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Beyond the Break
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction (2020)For fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han, Beyond the Break is a funny and gorgeous debut about a girl experiencing her first love. Well, second, if you count her faith… and that’s where things may get complicated.
Seventeen-year-old Lovette has two rules in life. One: no surfing. Not after her brother’s accident. Two: absolutely, no dating. And going into her junior year of high school, she’s pretty happy with that arrangement. She has friends, her church youth group, and God to fall back on when things get dicey. But after Jake Evans walks into her life, following these two simple rules gets a lot more complicated.
Jake is the boy from Lovette’s childhood who grew up. Handsome and sweet, he unlocks the part of Lovette that wants nothing more than to surf the waves again. And as their relationship grows, she begins to question what it means to be faithful: to her family, to God, but mostly, to herself.
Told with humor and heart, Heather Buchta delivers a sparkling debut that asks the question: Can you fall in love, be a teenager, and also be a good Christian?
Seventeen-year-old Lovette has two rules in life. One: no surfing. Not after her brother’s accident. Two: absolutely, no dating. And going into her junior year of high school, she’s pretty happy with that arrangement. She has friends, her church youth group, and God to fall back on when things get dicey. But after Jake Evans walks into her life, following these two simple rules gets a lot more complicated.
Jake is the boy from Lovette’s childhood who grew up. Handsome and sweet, he unlocks the part of Lovette that wants nothing more than to surf the waves again. And as their relationship grows, she begins to question what it means to be faithful: to her family, to God, but mostly, to herself.
Told with humor and heart, Heather Buchta delivers a sparkling debut that asks the question: Can you fall in love, be a teenager, and also be a good Christian?
Hardcover
First published June 2, 2020
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April 6, 2022
DNF - made it to chapter 3 but honestly this book is messy and here is why:
This is supposed to be a Christian book and yet we have so many swear words. S*** was in the first chapter and thought the book multiple times as well as other words.
The book revolves around this girl, the MC, wanting to not have sex until marriage and how she tip- toes as close to the line without crossing it . Even the prologue was too descriptive on stuff and I tbh there were some very questionable theological issues (like her saying that she felt closer to God when she made out passionately with her bf *eye roll*).
Everyone in the Youth group of her church was making out with someone and I'm truly disgusted.
No one says that chuches are perfect, but man, I have no idea what church is this and I truly hope to never encounter one like this because 😳.
Sure, the author planned on a redemption arc, I guess, but WHY ARE WE BEING SO FREAKING DESCRIPTIVE??? *cries*
Anyway, no stars for me.
This is supposed to be a Christian book and yet we have so many swear words. S*** was in the first chapter and thought the book multiple times as well as other words.
The book revolves around this girl, the MC, wanting to not have sex until marriage and how she tip- toes as close to the line without crossing it . Even the prologue was too descriptive on stuff and I tbh there were some very questionable theological issues (like her saying that she felt closer to God when she made out passionately with her bf *eye roll*).
Everyone in the Youth group of her church was making out with someone and I'm truly disgusted.
No one says that chuches are perfect, but man, I have no idea what church is this and I truly hope to never encounter one like this because 😳.
Sure, the author planned on a redemption arc, I guess, but WHY ARE WE BEING SO FREAKING DESCRIPTIVE??? *cries*
Anyway, no stars for me.
June 2, 2020
Thank you Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
“The windows are down, the ocean air tangling my hair, music blasting, and I’m sitting next to Jake Evans, who keeps smiling at me with that dimple that makes the world better.”
Our main character Lovette is not only relatable, but she brought me back to when I was in high school and the ups and down. Lovette signed a purity pledge when she was 12, she had decided she was not even going to kiss a boy until her wedding day. Now that she is a teenager and a childhood friend is back in her life, she is second guessing a lot in her life. One of those things is dating a boy, becoming friends with Jake Evans is bringing up a lot of feelings. I loved how this was about her faith and was very realistic. She would talk to God like He was right there, she questioned God, she got angry at God, but she knew He was in control and loved her unconditionally. Even when she made mistakes, she knew God was on her side. The author wove Christianity throughout this book, without it overpowering the whole book.
Another thing I loved was how cheesy and cringy this book was, I am serious this takes you back to your high school days if you are no longer a teenager. If you are in high school, I think you will be able to relate. Lovette and her friends had me laughing, but also cheering on their friendship. The friendship’s that take place in this book were fabulous and the characters were very developed. I want a group of friends like Lovette has. While this was quite cheesy especially with the romance department it was really cute. I loved the slow burn romance and really just how adorable it was. I really enjoyed the family aspect and seeing the main characters struggle with her parents and brother, but the love she had for them as well. I can totally relate to not wanting to disappoint your family, but you want to do what you love.
The only thing that irked me just a little was the fast ending. I wanted a longer ending with not such an open ending. Not saying some things weren’t wrapped up, but it felt fast and could have been slowed down. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book, it was a really fast read. I wanted to stay in this world because it was just really charming and made me happy. Beyond the Break was a wonderful coming of age story that had family, faith, romance, and friendships.
“The windows are down, the ocean air tangling my hair, music blasting, and I’m sitting next to Jake Evans, who keeps smiling at me with that dimple that makes the world better.”
Our main character Lovette is not only relatable, but she brought me back to when I was in high school and the ups and down. Lovette signed a purity pledge when she was 12, she had decided she was not even going to kiss a boy until her wedding day. Now that she is a teenager and a childhood friend is back in her life, she is second guessing a lot in her life. One of those things is dating a boy, becoming friends with Jake Evans is bringing up a lot of feelings. I loved how this was about her faith and was very realistic. She would talk to God like He was right there, she questioned God, she got angry at God, but she knew He was in control and loved her unconditionally. Even when she made mistakes, she knew God was on her side. The author wove Christianity throughout this book, without it overpowering the whole book.
Another thing I loved was how cheesy and cringy this book was, I am serious this takes you back to your high school days if you are no longer a teenager. If you are in high school, I think you will be able to relate. Lovette and her friends had me laughing, but also cheering on their friendship. The friendship’s that take place in this book were fabulous and the characters were very developed. I want a group of friends like Lovette has. While this was quite cheesy especially with the romance department it was really cute. I loved the slow burn romance and really just how adorable it was. I really enjoyed the family aspect and seeing the main characters struggle with her parents and brother, but the love she had for them as well. I can totally relate to not wanting to disappoint your family, but you want to do what you love.
The only thing that irked me just a little was the fast ending. I wanted a longer ending with not such an open ending. Not saying some things weren’t wrapped up, but it felt fast and could have been slowed down. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book, it was a really fast read. I wanted to stay in this world because it was just really charming and made me happy. Beyond the Break was a wonderful coming of age story that had family, faith, romance, and friendships.
October 2, 2022
*If you’re the author of this book, please don’t read this!!*
Trigger Warnings possibly: Mention of SA, Religion
Disclaimer: I am a Christian and therefore will be discussing this book from my Christian viewpoint.
I’m trying to articulate how much I disliked this book. It’s not even just that the writing or the plot was bad, though there’s that too. But this book seemed wrong. It was supposed to be a Christian book, and in a way it was, but it taught so many wrong lessons and values.
I’m going to break down what went wrong into three categories. The plot, characters, and moral lessons.
To begin with, the plot of the book is that the main character, Lovette, swore a purity contract when she was twelve. Now, this wasn’t just a normal “no sex” purity contract. No, this was a “no kissing until the wedding and no dating until after high school and God sends me a man.”, purity contract. Of course, when Lovette is a junior in high school the ‘perfect’ man comes around and she just can’t stop herself. She has to date Jake Evans and of course, Jake Evans remembers her even though they only knew each other for one year in sixth grade because she is just that awesome.
The book opens with a scene of an older boy ‘accidentally’ groping Lovette’s breast when they’re hiding during a game. I don’t know why it’s there. It’s never really explained. No one gets in trouble, nor is it mentioned again. It seemed to have no impact on the character or plot.
There’s also the element of surfing, which weirdly enough seemed unnecessary. I know it was the main plot point, but it came off as an excuse for Lovette and Jake to spend time together and for Lovette to disobey her parents. Which is one of the worst parts of the book in my opinion (if we forget the judging). Lovette’s older brother almost died in a surfing accident, was in a coma, paralyzed, etc. Bad stuff. So, her parents don’t want her near the ocean.
Instead of talking it out with her parents and obeying them, Lovette takes it upon herself to get back into the ocean. While repeatedly saying she feels closest to God in the ocean. This continues through the book even though to be ‘close to God’ Lovette has to disobey her parents, which is literally against the 10 commandments!!
Also, Lovette wrote a paper at the beginning of the story confessing her purity pledge. This was before she met Jake Evans. But after she meets him the mean girl of the school who hates Lovette because she’s convinced Lovette wants her boyfriend (this plot line makes zero sense, so I won’t even pay attention to it) pastes the paper all over the walls of the school. Horrible and embarrassing right?
