📚 HEART OF BELONGING by CJ DARLINGTON is like the coolest adventure in the Riverbend teens’ series! You get to hang out with four awesome teenage girls – Izzy, Tessa, Amelia, and Shay. They’re totally different, but they’re rocking life together!

😢 Poor Shay is dealing with some serious rejection vibes since her adoptive dad passed away, and her mom split when she was just a tiny baby. But guess what? She’s got her awesome aunt Laura and her cool job at the horse barn with Janie and Denise to keep her going. Will Shay realize she’s already got so much love around her, including from God, her friends, and her auntie Laura?

👍 Even though Heart of Belonging is aimed at teenage girls, I totally vibed with the amazing story and the awesome Christian message! Watching Shay go through her struggles was tough sometimes (it even made me think twice about what I read – words are powerful, dude!), but Darlington totally nailed showing us the ups and downs and how forgiveness and grace are super important, just like Shay’s awesome friends show her.

📖 PS: I got to read this book early thanks to an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

The writing is solid, creating a vivid atmosphere, but the plot is a mix of captivating moments and predictability. Characters are well-developed, though some lack depth. Pacing fluctuates, making it a decent but not outstanding read.

A fun read! I was excited to see my wish for this story was granted, and loved reading it! A quick read and something different from my usual, Heart of Belonging is a touching read, and one you won't want to miss!

Heat of Belonging is a well written young adult book. A good plot and well developed characters. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance book. This is my unbiased review.

This was another solid installment in the Riverbend Friends series!

I've read all the other books in the series (shocker, haha, knowing me!) and definitely recommend reading in order as they build on each other and reference past events, both recent and further back.

It was definitely hard at times watching Shay go down her path of choice (and frankly, it illustrated why I am and have been/tried to be super careful in what I read/put into my head, because even the written word--without pictures!--can stick with me and create powerful mental images that are hard to erase). Darlington did a good job at presenting the struggle and also the grace and forgiveness offered by Christ, and demonstrated in Shay's friends.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I enjoy young adult novels, but this story fell flat for me. I was never invested in the main character or felt a true sense of friendship with this group of girls. I think the main character was trying to tell the readers how they were all friends, but I never actually felt like they were. There was a lot of tell and not as much show. I wanted to feel what was going on and not just hear the main character’s thoughts on everything. I do like how the book left things off with her birth father, but otherwise there wasn’t much that interested me about this story. From the faith perspective, there were good questions brought up, but I never felt like there was much real mentorship or scripture coming into play in order to help the main character grow in her struggles or lead to any sort of firm landing in God’s Word.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

HEART OF BELONGING by CJ DARLINGTON is the sixth novel in the Riverbend teens’ series where we folow four teenage girls as they try to make sense of their lives. Izzy, Tessa, Amelia and Shay are quite different but are doing life together. Shay, who has recently lost her adoptive father and lives with her aunt Laura above Laura’s book shop, is the one who longs to belong and suffers badly from rejection - her mother having left when she was a baby. Working for Janie and then Denise at the horse barn is something that really helps her. Will the knowledge that she is loved by God, her friends and aunt Laura, be enough to keep her on the straight and narrow?…….
Although,Heart of Belonging is aimed at teenage girls, I enjoyed the lovely story and strong Christian message.

Talk about pressure....the first reviewer? Okay, here we go!

Disclosure I am in my 30's reading a book clearly targeted for teen girls so I have to read it with a different lens than I usually would. That being said I have recently come across many YA books, and this by far was the most wholesome book I have read, AND it had a wonderful real message that I believe teen girls need to be reminded of. CJ Darlington did this without inserting "Check the Box" controversial characters or situations. It was refreshing to see teen girls being normal teenager girls (swim practice, taking care of siblings, actually praying and participating in Church). Before you say that is not "normal" I would like to argue this is what it should be. Teen girls need to see that being "good" is a "good" thing. When life brings hardships we can turn to God, He is always there waiting for us, no matter how dirty and low we may feel. We have sisters in Christ we can lean on and older wise woman we can seek counsel from.

Okay on to the book. This book is clearly part of a series, and I do wish I had read books #1-5 prior to picking this book up because I think it would have allowed me to greive/sympathisze with Shay more than I was able to having not known her or her friends full story. But that aside, I was able to gather enough to know that Shay has had a rough life. I was frustrated by her insecurities, but again I am 30 this is for a teen, but I would imagine many teen girls could relate to how she was feeling and responding to being parentless, at risk of losing her horses she loves and her friends because she is doing something in secret that is bad.

Now the bad here is not like other YA books I have read, this is a bad you could see the pattern we do in Scripture

Genesis 3:6-8 God told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Eve saw that the tree was good for food. She desired to be wise, took the tree’s fruit, ate, and gave some to her husband to eat as well. Then, they both hid from the presence of the LORD.

Joshua 7:20-21 God had told Israel that everything in Jericho was devoted to destruction, but when Achan saw the spoil, he desired (coveted) the spoil for its value. He took the spoil for himself, even though it belonged to the LORD, and then he hid the spoil inside his tent.

2 Samuel 11:1-5 During the time of year when kings went out to battle, David stayed home and saw Bathsheba bathing. He desired her beauty (this is implied in his actions), had his servants take her to him, and then spent the rest of the chapter trying to hide his adultery.

See, Covet, Take, Hide.
Shay did this. Her secret is not something I can really relate to as I have never been tempted by that, but I certainly can see it in other areas of my life, just fill in the blank with what you struggle with.

The ending provided so much hope and forgiveness. The author pointed out like I just did, that even if you are not doing the same thing Shay is doing, you can apply the message to your own sin/healing journey as well.

There are some cringey moments for sure and some major "teen moments", and "teen drama" but over all I can see how this series would be great for teen girls to read.

Thank you Netgalley, CJ Darlington for this advanced copy read of "Heart of Belonging". I was not influenced or paid for my honest review. I look forward to this book being published and reaching the hands of many teen girls!

I decided to check out this book because it sounded like something I would have loved as a young teen, particularly the horses. Unfortunately, I found the story to be quite bland and it struggled to hold my attention; I ended up skimming the last quarter of the book. I also don't think it sends the healthiest message about sexuality and seems to be pushing a purist view where girls should be ashamed for even being curious about sex. But I did like the focus on friendships and that it seemed to encourage therapy and going to others for support. Just wasn't the book for me and I don't think I would recommend it to young people. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping story that reminded me so much that I need friends around me, helping me and keeping me on track. God built us for community and belonging is important. Be encouraged to keep reaching out to others.