I feel it’s important with this review to be upfront: I didn’t really like this book. If I hadn’t felt the need to give it my best shot, I’d probably have stopped after the first chapter. However, I think that Echoes was one of those books that might not have appealed to me but could be a great story for a different reader.

I am not a reader who enjoys romance for the sake of romance. I’ve only read a couple of Mrs. Gunn’s novels, but they did fit my preferred structure of the romance adding to the plot instead of being the plot. So to some degree, I was dealing with disappointed expectations. I also didn’t feel much sympathy with the main character over the break-up that occurred in the first few chapters which really affected the overall story. I thought that the fact the relationship wasn’t working was made abundantly clear, but I felt more of the blame for that rested on Lauren than Jeff.

So with these negatives chalked up against the book, why would I recommend Echoes? For three reasons. One, I am only one kind of reader, and I know many people who enjoy stories like this. It’s not a bad book just because it doesn’t meet my personal likes or dislikes. Two, it’s very well written. I think that the romance genre gets some of its reputation from the poorly written pulp fiction, and Echoes is the sort of book that rises far above that. The prose is tight, the characters are dynamic, and, moving into number three, the plot is pertinent to questions and struggles many people are experiencing right now.

Once you move past the break up with Jeff, the book is really about Lauren starting to communicate with an unknown individual over the internet. As they write back and forth, she learns more about K.C. and starts to share more of herself in return. Without meaning to, she becomes emotionally invested in a relationship that starts becoming a romance…all before they’ve ever actually met. With the internet becoming more and more part of our social lives, questions about whether or not these types of relationships are appropriate and even whether they are safe are quite common, especially among Christians. I thought that Echoes handled the topic skillfully and gracefully. And of course, as a former English major, I smiled at the used of Elizabeth and Robert Browning’s story as a plot feature and a demonstration of long distance relationships.

So, I can’t say that Echoes is one of my favorite books. But to put a twist on Mr. Burton’s line, “You don’t have to take my word for it.” If you’re a fan of romance novels, you’ll probably love it. I’m not a fan but would put this book toward the top of its class.

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?work=72900

 

My thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for providing me a review copy of Echoes, in return for my honest opinion of this book.