Well, her best friend #1 (whom sl*t shamed Lovette the whole time, but we’ll get to her more later) is the one that got access to the paper and gave it to the mean girl. Lovette finds out after her friend gets drunk and confesses she may be pregnant. Lovette barely has a human reaction! Her best friend betrayed her trust and treated her terribly and she was angry for two seconds before being like “I feel sorry for her”. Now, that can be a reaction and you’re supposed to forgive people biblically yes, but Lovette takes her friend back instantly. No talking, no nothing. Just decides she feels sorry for her friend and therefore acts as if she didn’t completely betray her trust.
I could continue on, but I still need to complain about the characters.
Lovette. The main character. She was one of the dumbest, most annoying characters I’ve ever read. She has this whole purity contract, which is fine, for yourself. But instead, she wants to force it upon her friends and judges them immensely for making out with their boyfriends and she about has a breakdown when she finds out her friends are having sex (Also not nearly as common as this book would make it seem!!). She only talks about God when it’s convenient and judges anyone for questioning Him. She judges them for having any doubts, even if they’re Christian, and talks about how they don’t want to doubt Him.
Jake Evans. The love interest. I don’t have much to say except he was kind of boring. He was just the perfect boyfriend fill-in and didn’t have much personality.
Best friend #1 (I can’t remember either of their names). She’s this supposedly super devout Christian. Instead, she read like a Christian caricature. She was so judgmental and mean and just overall a joke. She has a ‘boyfriend’ whom she says she’s courting and ditches Lovette constantly. And even though she has a boyfriend, she judges Lovette for having one. She constantly makes snide remarks toward everyone and acts as the morality police. Then in the end we find out she and her now ex-boyfriend are having sex. Why? Because he felt sorry that he broke up with her. It doesn’t even make sense.
Best friend #2. I don’t have a problem with her but with how her character was written. She is Latina and as far as I can remember, the only POC in the entire book. She’s catholic and just a stereotype. She’s ‘feisty’ and curses all the time and fights with her boyfriend. And of course, she’s also having sex with her boyfriend because isn’t that how all high school relationships work?
Those are the only characters I can remember that made a lasting impression on me.
The moral points of the book were just so awful. I generally don’t hate books, but I just hated this one so much. It somehow managed to be incredibly preachy, while also being hypocritical. I would have thought this book was written by an atheist making fun of Christianity if the author wasn’t a youth pastor.
The language is bad, which is no problem normally, but this is supposed to be a Christian book. As children of the Lord, we are meant to set an example. Dropping f-bombs for no reason other than it’s fun, is not a good example.
Lovette is judging, mean, and hypocritical. Which could be good if it was ever addressed. But it wasn’t. As humans, we are flawed and have sinned. God knows that and that’s why He sent His son to die for us. But Lovette never admits this, nor mentions this. Except for the occasional, “I shouldn’t lie”, Lovette never seems to realize she’s doing anything wrong.
Just overall, the book makes Christians look bad. It makes us seem as if all we do is judge people for certain behavior then turn around and do the exact same thing. Which yes, does happen. But it shouldn’t and it certainly shouldn’t be written as something good.
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1.
I only hope someone who was already feeling judged or persecuted or who already thought God or Christians would be angry at them doesn’t read this book. It is not a good nor accurate representation of how Christians should behave.
Trigger Warnings possibly: Mention of SA, Religion
Disclaimer: I am a Christian and therefore will be discussing this book from my Christian viewpoint.
I’m trying to articulate how much I disliked this book. It’s not even just that the writing or the plot was bad, though there’s that too. But this book seemed wrong. It was supposed to be a Christian book, and in a way it was, but it taught so many wrong lessons and values.
I’m going to break down what went wrong into three categories. The plot, characters, and moral lessons.
To begin with, the plot of the book is that the main character, Lovette, swore a purity contract when she was twelve. Now, this wasn’t just a normal “no sex” purity contract. No, this was a “no kissing until the wedding and no dating until after high school and God sends me a man.”, purity contract. Of course, when Lovette is a junior in high school the ‘perfect’ man comes around and she just can’t stop herself. She has to date Jake Evans and of course, Jake Evans remembers her even though they only knew each other for one year in sixth grade because she is just that awesome.
The book opens with a scene of an older boy ‘accidentally’ groping Lovette’s breast when they’re hiding during a game. I don’t know why it’s there. It’s never really explained. No one gets in trouble, nor is it mentioned again. It seemed to have no impact on the character or plot.
There’s also the element of surfing, which weirdly enough seemed unnecessary. I know it was the main plot point, but it came off as an excuse for Lovette and Jake to spend time together and for Lovette to disobey her parents. Which is one of the worst parts of the book in my opinion (if we forget the judging). Lovette’s older brother almost died in a surfing accident, was in a coma, paralyzed, etc. Bad stuff. So, her parents don’t want her near the ocean.
Instead of talking it out with her parents and obeying them, Lovette takes it upon herself to get back into the ocean. While repeatedly saying she feels closest to God in the ocean. This continues through the book even though to be ‘close to God’ Lovette has to disobey her parents, which is literally against the 10 commandments!!
Also, Lovette wrote a paper at the beginning of the story confessing her purity pledge. This was before she met Jake Evans. But after she meets him the mean girl of the school who hates Lovette because she’s convinced Lovette wants her boyfriend (this plot line makes zero sense, so I won’t even pay attention to it) pastes the paper all over the walls of the school. Horrible and embarrassing right?
Well, her best friend #1 (whom sl*t shamed Lovette the whole time, but we’ll get to her more later) is the one that got access to the paper and gave it to the mean girl. Lovette finds out after her friend gets drunk and confesses she may be pregnant. Lovette barely has a human reaction! Her best friend betrayed her trust and treated her terribly and she was angry for two seconds before being like “I feel sorry for her”. Now, that can be a reaction and you’re supposed to forgive people biblically yes, but Lovette takes her friend back instantly. No talking, no nothing. Just decides she feels sorry for her friend and therefore acts as if she didn’t completely betray her trust.
I could continue on, but I still need to complain about the characters.
Lovette. The main character. She was one of the dumbest, most annoying characters I’ve ever read. She has this whole purity contract, which is fine, for yourself. But instead, she wants to force it upon her friends and judges them immensely for making out with their boyfriends and she about has a breakdown when she finds out her friends are having sex (Also not nearly as common as this book would make it seem!!). She only talks about God when it’s convenient and judges anyone for questioning Him. She judges them for having any doubts, even if they’re Christian, and talks about how they don’t want to doubt Him.
Jake Evans. The love interest. I don’t have much to say except he was kind of boring. He was just the perfect boyfriend fill-in and didn’t have much personality.
Best friend #1 (I can’t remember either of their names). She’s this supposedly super devout Christian. Instead, she read like a Christian caricature. She was so judgmental and mean and just overall a joke. She has a ‘boyfriend’ whom she says she’s courting and ditches Lovette constantly. And even though she has a boyfriend, she judges Lovette for having one. She constantly makes snide remarks toward everyone and acts as the morality police. Then in the end we find out she and her now ex-boyfriend are having sex. Why? Because he felt sorry that he broke up with her. It doesn’t even make sense.
Best friend #2. I don’t have a problem with her but with how her character was written. She is Latina and as far as I can remember, the only POC in the entire book. She’s catholic and just a stereotype. She’s ‘feisty’ and curses all the time and fights with her boyfriend. And of course, she’s also having sex with her boyfriend because isn’t that how all high school relationships work?
Those are the only characters I can remember that made a lasting impression on me.
The moral points of the book were just so awful. I generally don’t hate books, but I just hated this one so much. It somehow managed to be incredibly preachy, while also being hypocritical. I would have thought this book was written by an atheist making fun of Christianity if the author wasn’t a youth pastor.
The language is bad, which is no problem normally, but this is supposed to be a Christian book. As children of the Lord, we are meant to set an example. Dropping f-bombs for no reason other than it’s fun, is not a good example.
Lovette is judging, mean, and hypocritical. Which could be good if it was ever addressed. But it wasn’t. As humans, we are flawed and have sinned. God knows that and that’s why He sent His son to die for us. But Lovette never admits this, nor mentions this. Except for the occasional, “I shouldn’t lie”, Lovette never seems to realize she’s doing anything wrong.
Just overall, the book makes Christians look bad. It makes us seem as if all we do is judge people for certain behavior then turn around and do the exact same thing. Which yes, does happen. But it shouldn’t and it certainly shouldn’t be written as something good.
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1.
I only hope someone who was already feeling judged or persecuted or who already thought God or Christians would be angry at them doesn’t read this book. It is not a good nor accurate representation of how Christians should behave.
May 7, 2020
Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by Louise Nice
Beyond the Break is a heartfelt coming-of-age story, that centers around faith, school, and surfing.
This book is perfect for those who are interested in young adult contemporary that is a little cheesy, but also explores faith, highschool, and surfing in a lighthearted, fluffy manner that just feels good to read! I’d also recommend it to those who want something like Jenny Han’s books, but a little more sportier.
Read the FULL REVIEW on The Nerd Daily!
Beyond the Break is a heartfelt coming-of-age story, that centers around faith, school, and surfing.
