A Broken Kind of Beautiful

A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert is a book that I had the honor of winning in a Goodreads giveaway.  It is about a 24-year-old woman named Ivy Clark.  Ivy is a high-fashion model at the tail end of a career that has lasted 10 years.  The realization that she may be getting too old to be a model for much longer.  The book starts out with Ivy on the outs of a lasting contract that has kept her employed.

 

This book starts out a bit slow in setting the scene, and for about the first third of the book, I felt that it was hard to visualize the location and atmosphere in the book.  I distinctly remember several times towards the beginning of the book where characters were talked about but I just couldn't picture what they look like or what the room they were in was like, aside from a generic idea.  The story was still enjoyable as the storytelling is primarily around Ivy and her world falling apart around her.  Luckily the rest of the book gets much more descriptive, as I like to visualize the world that the story is about.   

As someone who isn't usually much for Christian Fiction novels, I can admit that I probably wouldn't have gone for this book initially if I would have known that it fell into that genre.  Luckily I didn't realize that because it was not detracting from the story.  Katie did a wonderful job of sneaking a lot of it in without shoving it in your face.  Regardless of your beliefs the underlying message is one that is useful to anyone.  We should all look for forgiveness, redemption and love. 

Despite a slow start, the book is never not enjoyable to read.  Katie does an amazing job of creating realistic characters that have realistic problems.  She wrote about many difficult issues in this book and there were times where my heart just broke for some of the characters and I would have a tear or two drop from my eye.  As you are reading you can really connect with the characters and feel their pain and their frustration at life and themselves.  Overall I definitely enjoyed the story and the message that it brought forth, bringing us all a little deeper into fashion, photography, and what it feels like to be "broken".  I definitely recommend this book and give it 4 out of 5 stars.  Great job Katie Ganshert, I will definitely look into your previous novels: Wildflowers from Winter and Wishing on Willows.