‘A BROKEN KIND OF BEAUTIFUL,’ BY KATIE GANSHERT

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When you read review after review of an author’s work you have yet to read and friends rave about that author, once you eventually get around to reading said authors works, the result can go one of two ways – either the book is subpar and you’re left wracking your brain for what it was you missed or (more preferably) you have one of those bop on the head moments in which you berate yourself for not taking heed of all those glowing reviews. One of these reactions was my own after finally reading a novel by rising contemporary novelist Katie Ganshert. a broken kind of beautiful

STORY: The story follows a 24-year-old model named Ivy Clark whose life has been a whirlwind of photo shoots and a string of broken hearts left behind in her wake. Now her career is starting to fade with fresh-faced teenagers rising up to take her place, and in a desperate effort to save face, Ivy succumbs to her agent’s advice and returns shortly after her father’s death to his home and the unwanted comfort of his wife, Marilyn. The last place Ivy ever wanted to return, she agrees to model Marilyn’s growing in popularity bridal gown line and has to put up with another face from her past, Marilyn’s nephew, Davis Knight as her photographer only to learn that sometimes what you want the least is really what you need the most.

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A Broken Kind of Beautiful, by Katie Ganshert | Book Review

Because we live life every day, I tend to be a reader who believes that fiction should be entertaining. If I’m not finding joy in the pages of a book, I confess it’s a struggle to get through it. This book encapsulates a broken, but still good story in breathtaking fashion, and so much more. In Ivy and Davis, Katie creates some of the most genuine characters I’ve had the pleasure to meet. They’re both fleeing and protecting their scars from something and everyone while not wishing to be seen as raw or vulnerable underneath this façade. Ivy carefully constructs a protective layer that she lets no one penetrate, preferring instead to use the one thing that gets her everything she wants since she was fourteen; beauty. Davis counteracts Ivy’s materialistic mind though he is in fact a man not without secrets of his own.

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This is what makes this novel so poignant. Ganshert brings together two very real individuals searching for meaning in a life that isn’t good. She places them in situations uncomfortable so they challenge each other with their respective insecurities. It takes a special kind of person who can take such a tough subject as Katie finds in Ivy and pull the most redemptive qualities from the story. It looks deep into what it means to be emotionally broken and “ruined” beyond what she thinks a Savior can forgive and turn it into hope. This may not be the most “pleasant” of novels to read as a result. It’s the kind of saga that will slap us with reality. Even if we haven’t been in Ivy’s shoes, we do need Christ and grace, and this is what Ganshert captures this all on paper so elegantly.

Setting this in the fashion industry is unique straight to its messages of Christianity, this book one of 2014’s best. It vividly reminds of a song I like that has this line in its lyrics, “heal the wound but leave the scar…” Indeed that is just what Katie does with her latest. It’s broken in the most stunning ways and leaves a scar as a reminder of what we can overcome.

About the Book:

Author: Katie Ganshert
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Source: Author Provided ARC
Publication Date: 2014
Find the Review elsewhere:  Fiction Addict | Goodreads | WordPress
Add the Book: Goodreads
Genre: Fiction; Contemporary, Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5

A version of this review appeared on Fiction Addict.

Sincere thanks to the author, Katie Ganshert for providing a complimentary copy of this book for reviewing purposes.