This book is perfect for those who are interested in young adult contemporary that is a little cheesy, but also explores faith, highschool, and surfing in a lighthearted, fluffy manner that just feels good to read! I’d also recommend it to those who want something like Jenny Han’s books, but a little more sportier.
Read the FULL REVIEW on The Nerd Daily!
March 27, 2020
I was able to get my hands on an advance copy of this book and I’m so glad I did. I am not actually a youth. But this book was able to completely transport me back to those awkward, emotional, fun years, without being too cringy or dramatic. I love the voice of the main character and her quirky friends. The author was so descriptive about surfing I almost feel like I could surf now....almost.
As a Christian I appreciated how REAL the author describes Lovett’s faith. She talks to God and questions him, thanks Him and gets angry with Him. Like reality.
I have a ton of favorite moments in this book. Lots of funny scenes and sincere heartfelt conversations that honestly left me wanting more. If they decide to do a sequel, I’m in!
As a Christian I appreciated how REAL the author describes Lovett’s faith. She talks to God and questions him, thanks Him and gets angry with Him. Like reality.
I have a ton of favorite moments in this book. Lots of funny scenes and sincere heartfelt conversations that honestly left me wanting more. If they decide to do a sequel, I’m in!
August 15, 2020
as a christian this book offended me.
March 29, 2020
I was given an advanced copy of the book and absolutely loved it! The main character is so likeable and relatable. I loved how Christianity was woven throughout the book without being awkward or preach-y. Lovette clearly has a strong faith. Being a Christian young adult as well, I really appreciated how realistic her thoughts and experiences were.
The first chapter had me laughing right away and I wasn't able to put the book down. I spent the rest of my afternoon reading! All the characters were so well thought-out and I loved the storyline between Jake and Lovette. I highly recommend the book! I loved it as much at 21 as I am sure I would've as a teenager.
The first chapter had me laughing right away and I wasn't able to put the book down. I spent the rest of my afternoon reading! All the characters were so well thought-out and I loved the storyline between Jake and Lovette. I highly recommend the book! I loved it as much at 21 as I am sure I would've as a teenager.
December 22, 2020
Gorgeous cover & title, not gorgeous anything else. if I'm being honest, the writing sucked, and it was like the most preachy book I have read in my entire life. I would definitely not recommend.
April 24, 2022
I finished this book in under 24 hours and I have no regrets! Here are my thoughts:
I absolutely loved this book! It was super face pacing and very easy to get through. Lovette is such a lovable character. She was so sweet and even when it was difficult all she wanted to do was try her best. Josh was probably my favorite character. Even though he had been through so much he still did his best to be there for Lovette. He was such a good boyfriend and friend to Lovette. I also loved the friend group aspect. Lovettes friends were so supportive and sweet. (-Kelly but we will get to her) Lastly I loved Lovettes youth group. Her youth pastor was so supportive and even though he was really cringy sometimes he tried his best to relate to everyone.
Now on to the things I didn’t love about this book.
#1 Kelly
Kelly was such a horrible friend to Lovette. She was so backhanded and had double standards. She would tell Lovette not to do something and then go and do it. Lovette was so support of Kelly and then she went and stabbed Lovette behind her back.
In conclusion I really enjoyed this book!
I absolutely loved this book! It was super face pacing and very easy to get through. Lovette is such a lovable character. She was so sweet and even when it was difficult all she wanted to do was try her best. Josh was probably my favorite character. Even though he had been through so much he still did his best to be there for Lovette. He was such a good boyfriend and friend to Lovette. I also loved the friend group aspect. Lovettes friends were so supportive and sweet. (-Kelly but we will get to her) Lastly I loved Lovettes youth group. Her youth pastor was so supportive and even though he was really cringy sometimes he tried his best to relate to everyone.
Now on to the things I didn’t love about this book.
#1 Kelly
Kelly was such a horrible friend to Lovette. She was so backhanded and had double standards. She would tell Lovette not to do something and then go and do it. Lovette was so support of Kelly and then she went and stabbed Lovette behind her back.
In conclusion I really enjoyed this book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2020
What an amazing book😍 I really loved this one! This story focuses on Lovette, a strong Christian teenager who secretly loves the oceans even though she is banned from it. Lovette has sworn off romance until marriage, but what happens when Jake appears and suddenly she finds herself wanting to be his girlfriend? I absolutely love the internal struggle that Lovette faces in deciding what is right and wrong for her and her faith. I love how the author makes you feel like you are back in high school, and dealing with all kinds of situations like bullies and deciding on colleges. I also adore Jake, the author wrote him perfectly. He is definitely a swoon-worthy male lead! I haven’t read many books that incorporate religion in them, but I really enjoyed this! If you are looking for an incredible contemporary read to binge, then this is the book for you💖
February 21, 2023
welp. that was a wasted $5.
i got to the first sentence (which was about , and instantly closed this book 😂 the synopsis seemed pretty theologically off, and also just out of touch with teenagers, but i decided to still give it a try.
listen, i'm not very picky about content, but oh my word that first sentence 😳 0/10 would not recommend.
i got to the first sentence (which was about , and instantly closed this book 😂 the synopsis seemed pretty theologically off, and also just out of touch with teenagers, but i decided to still give it a try.
listen, i'm not very picky about content, but oh my word that first sentence 😳 0/10 would not recommend.
September 21, 2020
“‘And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. – Romans 8:28’”
When I first read the description for this book, I was really excited to read it because the plot reminded me of Soul Surfer. Plus, I was excited to read a book that had a Christian female protagonist. But, when I actually read this book, I had some different thoughts.
I want to begin by highlighting the aspects of the book that work well. Plot wise, everything but the romance (more on that later) was interesting to me. I found myself getting really invested in everyone’s stories. When Kelly was first introduced with her moseying walk and purple streak of hair, I thought she’d be a character with spunk, but it turns out that was Lydia. Instead, Kelly was the jealous friend who was also concerned for Lovette but showing it in a horrible way. I seriously hated Kelly for most of the novel because she was being pushy and judgmental of Lovette. Even when they had the Kelly-Dave-Lovette lunch, which was super awkward but in a way that made the tension fun, Kelly was just trying to express concern to Lovette at the choices she was making in her relationship with Jake. Though I agreed with what Kelly was saying (Lovette should’ve been more careful in her relationship because her rose-colored eyes were causing her standards for romance to slip), I still hated Kelly because she was being so rude and judgmental in how she was expressing her concern. She was practically commanding Lovette to break up with Jake, and while you can be concerned for someone’s well being, you can never force him or her to act in certain ways. We can only encourage and uplift our friends, and we can be a shoulder to cry on when they do make mistakes.
So, in the entire book, Butcha is building up the reader’s hatred and dislike for Kelly’s character, and then it turns out Kelly’s the most interesting character in the book. While Kelly’s trying to get Lovette to turn from the dangerous path she’s on, it turns out Kelly had been secretly going down that path herself and she was miserable because of it. So she was only trying to protect Lovette, in a twisted sort of way. And, even though we find out in the bathroom scene that Kelly was the one who helped Cecilia with the reveal of Lovette’s virgin essay, you can’t help but feel sorry for Kelly because she was struggling with her own guilt of taking things too far with Dave. This complexity of Kelly’s character is why I think Kelly is the most interesting character in the book, though my feelings were only neutral about her by the end. She had a lot of hatred to make up for, so let’s just be impressed that I was neutral.
Another interesting plot element was Lovette’s big return debut to surfing and her struggle to tell her parents. I’m somewhat surprised that her parents never found out actually, but I’m glad that allowed Lovette to have the agency to tell her parents. I also appreciated the tension between Lovette and Matt. I liked how we started out with that bear hug when Matt was first introduced. I always love seeing sweet brother-sister relationships since I have a more complex relationship with my brother. I also appreciated their fight over the secrets they were both keeping from their parents. True sibling dynamic there. And it ended with a sweet make up (when Matt set everything up so Lovette could compete in the big surf competition), but in a way that felt authentic.
I also think the Christianity aspect was incorporated well into the plot. It never felt preachy, and I often related to what the characters were saying. I even recognized some of the Christian songs that were quoted, though I wish more were quoted because I am a Christian music fanatic.
