Back in February, I read a book that everyone is talking about and I found out what the big deal was. Anthony Doerr's book, "All The Light We Cannot See" is a book that will stick with you. I read it in about a week, but it still hasn't left me. Every book that I picked up after it had to compete with it. No book could. A review copy of another book came in the mail and I knew I needed to get to it...I felt bad because I was pretty confident the book wasn't going to get a fair review.
"By Your Side" by Candace Calvert caught me by surprise. It is different from Doerr's book in every way, but I have to tell you that it is the first book that I was able to really enjoy after it! Calvert was an ER nurse and she brings her experiences there into her writing. "By Your Side" follows Macy Wynn (an ER nurse) as she finds herself in the middle of something completely unimaginable. I loved getting to know Macy. I've never been one to watch shows that center around hospitals or read books that I call "medical dramas", but Calvert changed my mind!
She gave enough detail to make the urgency of each crisis clear without overwhelming me with goriness. She wove a thread of questions that so many of us struggle with into the story in a way that shows she really cares for her readers. While Macy struggles with what's fair and tries to come to grips with an idea of "home", we meet other characters who are also trying to continue hoping during times that are very confusing.
This book with a nurse and a cop bulging his muscles on the cover was the last thing I expected to make me so eager to read again! Calvert writes a story that is easy to invest yourself in. She reminded me that with God there is always hope and that home is a blessing from Him. "By Your Side" also brought another familiar truth to my mind which is that life isn't always fair, but it's really not up to us to decide what is fair in the first place.
Pick up your copy here.
*I received a review copy of this book from Tyndale. All thoughts are my own honest opinion.
I'm on the waiting list for the first book after seeing it on your instagram account. Did you read The Book Thief? That one stayed with me a long time, too, as did Unbroken. I haven't seen either one of those movies. I know they won't compare with the books.
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