The Book of Essie Review

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The Book of Essie by Meghan Maclean Weir Review

*Received as an arc*
Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir is a contemporary fiction novel telling the story of Essie Hicks. She has a perfect life: happy family, thousands of people invested in her life and enough money to live comfortably. Essie is both adored and hated by people who don’t agree with her family’s television show, Six for Hicks, and their extreme Christian beliefs. However everything faces ruination when Essie finds out she is pregnant. A captivating and heartbreaking read, The Book of Essie will have you intrigued and emotional.
“A mother’s worst fear, or so some would say. But not my mother’s.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It told a very emotionally charged story. The book is told in first-person, chapters switching between three characters: Essie Hicks, Roarke Richards: Essie’s future husband, and Liberty Bell: a reporter covering Essie’s story. The characters were well-written and the setting felt very familiar, even if the situations characters were placed in were not. I was raised Christian. So I found it interesting to see a darker side to something that I have taken comfort in represented in a situation that it isn’t usually shown in.*The Book of Essie perfectly shows how far a person will go to keep their perfect picture of a perfect family in place. Whether or not their actions end up harming those around them and people they love.
The ending did seem a bit too perfect, a bit fairy tale-esque. The bad guys get punished. The heroine gets her happily ever after. But I enjoyed it. After all of the nonsense the characters that you have grown to love have had to go through, they deserve a good life. They deserve a happy ending.
I recommend this book. While Christianity and some of the awful beliefs attached to it (homophobia, racism and slut shaming, for example) are mentioned, they are not promoted nor does Meghan MacLean Weir preach or try to lead you to believe in Christianity.
The Book of Essie is on Amazon in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook.
*I am aware of the homophobia, racism, and the other more common problems when it comes to Christianity, but I guess, the behind-the-scenes look at the reputation-building, money-making type of Christianity was a new thing for me to see.  However, I’m not naive enough to be surprised by the disgusting behaviors those type of actions produce.

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