Okay, now that I’ve said some nice things, I have to dig into a MAJOR issue I have with this novel. I alluded to this earlier, but I was NOT (I MEAN NOOOOTTT) a fan of the Lovette-Jake romance. I did ship them as friends but not as romantic partners. They had more of a friendship chemistry than a romantic chemistry. (In fact, I didn’t see the romantic chemistry at all and found their lovesick puppy dog behavior to be quite annoying.) An example of their good friendship dynamic is when they go to the Venue for the first time. Jake and Lovette joked about their horrible dancing skills (which is totally me btw). The book says, “At 8:50 p.m., we hear the music cue up. Lydia tells Jake about the dance club at nine (Latin Music Fridays) and how Uncle Joe lets me and Lyds go out there as long as we don’t drink, and how we both love to dance. / ‘Correction,’ I say, pointing a butter knife at her. ‘Lydia’s the dancer. I’m the mannequin, hoping not to get knocked over.’ / He laughs. ‘It’s okay. My dancing looks like I’m on a trampoline.’” Whew, long quote, but my point is this feels like that let-loose moment you have with friends when you’re enjoying, and admitting to, your awkwardness but owning it nonetheless. I feel like in today’s society people automatically think that when a boy and girl get along in this way, then it is an automatic romantic ship (reminds me of “When Harry Met Sally,” one of my favs). The thing is, though, God has chosen at most that one special someone who you get along with so well that it’s as if you’re one, and so you marry and you two become one body. So, if we’re meant for one other person (or single celibate life, which is a beautiful and valid vocation in and of itself), then that means most of boy-girl interactions are going to be as friends. And, in the case of Lovette and Jake, their dynamic works really well as a friendship but bombs at being a romantic relationship. And they do have a lot of things in common; they both had military dads, and Jake helped encourage Lovette to get back into the water and surf. This kind of encouragement is something you can really appreciate from a friend, but there really has to be that “something something” element to make sparks fly between two characters, and I just didn’t get those vibes from them.
Worse than that, though, I didn’t ship them because their romantic relationship was pretty appalling to me, especially since this is a book about a Christian female teenage. Young teenage girls are probably reading this looking for direction in their own dating relationships, and I’m honestly disappointed at the example this book sets. (If you want some good encouragement, check out “How to Find Your Soulmate without Losing Your Soul” by Jason and Crystalina Evert.) When I was sixteen, I was pretty similar to early book version of Lovette. I also had a ban against dating, and I’m glad I had that ban because it kept me from making stupid mistakes every time I got the tiniest, naïve teen crush. At the time, I didn’t need a book setting an example that said, yeah you should go for it with your crushes especially if that person likes you back. No. What I needed was a story where the girl remained strong in her standards and was like, yeah imma stick with this dating ban promise I made when I was twelve because I set it in place so I’d remain strong when the temptation did come. In Lovette’s case, she immediately caved to every temptations because she attributed her younger self to being naïve for making a dating ban. Like, no. You make those promises at a time when you don’t face the temptation, so when the temptation does come, you say to yourself: No. I made this promise for a very good reason. And Lovette did make that promise for a good reason. She took things way too far with Jake. Before they even had full-on make out sessions, Jake would make out with her shoulders and neck. That’s just as lustful as when they were making out for an hour plus to the point that their lips were raw. Literally, their making out was so lusty that Jake got an erection every time. That’s saying something about losing your standards a bit. Basically, I was 100% against their relationship while it was happening because Lovette thought that letting go of her standards was okay. And I really wanted to see a character who held her standards high because she saw the wait as worth it, and women need to hear that more. We are not told this nearly enough. For those of you out there reading this, the wait is worth it. This took me a long time to fully grasp and have peace with, but trust me, in the long runs it’s worth it. If you’re having a hard time being patient now, imagine what your wedding day will be like if you wait: smiles so wide your cheeks hurt, your stomach fluttering, you feeling so light you glide down the aisle with the grace of a princess, and waiting at the end is the man you’ve waited so long for and he looks just like how you feel.
Back to this book, though. Even when Lovette and Jake started dating, the two acknowledged they were dating because they were attracted to each other and they had no intention of getting married one day. If the point of dating is to find your future spouse (which, btw, dating and courting are the same thing, so that was another thing that annoyed me about Kelly), then what is the point of wasting your time, and lowering your standards, on a relationship you acknowledge from the beginning is not going anywhere? It was choices like these that made me think Lovette was really immature. I had to remind myself repeatedly that Lovette is 16. But even still, most of my friends and I did not act this way when we were 16. The way Lovette was acting by thinking things like, oh I was immature to make a dating ban when I was 12 and had no temptations, but now that I’m faced with temptation, it’s different because I want to date this hot guy who I sorta like, even if it’s not good for me, so I’m just going to do it because it brings me pleasure. This type of thought process that Lovette had, which btw never showed any remorse for her lowered standards (another reason why she felt immature), made her feel like she was 14 and not 16 almost 17. Lovette was just not believable as a sixteen-year-old. Another reason why she felt so immature is because of the agency that she kept giving away. She gave away her agency to be strong in her standards when she decided to date Jake, when she decided to kiss him (which was more like a first make out session than a first kiss; no wonder why she couldn’t stop, that’s addicting in a non-psychologically healthy way), and when she decided to lose her virginity to Jake, especially at the moment when she was desperately clinging onto him because he was about to leave for good (and she knew it was better for her to let him go and knew she was not going to marry him). In this moment when Lovette makes the final decision to lower her standards completely, she gives away her final agency to say no to the temptations of physicality in romantic relationships. And the agency is passed along to Jake instead. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to see Jake’s character development where he goes from being flippant about sex to saying, no we are not having sex because waiting is special for you Lovette. While it was nice to see this character development in Jake, Lovette is the main character, so she is the one who should have the agency in the pivotal moments of the novel. And when it comes to the biggest moment in this book, Lovette gives up her agency to the point that Jake has to take it over. From a writing standpoint, giving the agency to a character other than the main protagonist is unsatisfying to the reader. From the content standpoint, it was disappointing that our female protagonist didn’t stand up for her standards. Women really need to see examples of this in literature so they feel inspired to stand up for themselves. Seriously, I’m currently writing a psychology senior thesis about how fictional narratives and characters have a large impact on our beliefs and subsequent actions. If we use literature to teach women to hold their standards high, then the lessons will influence the women’s actions. But, I’ve beat this dead horse super dead by now, so I’m going to move on to one final point.
Pacing. Finally I talk about something writing related, am I right? There is actually more I could get into about the writing, but I really wanted to focus on the content for this review because I think it is a fundamental issue of this piece. As far as pacing goes, though, it was really weird in this book. Some scenes span one day and last for five plus chapters and then the book jumps a week to a month in the span of a paragraph. Normally, using summary to pass through time is a good tool, but Butcha heavy loads the major events of the book into only a few separate days and then she jumps a bunch of time in between those days. It makes the timeline feel really unbalanced. Like, no one has days that are that eventful and then have days of nothing for that long just to have an overly eventful day again. While we occasionally have really eventful days, normal life isn’t balanced like that. For example, let’s look at the most pivotal day in this entire book, the midpoint. In this one day alone, we go: from Cecilia putting up Lovette’s essay and revealing Lovette’s virginity, to Lovette’s complete emotional breakdown from the embarrassment, to Jake opening up for the first time about his dad, to Lovette accepting what happened to her, to Lovette feeling so loved that her friends were cleaning up all the papers, to Jake coming to the first family dinner at Lovette’s house, to Lovette’s parents almost finding out about her surfing, to Lovette and Jake fighting over Lovette not telling her parents, to Lovette going to the Venue alone, to Lydia texting Jake to get him to show up so Jake and Lovette can stupidly fight some more, to Lovette deciding to let go of her first standard and choose to casually date Jake. Exhausted from reading that sentence? Well, I’m exhausted from typing it. That’s an insane amount of things to happen in one day! Each of those bigger scenes should have happened on their own separate days, and they should have been spaced out at least a week. I mean, public shaming of Lovette’s virginity alone is such an emotional weight to unpack that she would’ve needed at least a week to recover from that. How she accepts it is believable, but that weight of the emotional hurt would still take time to heal, and we do not get that in this book. Instead, we get a plot dump on us that happened so fast we, the readers, cannot keep up with it. Too much happens in too short a timeframe.
Sigh. Welp. This has been long. Thanks to those who stuck with me through this, but this review is ridiculously long, so I’m out. Byyyeee!
When I first read the description for this book, I was really excited to read it because the plot reminded me of Soul Surfer. Plus, I was excited to read a book that had a Christian female protagonist. But, when I actually read this book, I had some different thoughts.
I want to begin by highlighting the aspects of the book that work well. Plot wise, everything but the romance (more on that later) was interesting to me. I found myself getting really invested in everyone’s stories. When Kelly was first introduced with her moseying walk and purple streak of hair, I thought she’d be a character with spunk, but it turns out that was Lydia. Instead, Kelly was the jealous friend who was also concerned for Lovette but showing it in a horrible way. I seriously hated Kelly for most of the novel because she was being pushy and judgmental of Lovette. Even when they had the Kelly-Dave-Lovette lunch, which was super awkward but in a way that made the tension fun, Kelly was just trying to express concern to Lovette at the choices she was making in her relationship with Jake. Though I agreed with what Kelly was saying (Lovette should’ve been more careful in her relationship because her rose-colored eyes were causing her standards for romance to slip), I still hated Kelly because she was being so rude and judgmental in how she was expressing her concern. She was practically commanding Lovette to break up with Jake, and while you can be concerned for someone’s well being, you can never force him or her to act in certain ways. We can only encourage and uplift our friends, and we can be a shoulder to cry on when they do make mistakes.
