Carre Armstrong Gardner takes us on another delightful journey with the Darling Family in “Better All the Time.” The novel picks up shortly after the first installment, which focused mainly on Ivy and her journey to adopt three siblings, and Laura and her battle with drugs, alcohol and an inappropriate relationship. In the second book, we focus more on Sephy, the dear, sweet, compassionate sister who has always struggled with her weight and self-confidence, and Amy, the youngest sister who tends to have tunnel vision and an exacting personality.
The author brings us to both laughter and tears as we take another journey with this adorable family. You can’t help but love them — Gardner writes them as very real and fallible characters. They aren’t these perfect people with no problems as you sometimes see in literature. They are very relatable with very real problems, and you hope for love and happiness for each of them.
“Better All the Time” is a fun read with great lessons — to take care of oneself, but to also seek God for his guidance and plan, as both Sephy and Amy must learn; forgiveness and acceptance of oneself as well as others; and an ability to stand up for oneself.
I can’t wait for the fall when the next installment of the Darling Family comes to light!
Five stars out of five.
Tyndale House Publishers provided this complimentary copy for my honest, unbiased review.
“Better All the Time” (a Darling Family novel, #2) by Carre Armstrong Gardner