Carre Armstrong Gardner's Better All the Time ~ Reviewed

• BETTER ALL THE TIME 
• Carre Armstrong Gardner
• Series: The Darlings (Book 2)
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (March 20, 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414388152

Description:

Seraphina Darling has always struggled to stand out. With her weight issues at the forefront of her mind, Sephy prefers to place herself comfortably in the background. But when Sephy’s best friend and older brother announce their engagement, she vows to make a permanent change in her appearance and her life.

Meanwhile her younger sister, Amy, lands her dream job: coordinating the restoration of the community theater’s arts programs. As the deadline for the project’s completion approaches, Amy continues to run herself ragged, struggling to delegate and trust anyone but herself.

As the Darling sisters move through tragedy and triumph, between shadows and the limelight, each must find a path into the freedom of who God intended her to be.

Review: 

Better All The Time tells the stories of the Darling Family Sisters. Sephy is silently know as the “fat Darling sister.” She has learned to be the peacemaker and do everything to make everyone happy, all the while neglecting herself. She finally decides it's time for a change, but didn't realize how hard of a process it would be, not only to transform her body, but the way she thinks, as well. Amy Darling is very headstrong and opinionated. She takes on a job to run the new community theater program. While she strives hard to make it the best it can be, she drives the people that are closest to her away because she expects so much. We also learn of Laura Darling, who has moved across the country to get away from her family, only to find she can't get away from herself. And Ivy Darling, who we must have learned more about in a previous book, is settling in with her husband and newly adopted children.

I had a bit of a hard time following this book at first, because it jumped back and forth between so many story lines every couple of pages. There was just a lot going on. I wish I would have read the first book to get the back story, but I eventually got the jist of it. I guess the thing that I disliked about it was that God and prayer were talked about in passing, but not as if it was a main focal point of the families lives. It was almost as if they went to church because it was the thing to do, but it didn't factor into their lives all week. Maybe it did, but the author did not bring that out. I've found anymore, if I'm going to read something that is Christian fiction, I like more substance and references to the Lord, Jesus Christ and the Bible. The storyline however, was enjoyable, and it seemed to leave the reader hanging, so I am curious as to what will happen next.

Reviewed by: Sarah Meyer