So, in the entire book, Butcha is building up the reader’s hatred and dislike for Kelly’s character, and then it turns out Kelly’s the most interesting character in the book. While Kelly’s trying to get Lovette to turn from the dangerous path she’s on, it turns out Kelly had been secretly going down that path herself and she was miserable because of it. So she was only trying to protect Lovette, in a twisted sort of way. And, even though we find out in the bathroom scene that Kelly was the one who helped Cecilia with the reveal of Lovette’s virgin essay, you can’t help but feel sorry for Kelly because she was struggling with her own guilt of taking things too far with Dave. This complexity of Kelly’s character is why I think Kelly is the most interesting character in the book, though my feelings were only neutral about her by the end. She had a lot of hatred to make up for, so let’s just be impressed that I was neutral.
Another interesting plot element was Lovette’s big return debut to surfing and her struggle to tell her parents. I’m somewhat surprised that her parents never found out actually, but I’m glad that allowed Lovette to have the agency to tell her parents. I also appreciated the tension between Lovette and Matt. I liked how we started out with that bear hug when Matt was first introduced. I always love seeing sweet brother-sister relationships since I have a more complex relationship with my brother. I also appreciated their fight over the secrets they were both keeping from their parents. True sibling dynamic there. And it ended with a sweet make up (when Matt set everything up so Lovette could compete in the big surf competition), but in a way that felt authentic.
I also think the Christianity aspect was incorporated well into the plot. It never felt preachy, and I often related to what the characters were saying. I even recognized some of the Christian songs that were quoted, though I wish more were quoted because I am a Christian music fanatic.
Okay, now that I’ve said some nice things, I have to dig into a MAJOR issue I have with this novel. I alluded to this earlier, but I was NOT (I MEAN NOOOOTTT) a fan of the Lovette-Jake romance. I did ship them as friends but not as romantic partners. They had more of a friendship chemistry than a romantic chemistry. (In fact, I didn’t see the romantic chemistry at all and found their lovesick puppy dog behavior to be quite annoying.) An example of their good friendship dynamic is when they go to the Venue for the first time. Jake and Lovette joked about their horrible dancing skills (which is totally me btw). The book says, “At 8:50 p.m., we hear the music cue up. Lydia tells Jake about the dance club at nine (Latin Music Fridays) and how Uncle Joe lets me and Lyds go out there as long as we don’t drink, and how we both love to dance. / ‘Correction,’ I say, pointing a butter knife at her. ‘Lydia’s the dancer. I’m the mannequin, hoping not to get knocked over.’ / He laughs. ‘It’s okay. My dancing looks like I’m on a trampoline.’” Whew, long quote, but my point is this feels like that let-loose moment you have with friends when you’re enjoying, and admitting to, your awkwardness but owning it nonetheless. I feel like in today’s society people automatically think that when a boy and girl get along in this way, then it is an automatic romantic ship (reminds me of “When Harry Met Sally,” one of my favs). The thing is, though, God has chosen at most that one special someone who you get along with so well that it’s as if you’re one, and so you marry and you two become one body. So, if we’re meant for one other person (or single celibate life, which is a beautiful and valid vocation in and of itself), then that means most of boy-girl interactions are going to be as friends. And, in the case of Lovette and Jake, their dynamic works really well as a friendship but bombs at being a romantic relationship. And they do have a lot of things in common; they both had military dads, and Jake helped encourage Lovette to get back into the water and surf. This kind of encouragement is something you can really appreciate from a friend, but there really has to be that “something something” element to make sparks fly between two characters, and I just didn’t get those vibes from them.
Worse than that, though, I didn’t ship them because their romantic relationship was pretty appalling to me, especially since this is a book about a Christian female teenage. Young teenage girls are probably reading this looking for direction in their own dating relationships, and I’m honestly disappointed at the example this book sets. (If you want some good encouragement, check out “How to Find Your Soulmate without Losing Your Soul” by Jason and Crystalina Evert.) When I was sixteen, I was pretty similar to early book version of Lovette. I also had a ban against dating, and I’m glad I had that ban because it kept me from making stupid mistakes every time I got the tiniest, naïve teen crush. At the time, I didn’t need a book setting an example that said, yeah you should go for it with your crushes especially if that person likes you back. No. What I needed was a story where the girl remained strong in her standards and was like, yeah imma stick with this dating ban promise I made when I was twelve because I set it in place so I’d remain strong when the temptation did come. In Lovette’s case, she immediately caved to every temptations because she attributed her younger self to being naïve for making a dating ban. Like, no. You make those promises at a time when you don’t face the temptation, so when the temptation does come, you say to yourself: No. I made this promise for a very good reason. And Lovette did make that promise for a good reason. She took things way too far with Jake. Before they even had full-on make out sessions, Jake would make out with her shoulders and neck. That’s just as lustful as when they were making out for an hour plus to the point that their lips were raw. Literally, their making out was so lusty that Jake got an erection every time. That’s saying something about losing your standards a bit. Basically, I was 100% against their relationship while it was happening because Lovette thought that letting go of her standards was okay. And I really wanted to see a character who held her standards high because she saw the wait as worth it, and women need to hear that more. We are not told this nearly enough. For those of you out there reading this, the wait is worth it. This took me a long time to fully grasp and have peace with, but trust me, in the long runs it’s worth it. If you’re having a hard time being patient now, imagine what your wedding day will be like if you wait: smiles so wide your cheeks hurt, your stomach fluttering, you feeling so light you glide down the aisle with the grace of a princess, and waiting at the end is the man you’ve waited so long for and he looks just like how you feel.
Back to this book, though. Even when Lovette and Jake started dating, the two acknowledged they were dating because they were attracted to each other and they had no intention of getting married one day. If the point of dating is to find your future spouse (which, btw, dating and courting are the same thing, so that was another thing that annoyed me about Kelly), then what is the point of wasting your time, and lowering your standards, on a relationship you acknowledge from the beginning is not going anywhere? It was choices like these that made me think Lovette was really immature. I had to remind myself repeatedly that Lovette is 16. But even still, most of my friends and I did not act this way when we were 16. The way Lovette was acting by thinking things like, oh I was immature to make a dating ban when I was 12 and had no temptations, but now that I’m faced with temptation, it’s different because I want to date this hot guy who I sorta like, even if it’s not good for me, so I’m just going to do it because it brings me pleasure. This type of thought process that Lovette had, which btw never showed any remorse for her lowered standards (another reason why she felt immature), made her feel like she was 14 and not 16 almost 17. Lovette was just not believable as a sixteen-year-old. Another reason why she felt so immature is because of the agency that she kept giving away. She gave away her agency to be strong in her standards when she decided to date Jake, when she decided to kiss him (which was more like a first make out session than a first kiss; no wonder why she couldn’t stop, that’s addicting in a non-psychologically healthy way), and when she decided to lose her virginity to Jake, especially at the moment when she was desperately clinging onto him because he was about to leave for good (and she knew it was better for her to let him go and knew she was not going to marry him). In this moment when Lovette makes the final decision to lower her standards completely, she gives away her final agency to say no to the temptations of physicality in romantic relationships. And the agency is passed along to Jake instead. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to see Jake’s character development where he goes from being flippant about sex to saying, no we are not having sex because waiting is special for you Lovette. While it was nice to see this character development in Jake, Lovette is the main character, so she is the one who should have the agency in the pivotal moments of the novel. And when it comes to the biggest moment in this book, Lovette gives up her agency to the point that Jake has to take it over. From a writing standpoint, giving the agency to a character other than the main protagonist is unsatisfying to the reader. From the content standpoint, it was disappointing that our female protagonist didn’t stand up for her standards. Women really need to see examples of this in literature so they feel inspired to stand up for themselves. Seriously, I’m currently writing a psychology senior thesis about how fictional narratives and characters have a large impact on our beliefs and subsequent actions. If we use literature to teach women to hold their standards high, then the lessons will influence the women’s actions. But, I’ve beat this dead horse super dead by now, so I’m going to move on to one final point.
Pacing. Finally I talk about something writing related, am I right? There is actually more I could get into about the writing, but I really wanted to focus on the content for this review because I think it is a fundamental issue of this piece. As far as pacing goes, though, it was really weird in this book. Some scenes span one day and last for five plus chapters and then the book jumps a week to a month in the span of a paragraph. Normally, using summary to pass through time is a good tool, but Butcha heavy loads the major events of the book into only a few separate days and then she jumps a bunch of time in between those days. It makes the timeline feel really unbalanced. Like, no one has days that are that eventful and then have days of nothing for that long just to have an overly eventful day again. While we occasionally have really eventful days, normal life isn’t balanced like that. For example, let’s look at the most pivotal day in this entire book, the midpoint. In this one day alone, we go: from Cecilia putting up Lovette’s essay and revealing Lovette’s virginity, to Lovette’s complete emotional breakdown from the embarrassment, to Jake opening up for the first time about his dad, to Lovette accepting what happened to her, to Lovette feeling so loved that her friends were cleaning up all the papers, to Jake coming to the first family dinner at Lovette’s house, to Lovette’s parents almost finding out about her surfing, to Lovette and Jake fighting over Lovette not telling her parents, to Lovette going to the Venue alone, to Lydia texting Jake to get him to show up so Jake and Lovette can stupidly fight some more, to Lovette deciding to let go of her first standard and choose to casually date Jake. Exhausted from reading that sentence? Well, I’m exhausted from typing it. That’s an insane amount of things to happen in one day! Each of those bigger scenes should have happened on their own separate days, and they should have been spaced out at least a week. I mean, public shaming of Lovette’s virginity alone is such an emotional weight to unpack that she would’ve needed at least a week to recover from that. How she accepts it is believable, but that weight of the emotional hurt would still take time to heal, and we do not get that in this book. Instead, we get a plot dump on us that happened so fast we, the readers, cannot keep up with it. Too much happens in too short a timeframe.
