I tried several times to finish this book, but unfortunately, I couldn't get past the term "genital sexuality" and the content in Part 1. While I do believe this is a topic that needs to be discussed in the church, I think it could be done without digging into Freud and using such graphic language.

Beyond Awkward Side Hugs was a thought-provoking read. I wasn't sure about the book before I started it (it sounded good, but wasn't sure that it would be what I hoped), but I'm happy to say that it was really good. 

The author had some interesting ideas and I found myself thinking about things in different ways - not saying I agree 100% with everything, but it was intriguing.

All in all, Beyond Awkward Side Hugs was worth the read and I'm glad I read it.

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Unique book dealing with a seemingly taboo subject. Recommended reading especially for pastors and church leaders 😊

What a GOOD book. Bronwyn addresses a common issue in churches - Male-female relationships. She builds a theological framework for relationships that is compelling and clear. She encourages her reader to relate to others based on our common family bond in Christ and a framework of chastity instead of fear and cultural expectations. This book is practical, theologically rich and a joy to read. I highly recommend it!

While I found this book to be all over the place, I love every single bit of it. The reminder of being brothers and sister in Christ and what that actually means was wonderful. Looking at how we worry about men and women alone together when it possible to just see them as friends and where Christians began to believe this was sinful. It was extremely well-written and I loved the anecdotes the author provided.

If you think this book isn’t for you, think again. Whether you’re married or single, whether you’re just entering those awkward dating years or they’re a distant speck in your rear-view mirror or you’re somewhere in between, I guarantee you’ll be challenged to think about how you relate to your brothers and sisters in Christ, particularly those of the opposite sex. And it all begins by recognising that, in our hypersexualised culture, “our default setting is to hear the language of love, desire, and intimacy as sexual.”

In contrast to the world’s sexually-charged relationship paradigm, the Bible’s language when it speaks about fellow-believers is familial, and not in a metaphoric sense. We are literal, if not biological, brothers and sisters, and this should be our paradigm for relationships among believers. Lea’s argument unfolds logically, thoughtfully, and with a sound application of Scripture, and her manner is engaging and honest, frequently drawing on anecdotes and cultural references to illustrate her points.

Lea doesn’t dismiss the potential for chastely-intended friendships to go astray, but she makes a strong case for not starting the conversation with worst-case scenarios in mind. Rather than asking “How can we avoid sexual sin?” she argues we should begin by asking “How can men and women live in relationship as God intended?” Accordingly, this little gem is both a how-to and a why-to, and I highly recommend it.

Bronwyn Lea lays out a real picture of a grace-filled perspective on human sexuality. I appreciate the approach of how we approach situations socially gendered/sexual and not just genital sexual. An important book to restore sanity and reality and freedom to Christian relationships.

In "Beyond Awkward Side Hugs" Bronwyn Lea discusses sexuality within the Christian community and how to set appropriate boundaries. I found her advice to be more moderate than you usually see on this topic, but I felt this book was lacking. I was hoping for more specific guidance on navigating the teen and single years, from the perspective of a parent. That said, I found this to be a quick and enjoyable read. 

Thank you NetGAlley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

This book has a lot of good information, however it is a deep read. I found it being deeper theologically and theoretically than I expected and so it took a lot to read it. There were definitely parts that I found easier to process than others.

This book was so much more than I expected it to be in all the best ways! Bronwyn Lea is full of practical and biblical wisdom on how to live as a family of God in embodied, gendered relationships beyond the over-sexualized paradigms of our culture in this book, but even beyond this, she offers such astute observations on how we in our culture (and in the church) misunderstand what it means to be human beings with gender and sexuality. Based on her years of practical ministry experience she has learned to read our culture so well and lovingly points out how we in the church have too often either adapted an unbiblical view of love, sexuality, and family that comes from our culture rather than from Christ, or have far too strongly overreacted to cultural trends in ways that stifle godly relationships between men and women in the Body of Christ. With deep, nuanced theology and sound biblical interpretation, she still writes so accessibly and understandably for a wide audience to follow. She is funny, relatable, and wise and this book was a joy to read! A quick read but much wisdom to gain. I'd recommend this to Christians young and old, in ministry leadership or not.