Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Keeping the Faith
SERIES: Faithfully Yours #3
AUTHOR: A.M. Leibowitz
PUBLISHER: Supposed Crimes
LENGTH: 238 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 1, 2017
BLURB:
It’s been three years since Micah’s spouse, Cat, passed away at the age of thirty-six. In the process of cleaning his house, Micah discovers a series of letters Cat hid before he died, in which he made one request: that Micah empty his life of Cat as a way of moving on. Micah has been able to work through his sorrow, but he’s unable to fulfill Cat’s last wish. He can’t see a way past his loneliness despite all the caring people around him.
Enter two new friendships. Jude, Micah’s vivacious new coworker, brings joy back into his life. But she has a big secret about her family, and the truth will rock Micah’s understanding of who she is. Chris, the new minister at Cat’s former church, intrigues Micah. Unlike Jude, Chris is an open book, from his musings on theology to his work as a trans advocate and activist. His gentle manner and deep faith become safe space for Micah to open up about his loss.
Through them, Micah becomes involved with the town’s new community center, where he offers a creative writing class. Using Cat’s detailed letters, he fictionalizes their love story to share with his students. In doing so, he at last begins to sort through his complicated grief. Micah learns he doesn’t have to erase his life with Cat in order to make new memories. He may even be falling for Chris, despite their vastly different spiritual views. With a little help from family and friends, Micah will need to open his heart to love completely again.
REVIEW:
Ok so, I’m an idiot. Lol. I had NO idea this was a part of a series. Which is my fault. I’m weird. I’m a cover person. The cover of a book grabs me. Most often I dont read the blurbs, because I don’t want to go into a book with preconceived notions. Sometimes i do. Just depends. This one I read a bit of the blurb but the cover just grabbed me and I didn’t know it was a part of a series until the author’s note at the end. I encourage you guys to read those first. This book can be read as a standalone. The author did a great job of including past things so you know what’s going on. However, you will get more detail of things and in this book there is a mention of some things the spouse didn’t speak of before he died.
Bringing me to my next point. This book is about loss. And severe grief. There is a warning in the forward of the book. Please read that in all the books. I do not know what the trigger warnings are for those, although I have some idea because I went and looked them up after reading this one. For this one, there is talk of suicide, of conversion therapy. It does NOT go into detail, but if even the mention of the word triggers you, please take care of yourself. If not, I encourage you to read this. There is also a lot of talk of religion in these books. Obviously by the titles. There are a few instances of cruelty as far as religion as the main character grew up in a family of ministers who were cruel about being gay. It’s not real bad but again, have a care.
That being said, religion takes on a different form in this one. I’m not sure of the other books, but this one is a struggle with dealing with religion as a whole because of his past and because the main character’s new friend is a pastor. However, said pastor is a trans man. So as you can see, it’s different. I have to hand it to the author as well because almost every letter of the rainbow was used in this book alone. The main character is bi, his spouse was genderfluid, some of his nieces and nephews are lesbian or gay. His own mother was bi and having an affair with a woman, who is a close friend of the MC. The MC’s new friend is a trans pastor and the list goes on. I love that so many were included in this story.
As I said, this story deal with grief and loss. Micah has lost his spouse Cat to hemophilia. It’s a blood disorder. Even though it’s been 3 years, he can’t seem to move on. He’s cleaned out most of Cat’s stuff from the house they share and out of the room Cat had used toward the end. But certain things he has had a hard time getting rid of. Just thinking he can, he comes across something else that makes him grieve all over again. He’s been trying to write another book but can’t seem to get going. His SIL encourages him to do something with the new community center and he starts a creative writing course. He also has a new friend in the form of an actual cat. (Personally, I’d like to think it’s his Cat keeping an eye on him. Especially with the way the acts often.) He names him Thomas and Thomas leads him to discover some letters his Cat left for him. He doesn’t think he can handle reading them or looking in the box he left for him, but he knows he has to. As he works through each letter, he discovers a book is in his head. He shares bits and pieces with his class and in the process is discovering he is purging himself of grief. He will always love Cat. Some days will be excruciatingly hard, but he knows he needs to let go and have Cat let go of him.
It’s a journey. Through grief, fear, anger and so much more. Through hopes and fears, pasts and futures. It deals with brokenness, mental issues, and things that can’t even be discussed. And through all of this, it deals with family, friends, and moving forward. I’ve often heard people say, family isn’t always blood but what you make it. And it’s something Micah has to discover, even through Cat’s letters.
I absolutely loved this book. I need to go back myself and read the others to get the full background. I encourage you to give this and the others a chance. Don’t do it if it has any impact on you mental health or physical even. But if it doesn’t, give it a try.
RATING: 
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