Sigh. Welp. This has been long. Thanks to those who stuck with me through this, but this review is ridiculously long, so I’m out. Byyyeee!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2021
Heather Buchta’s YA contemporary debut novel, Beyond the Break, seamlessly blends the trials of young adulthood with encouraging spirituality, hitting similar chords to that of the movie Soul Surfer and Jenny Han’s series To All the Boys I Loved Before.
The story follows a teenage, Christian girl named Lovette, who lives in Manhattan Beach, California. After her older brother suffered a terrible surfing accident that caused him to have to relearn how to walk and talk, Lovette lives by two rules: 1) no surfing, at least that’s what her parents demand. And 2) no dating, unless it’s for marriage purposes. That was a vow Lovette made when she was twelve between herself and Jesus after her brother woke up from his coma.
Period.
And now in her junior year of high school, her two rules have worked pretty well. She’s happy. she has friends at school, youth group, and a job. At least that’s what Lovette tells herself. But then there’s Jake Evans. A boy from her childhood that suddenly reappears and rocks her world. He’s cute, sweet, and stirs up feelings in Lovette that she has been trying to avoid for the past four years— the desire to get out and surf again, and also, quite possibly, have a romantic relationship.
Lovette is forced to tackle her beliefs head on, wrestling with the idea on whether it is possible to have these feelings for Jake while still staying true to her convictions.
As a Christian myself, I found myself afraid to read this book. Christian fiction, specifically YA, is often so cheesy, I can barely stand it. So with bated breath, I dove in, and I was delightfully surprised. It was cringe, but it was because I recognized myself and people I know. It was cheesy, but in that classic YA romance kind of way, just like in To All the Boys I Loved Before. I ended up loving it, and I was shocked.
It was also unexpectedly moving, in a “wow, these characters who I thought were perfect, and cardboard stereotypes, actually are just as screwed up as me.”
Lovette felt like high school me; I related to her in a really powerful way, that it almost had me in tears near the end of the story. She struggles with wanting to do the right thing. What is the right thing to do? How do I know if it’s right? What do I do when the thing I want isn’t the right thing? To see her slip and fall, but then also have mini triumphs was incredibly cathartic for me.
I also appreciated how Buchta was able to make her friendships not cliche, but have ups and downs. People get hurt and act in cruel ways. But there is also forgiveness and a true friendship kind of love that is beautiful to read. The romance is well written as well. Jake and Lovette have chemistry on the page. He was not the stereotypical perfect boy, like I was expecting. He had his own mood swings and baggage to deal with. I was expecting a cliche teenage romance, but instead I was rewarded with realistic emotions and relationship struggles.
Lastly, I have to applaud Buchta’s ability to write the Christian worldview in a relatable and non-overbearing way. However, she does not shy from the hard questions like “where is God when bad stuff happens?”, or “if I sin too much will God stop loving me?” Buchta answers them gracefully and winsomely that doesn’t feel like some cheap platitude or having religion shoved down your throat.
In the end, Beyond the Break is a YA contemporary full of heart and honesty, that is willing to brave the waters of doubt and tragedy, but also able to rise up and see the hope and beauty in the world.
https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/...
The story follows a teenage, Christian girl named Lovette, who lives in Manhattan Beach, California. After her older brother suffered a terrible surfing accident that caused him to have to relearn how to walk and talk, Lovette lives by two rules: 1) no surfing, at least that’s what her parents demand. And 2) no dating, unless it’s for marriage purposes. That was a vow Lovette made when she was twelve between herself and Jesus after her brother woke up from his coma.
Period.
And now in her junior year of high school, her two rules have worked pretty well. She’s happy. she has friends at school, youth group, and a job. At least that’s what Lovette tells herself. But then there’s Jake Evans. A boy from her childhood that suddenly reappears and rocks her world. He’s cute, sweet, and stirs up feelings in Lovette that she has been trying to avoid for the past four years— the desire to get out and surf again, and also, quite possibly, have a romantic relationship.
Lovette is forced to tackle her beliefs head on, wrestling with the idea on whether it is possible to have these feelings for Jake while still staying true to her convictions.
As a Christian myself, I found myself afraid to read this book. Christian fiction, specifically YA, is often so cheesy, I can barely stand it. So with bated breath, I dove in, and I was delightfully surprised. It was cringe, but it was because I recognized myself and people I know. It was cheesy, but in that classic YA romance kind of way, just like in To All the Boys I Loved Before. I ended up loving it, and I was shocked.
It was also unexpectedly moving, in a “wow, these characters who I thought were perfect, and cardboard stereotypes, actually are just as screwed up as me.”
Lovette felt like high school me; I related to her in a really powerful way, that it almost had me in tears near the end of the story. She struggles with wanting to do the right thing. What is the right thing to do? How do I know if it’s right? What do I do when the thing I want isn’t the right thing? To see her slip and fall, but then also have mini triumphs was incredibly cathartic for me.
I also appreciated how Buchta was able to make her friendships not cliche, but have ups and downs. People get hurt and act in cruel ways. But there is also forgiveness and a true friendship kind of love that is beautiful to read. The romance is well written as well. Jake and Lovette have chemistry on the page. He was not the stereotypical perfect boy, like I was expecting. He had his own mood swings and baggage to deal with. I was expecting a cliche teenage romance, but instead I was rewarded with realistic emotions and relationship struggles.
Lastly, I have to applaud Buchta’s ability to write the Christian worldview in a relatable and non-overbearing way. However, she does not shy from the hard questions like “where is God when bad stuff happens?”, or “if I sin too much will God stop loving me?” Buchta answers them gracefully and winsomely that doesn’t feel like some cheap platitude or having religion shoved down your throat.
In the end, Beyond the Break is a YA contemporary full of heart and honesty, that is willing to brave the waters of doubt and tragedy, but also able to rise up and see the hope and beauty in the world.
https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/...
May 24, 2020
*Thanks to the publisher providing me with an ARC to review
Beyond the Break was an incredible story about first love, faith, and family expectations. I had a great time reading this book and really related to the main character in particular. She was so relatable and had a excellent way of telling the story. I thought the Christianity element was woven in so well. Those with or without the faith can read and relate to this book in some way. Lovette’s faith was a major element in the story but the book or author didn’t push the reader into the religion and wasn’t too forceful with it. This book also took on first love, which was done so well. The relationship built between Jake and Lovette was realistic and honestly so much fun to read. I loved the family dynamic as well. Lovette really struggled with some decisions because of her parents, and the author did a great job with this. I also loved the surfing element! It was lots of fun and such an interesting sport to read about, as it isn’t shown in books much. I would totally recommend this book!
Beyond the Break was an incredible story about first love, faith, and family expectations. I had a great time reading this book and really related to the main character in particular. She was so relatable and had a excellent way of telling the story. I thought the Christianity element was woven in so well. Those with or without the faith can read and relate to this book in some way. Lovette’s faith was a major element in the story but the book or author didn’t push the reader into the religion and wasn’t too forceful with it. This book also took on first love, which was done so well. The relationship built between Jake and Lovette was realistic and honestly so much fun to read. I loved the family dynamic as well. Lovette really struggled with some decisions because of her parents, and the author did a great job with this. I also loved the surfing element! It was lots of fun and such an interesting sport to read about, as it isn’t shown in books much. I would totally recommend this book!
April 7, 2020
My 14 yr old daughter loved this book. She would read for a while then come to me and tell me all about it. I feel like I read it too! I will definitely be on the lookout for the next book from Heather Buchta.
June 12, 2023
Okay, so before we get started I have to point out that this was supposedly a christian book. And although God was definitely mentioned, it didn’t really feel christian.
They swore throughout the book, which I didn’t love, and there was a whole lot of lying to parents and secrecy.
Also there were many sexual jokes.
I loved how Lovette started in this book. Her relationship with God felt real. I also loved that she wanted to save her first kiss for the altar, when the priest says, “you may kiss the bride”. It was so cute! Well, until she started to have full on make-out sessions with her non-Christian boyfriend… Kind of disappointing. And not to mention that one of her friends almost got pregnant?!?
I think if this book wasn’t labeled “Christian” then I would’ve given it a four. I really liked the writing style, it kept me entertained from start to finish, and it was just as good as any other romance.
I’m gonna give it 3 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️!
They swore throughout the book, which I didn’t love, and there was a whole lot of lying to parents and secrecy.
Also there were many sexual jokes.
