Rules Were Meant To Be Broken

Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school - although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different. This summer she's a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He's the first guy she ever kissed, and he's gone from geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt - with her. Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn't that easy.

©2013 Miranda Kenneally (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Underwhelming - rushed

I didn’t love the ending, it felt abrupt. I was comparing this book to Catching Jordan, which I absolutely loved. This just doesn’t live up to the hype of the authors previous book.

It’s started out slow, and then sped up and felt rushed

Thoughts from a conservative Christian who related

I grew up in church and more importantly, “purity culture.” This book felt really real for me. I went through very similar things and I’m
writing this to process my experience and beliefs versus the authors, and also to give a heads up to any other conservative Christian’s considering listening.

First off, here’s a quick synopsis. Kate is the ultimate good, Jesus loving teenager. This makes her somewhat separate from her peers, and her circle of friends consists of just one friend from church. But when that friend ends up having an abortion and questioning her beliefs in God, their friendship hits a major snag. Kate finds herself lonely and falling for a guy at a pretty secular yet “Christian” camp where they’re working for the summer. She starts to understand temptation and how her friend could have ended up pregnant (something she couldn’t fathom before).

Surrounded by people with faith but no rules/religion, Kate begins the process of remolding her own values and beliefs.

Now I’ll start with what I liked and didn’t like about the angles the author took.

What I liked:
The swoonworthy love story was really sweet and I loved it. I loved Matt and felt all the things ❤️❤️

Kate’s experience with temptation was so spot on to what I experienced with my first real love. That was a painful yet beautiful time of my life and it felt kind of cathartic to experience it again through a character in a book.

Kate holds to her faith and I appreciate that the author allowed her to struggle with it but also stay true to it in some ways.

What I didn’t like:

Not to give too much away, but the author only developed hero characters without Kate’s beliefs. In other words, the people who had wisdom were the ones who’d walked away from strict biblical lifestyles. Homosexuality was touted with one character saying “God made them that way.”

I struggled with purity culture in my own life, yes, but its not a simple thing. I don’t only know of examples of people who did better without it. I also see many beautiful marriages where they are so grateful they waited for marriage. Many of my friends who didn’t wait STILL want their kids to at least try and keep marriage sacred by saving sex, but they don’t want their kids to feel shame either way. I’d have liked the author to show both sides and give Kate some Christian mentors who weren’t stuffy old “brother John.”

The author didn’t put down faith in God, but she did disregard God’s Word. Right and wrong were made up in the heads of teenagers. It’s no wonder Kate and her friends struggled so much with finding truth…they based everything off of what church leaders said.

I wish the author would have used scriptures about themes like forgiveness, judgment and purity. In dealing with the issue of Kate’s judgmental behavior, the story of Jesus forgiving the prostitute could have been weaved in.

I know why the author didn’t do this, though. Her views on sexuality made it clear that she wants to keep her faith but make up her own religion.

God’s word doesn’t change because of the times. It doesn’t change to accommodate new rules.

I believe God’s guidelines are there for our protection, but the enemy might twist them snd use our failure to measure up to shame us.

The book made Kate “more attractive” when she became less strong in her Christian religion. I kinda get it but the truth is that the Bible straight up tells us that if we want to follow Christ, we will be persecuted, hated, and set apart. We won’t be like the world…yet we will have some attractive quality…the love of God, that will draw those whose hearts are open.

A word on shame.
Shame is not from the Lord (Bible says so). Instead, true Christianity should teach that we can be forgiven but we should never stop seeking righteousness.

Matt could have been a very strong character if he’d have looked to god, seen the truth, and worked to protect Kate rather than just respecting Kate like her “personal belief” wasn’t a regular biblical standard.