The Promise

"The promise" is a book about a woman who became paralyzed when a friend playfully pushed her into a pool.

I love this story because  Rachelle has a positive attitude and a spunky spirit.  She hold on to her friends, and family, and never blames her friend for the accident.

There are a couple parts in the book that may be offensive to some.  There  is some swearing, and drinking and partying and nudity (not graphic in my opinion).  The book talks some about physical intimacy, and how it changed after the accident.  I felt like the point about sex were not graphic, and were simply factual and emotional. The author was not LDS, she is Jewish, and she does touch on her Jewish traditions briefly.

There are a few quotes I love: "You don't know a lot about yourself until you are tested".

I love this because even strong people don't know how strong they are until AFTER they experience crisis.

Rochelle's dad makes a comment about how we shouldn't live for old memories, but we should make new ones.  In any crisis, things will change.  Making new memories is a way to move on.

Friendship is a huge theme in this book.  Friendship is essential to resiliency, and friendships can change because of a challenge. I've seen friendships grow stronger or weaker during crisis.

Another theme is love.  And not superficial love, but true, real, mature love.  There are so many example of lust/superficial love these days that it was refreshing to see something genuine.

Click here for the  Kindle edition and  here for Hardcover.