I loved how Lovette started in this book. Her relationship with God felt real. I also loved that she wanted to save her first kiss for the altar, when the priest says, “you may kiss the bride”. It was so cute! Well, until she started to have full on make-out sessions with her non-Christian boyfriend… Kind of disappointing. And not to mention that one of her friends almost got pregnant?!?
I think if this book wasn’t labeled “Christian” then I would’ve given it a four. I really liked the writing style, it kept me entertained from start to finish, and it was just as good as any other romance.
I’m gonna give it 3 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️!
February 9, 2024
It is a good and clean romance, but there is a lot about religion and she is very very religious which I was not really expecting.
June 22, 2024
A lot happened in this book. There were moments when I wanted to stop reading it, and other moments when I couldn’t put it down. It was not entirely what I was expecting this book to be, but there were some great lessons in here.
There were a couple scenes that I feel were described too much. Personally, I did not like that. I feel like they’re unequally yoked, and I really was not a fan of that. Towards the end, things seemed better, but still I thought this would be a ‘godly relationship’ type of romance.
There were a couple scenes that I feel were described too much. Personally, I did not like that. I feel like they’re unequally yoked, and I really was not a fan of that. Towards the end, things seemed better, but still I thought this would be a ‘godly relationship’ type of romance.
August 7, 2022
Such an amazing book,kind of hard to understand if you're not someone who follow the Christian religion. But overall a really good book.
March 30, 2020
Heather Buchta's ability as a writer is undeniable, and I'm lucky to have received an advance copy of her debut novel, Beyond the Break. Through the voice and eyes of main character, Lovette, Ms. Buchta captures the angst and moral dilemmas of the high school experience in a meaningful way─especially family and friendship drama and falling in love for the first time. Though these struggles are not unique, the artful prose makes Lovette's story uniquely her own as we learn how her passion for surfing is also a metaphor for her life. As a reader you're rooting for her as she tries to do what's right for her, within the faith she loves and respects.
June 22, 2023
4.5 ⭐️!!!!!
Story line was so so good I loved the characters and the plot. Could have been five stars but for a “christian YA romance” there was an excess amount of cussing and semi-graphic descriptions. Apart from that there were some beautiful quotes and loved her relationship with God.
Story line was so so good I loved the characters and the plot. Could have been five stars but for a “christian YA romance” there was an excess amount of cussing and semi-graphic descriptions. Apart from that there were some beautiful quotes and loved her relationship with God.
Want to read
April 1, 2020I really want to read this book. I read the summary, and it sounds amazing!!!!!!!
April 7, 2020
Can't wait to get my hands on this touching story, written by such an upcoming talent.
May 26, 2022
At first, I thought this was going to be a super cringey Christian book, and at times, it was, but it ended up being a really great book about love: love for God, for surfing, for family, for friends, and for Jake.
The intro of the book, maybe the first 3 or 4 chapters, were pretty hard to get through. But as a fellow writer, I know how hard it is to get the exposition you need at the beginning of a story.
The author wasn't afraid to challenge her characters and put them in situations they never thought they'd be in. You know it's a good story when even the characters are surprised by their responses to the events they end up in. But the responses aren't unwarranted. They're earned by the growth or lack thereof of each person. I found myself gasping in shock when certain storylines unfolded.
I also gasped at how romantic the beach shower scene was the night of the red tide. It was so full of passion and felt real. The writing of these moments was perfect.
I loved how Lovette started questioning sex after she found out everyone was doing it. Or what seemed like everyone. She started actually doing the research and figuring out what God thought about it and what she thought about it in response to what she found. It felt like a real teenager questioning her own beliefs and trying to see if she believed what she had before. It was honest.
Overall, this was a book with mostly great writing but some horrifyingly cringey scenes, especially if youth group was involved. But if you can make it past the first 4 chapters, you'll uncover one of the best books you'll probably read all year. And it's perfect for the summer with all the beach and surf talk!
The intro of the book, maybe the first 3 or 4 chapters, were pretty hard to get through. But as a fellow writer, I know how hard it is to get the exposition you need at the beginning of a story.
The author wasn't afraid to challenge her characters and put them in situations they never thought they'd be in. You know it's a good story when even the characters are surprised by their responses to the events they end up in. But the responses aren't unwarranted. They're earned by the growth or lack thereof of each person. I found myself gasping in shock when certain storylines unfolded.
I also gasped at how romantic the beach shower scene was the night of the red tide. It was so full of passion and felt real. The writing of these moments was perfect.
I loved how Lovette started questioning sex after she found out everyone was doing it. Or what seemed like everyone. She started actually doing the research and figuring out what God thought about it and what she thought about it in response to what she found. It felt like a real teenager questioning her own beliefs and trying to see if she believed what she had before. It was honest.
Overall, this was a book with mostly great writing but some horrifyingly cringey scenes, especially if youth group was involved. But if you can make it past the first 4 chapters, you'll uncover one of the best books you'll probably read all year. And it's perfect for the summer with all the beach and surf talk!
January 19, 2021
Lovette has two rules for herself. One, no surfing. Her brother was in a terrible surfing accident years before. Two, no dating. She made a promise to God. Lovette is happy with her arrangement. She has her youth group, her friends, and her relationship with Jesus. But when Jake Evans walks into the youth group one day, everything changes. Soon Lovette finds herself breaking both rules she set out for herself and questioning everything she’s ever known.
Beyond The Break is told in the first person entirely from Lovette’s point of view. Lovette is an excellent character. You can feel how vulnerable she is, and how much she struggles to be the perfect daughter, friend, and Christian. Over the course of the novel, she starts to break free of the constructs she’s set for herself and finally start to push for things that make her happy.
The religious aspect of the book somewhat turned me off, especially at the beginning. It felt like I couldn’t get two sentences without a comment about Jesus, and it felt a bit extreme. As the book progresses, this obsessive mentioning starts to dwindle, largely mirroring the character development in Lovette. It still has religious undertones, but not to the same extent as the first few chapters. This might be an issue for some readers. I found it frustrating initially, but it didn’t keep me from enjoying the story.
I loved this sweet coming of age story. It’s a classic story with a unique spin. Fans of contemporary YA such as the works of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han will enjoy Beyond The Break.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the review copy! All opinions are my own.
Beyond The Break is told in the first person entirely from Lovette’s point of view. Lovette is an excellent character. You can feel how vulnerable she is, and how much she struggles to be the perfect daughter, friend, and Christian. Over the course of the novel, she starts to break free of the constructs she’s set for herself and finally start to push for things that make her happy.
The religious aspect of the book somewhat turned me off, especially at the beginning. It felt like I couldn’t get two sentences without a comment about Jesus, and it felt a bit extreme. As the book progresses, this obsessive mentioning starts to dwindle, largely mirroring the character development in Lovette. It still has religious undertones, but not to the same extent as the first few chapters. This might be an issue for some readers. I found it frustrating initially, but it didn’t keep me from enjoying the story.
I loved this sweet coming of age story. It’s a classic story with a unique spin. Fans of contemporary YA such as the works of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han will enjoy Beyond The Break.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the review copy! All opinions are my own.
June 10, 2020
I love this book. Why?
First, it's the kind of book you want to buy several copies of so you can lend them out to the people you care about; they need to read it and think about the ideas it explores. There's so much going on in this novel on so many levels—it's fun, funny, satiric at times, thought-provoking, heart-wrenching. If you're a parent, you want to read this WITH your teenage daughter or son. Tons to think about and discuss, parents! Yes, the main character is a girl, but this story is as much for boys as it is for girls.
Since it is a Young Adult novel, the main character wrestles with sex and sexual attraction and losing her virginity and the rightness or wrongness of all she feels. And if you have a teenage son or daughter, good luck skirting that topic. Teens think about it before they remember to suck air into their lungs, before they place right foot in front of left, before they check to see if there's a piece of spinach in their teeth. And Buchta captures that marvelous, special, wondrous feeling of having an undeniable attraction for another. I'm officially in geezer territory, yet she somehow managed to remind me of that time and that feeling.
She's an extraordinarily adept writer. I've never surfed in my life, and yet after reading this friggin novel, I want to surf. How does she manage to do that? She captures a nighttime scene when the main character and her crush are out on the water with surfboards that have LED's. It's a magical, poetical scene, and I'm there thanks to her writing.
While Buchta manages to raise thought-provoking issues, Buchta handles the whole subject of faith masterfully. The main character is committed in her faith as a Christian, sure, but Buchta lampoons other characters who wear their Christianity as a badge; they talk the talk but don't really walk the walk. She makes her point with a light touch and never comes across as mocking genuine faith. I love this complexity. The main character never takes herself too seriously, and there are a lot of very funny moments when the main character makes fun of herself.
The novel plays with common themes. While the teen usually scoffs at religion or faith or going to church and the parents are the earnest characters striving to make the teen see the value in the church life, BEYOND THE BREAK turns this on its head. The teen is the devout one and the parents don't "get it."
Buchta also threads irony beautifully into the novel. The parents think they understand what she is really going through, but they don't, and the things they say are at times amusing and heart-breaking.
Finally, this novel is just darn fun and funny. It's not heavy or preachy or depressing.
I can't recommend this novel enough! And I can't wait for the second novel from this incredibly talented writer.
First, it's the kind of book you want to buy several copies of so you can lend them out to the people you care about; they need to read it and think about the ideas it explores. There's so much going on in this novel on so many levels—it's fun, funny, satiric at times, thought-provoking, heart-wrenching. If you're a parent, you want to read this WITH your teenage daughter or son. Tons to think about and discuss, parents! Yes, the main character is a girl, but this story is as much for boys as it is for girls.
Since it is a Young Adult novel, the main character wrestles with sex and sexual attraction and losing her virginity and the rightness or wrongness of all she feels. And if you have a teenage son or daughter, good luck skirting that topic. Teens think about it before they remember to suck air into their lungs, before they place right foot in front of left, before they check to see if there's a piece of spinach in their teeth. And Buchta captures that marvelous, special, wondrous feeling of having an undeniable attraction for another. I'm officially in geezer territory, yet she somehow managed to remind me of that time and that feeling.
She's an extraordinarily adept writer. I've never surfed in my life, and yet after reading this friggin novel, I want to surf. How does she manage to do that? She captures a nighttime scene when the main character and her crush are out on the water with surfboards that have LED's. It's a magical, poetical scene, and I'm there thanks to her writing.
While Buchta manages to raise thought-provoking issues, Buchta handles the whole subject of faith masterfully. The main character is committed in her faith as a Christian, sure, but Buchta lampoons other characters who wear their Christianity as a badge; they talk the talk but don't really walk the walk. She makes her point with a light touch and never comes across as mocking genuine faith. I love this complexity. The main character never takes herself too seriously, and there are a lot of very funny moments when the main character makes fun of herself.
The novel plays with common themes. While the teen usually scoffs at religion or faith or going to church and the parents are the earnest characters striving to make the teen see the value in the church life, BEYOND THE BREAK turns this on its head. The teen is the devout one and the parents don't "get it."
Buchta also threads irony beautifully into the novel. The parents think they understand what she is really going through, but they don't, and the things they say are at times amusing and heart-breaking.
Finally, this novel is just darn fun and funny. It's not heavy or preachy or depressing.
I can't recommend this novel enough! And I can't wait for the second novel from this incredibly talented writer.
October 2, 2020
★★★★
This was a fun coming-of-age story. Also definitely for a younger reader, but even if you're not its very enjoyable. (I can say that because I am not a "younger" reader. But I'm not old either, so don't get any ideas)
The author does an acceptably wonderful job of detailing every inch of the book. She paints a very clear picture, from the setting to to each character. The plot wasn't bad, very cute. (remember younger reader) The typical high school girl, Lovette, who has her faith, her priorities but at the same time is trying becomes conflicted with those things as she grows, and as several different challenges are thrown at her. If I am being honest she did annoy me a little at first. She just seemed to sure about herself and so set in her ways that she comes off as that "I'm always right, and you're never right" kind of vibe. But that does change, and as you read more, you begin to understand her character more.
Also, this book does have a heavy focus on Christianity, but if you're not a religious person, or you're not Christian, dont let that scare you. I'm not Christian, and I was a little hesitant thinking this book would use the storyline as an opportunity to sort of force that belief onto the reader, well it doesn't. Not at all. Yes, there are a lot of Christian references, but that's part of Lovette's character and her background. It is not a book about Christianity.
Oh did I mention this book has a lot of beach and surfing? I dont know how I missed that because thats also a HUGE factor in Lovette's story. This book made me want to go to the beach. Especially after how detailed the author writes. I can already feel sand on my toes!
Overall, really sweet, really cute read. There was no "thrill" factor that was having me hustle from page after page. This was more of an easy chill back vibe reading on the boat kind of book. Which is where I read it, on my boat, and it was the better setting.
This was a fun coming-of-age story. Also definitely for a younger reader, but even if you're not its very enjoyable. (I can say that because I am not a "younger" reader. But I'm not old either, so don't get any ideas)
The author does an acceptably wonderful job of detailing every inch of the book. She paints a very clear picture, from the setting to to each character. The plot wasn't bad, very cute. (remember younger reader) The typical high school girl, Lovette, who has her faith, her priorities but at the same time is trying becomes conflicted with those things as she grows, and as several different challenges are thrown at her. If I am being honest she did annoy me a little at first. She just seemed to sure about herself and so set in her ways that she comes off as that "I'm always right, and you're never right" kind of vibe. But that does change, and as you read more, you begin to understand her character more.
Also, this book does have a heavy focus on Christianity, but if you're not a religious person, or you're not Christian, dont let that scare you. I'm not Christian, and I was a little hesitant thinking this book would use the storyline as an opportunity to sort of force that belief onto the reader, well it doesn't. Not at all. Yes, there are a lot of Christian references, but that's part of Lovette's character and her background. It is not a book about Christianity.
Oh did I mention this book has a lot of beach and surfing? I dont know how I missed that because thats also a HUGE factor in Lovette's story. This book made me want to go to the beach. Especially after how detailed the author writes. I can already feel sand on my toes!
Overall, really sweet, really cute read. There was no "thrill" factor that was having me hustle from page after page. This was more of an easy chill back vibe reading on the boat kind of book. Which is where I read it, on my boat, and it was the better setting.
November 9, 2020
"This makes me smile. I'm God's surfboard. He's shaping me. And the smallest imbalance or rough edge, he's going to find. And he won't settle until I ride perfectly."
You want to talk about a book I struggled with? It was rough. The beginning was the hardest. It came off overbearingly christian like. In real life I have been struggling with my faith so this is probably going to come out real opinionated and may sound judgy toward the christian faith. Again, the beginning was the roughest part of this book.
Our main character Lovette made a christian pact with God when she was 12. I think she's between 17-18 now. And her main rule is to not have a boyfriend until after college who will then become her husband. Throughout the book Lovette struggles with this pact she made when she was younger. Especially now that there is this new, but old friend in town, Jake.
To read this young adult contemporary I feel like you have to know what's coming. A ton of in your face scripture and a ton of Jesus wouldn't do this or God wouldn't do this. It almost turned me away from reading the book because it was definitely in every paragraph. I think the story line redeemed the book a little. I was ready to give this a 2.5 out of 5 stars but I've settled for three out of five. Mainly the surfing bits saved it for me. As a lot of other reviewers on Goodreads have stated that they are not the target audience, I am going to have to agree. This book wasn't meant for me. The church camp and lock ins were relatable when I was growing up but that was about the extent.
Overall I think this is meant to be read by 15-18 year old's with a strong christian faith that may be struggling with their emotions when it comes to boys.
You want to talk about a book I struggled with? It was rough. The beginning was the hardest. It came off overbearingly christian like. In real life I have been struggling with my faith so this is probably going to come out real opinionated and may sound judgy toward the christian faith. Again, the beginning was the roughest part of this book.
Our main character Lovette made a christian pact with God when she was 12. I think she's between 17-18 now. And her main rule is to not have a boyfriend until after college who will then become her husband. Throughout the book Lovette struggles with this pact she made when she was younger. Especially now that there is this new, but old friend in town, Jake.
To read this young adult contemporary I feel like you have to know what's coming. A ton of in your face scripture and a ton of Jesus wouldn't do this or God wouldn't do this. It almost turned me away from reading the book because it was definitely in every paragraph. I think the story line redeemed the book a little. I was ready to give this a 2.5 out of 5 stars but I've settled for three out of five. Mainly the surfing bits saved it for me. As a lot of other reviewers on Goodreads have stated that they are not the target audience, I am going to have to agree. This book wasn't meant for me. The church camp and lock ins were relatable when I was growing up but that was about the extent.
Overall I think this is meant to be read by 15-18 year old's with a strong christian faith that may be struggling with their emotions when it comes to boys.
April 5, 2021
Lots of potential, but muddled by sexuality and language.
There are plentiful problematic themes and elements in this novel, but the main premise revolves around (1) a girl's 4-year deception/disobedience to her parents and (2) her struggle with how far to go physically in a relationship with her boyfriend.
On page 48, the protagonist (a likable 16-year-old Christian girl) thinks, “It’s weird. Even though I’m disobeying them - my parents - it’s where I feel closest to God.” Statements like this are confusing for young adult readers since this is a false statement. The girl may *feel* that this is when she is closest to God, but it is not true.
Ages 18+.
* I have a full parental content guide for anyone who might want to see it.
There are plentiful problematic themes and elements in this novel, but the main premise revolves around (1) a girl's 4-year deception/disobedience to her parents and (2) her struggle with how far to go physically in a relationship with her boyfriend.
On page 48, the protagonist (a likable 16-year-old Christian girl) thinks, “It’s weird. Even though I’m disobeying them - my parents - it’s where I feel closest to God.” Statements like this are confusing for young adult readers since this is a false statement. The girl may *feel* that this is when she is closest to God, but it is not true.
Ages 18+.
* I have a full parental content guide for anyone who might want to see it.
July 16, 2020
High school me would have been obsessed with this book!! It was made for Christian Teens figuring out high school and boys.
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