Katie's Book Blog!!

Leap of Faith, Jamie Blair's debut novel, while entertaining, was not nearly as great as I was hoping. I admit, I was hooked from the beginning but I just wasn't fully satisfied by the end.Leap of Faith starts off with a bang and seems very promising. The synopsis intrigued me, I liked the writing, and while the characters weren't the best, I enjoyed reading their stories. It seemed like it would be an all around good read but there were just a few things that made this one miss the mark for me.First off, the whole reasoning behind Leah/Faith taking the baby from her mom was actually kind of petty. Sure, she mentioned that she wanted to take the baby away from the drugs, alcohol, and sex but that wasn't her main motive. The real reason was because she wanted to spite her mom. She didn't want her to get the money for the baby. I applaud her for getting the baby away from it all but really, she did it to get back at her? I lost a lot of respect for Leah/Faith after reading that.Second, Leah/Faith supposedly has this great relationship with her sister but for the life of me I could not see it. The only side I saw of her sister was a selfish one. Hope only cared about herself and it showed. She was so excited to get away from their mom and their crappy home life that she didn't even care that she was leaving her little sister behind to fend for herself. She was even worse later on in the book but I won't get into that. Suffice it to say, I wouldn't want her for a sister.The last thing that really bothered me about Leap of Faith was the ending. I was supremely disappointed with it. I actually thought my copy of the book was missing pages because I couldn't believe that was actually the ending. There was no resolution whatsoever. It was left completely open ended. It truly did not feel like it was a complete book.Okay now that I've ranted about the things I didn't like, I'll get to the stuff that I did like. I didn't love the characters but they were fun to read about. Leah/Faith was not the smartest girl but she was kind, caring, and she had a good heart. She meant well no matter what she did. Chris was a total sweetheart. He was a little conflicted with Leah/Faith because of things in his own past but he was always good to her and Addy. He may have only been a teenage guy but he knew how to handle Addy and he was so cute with her. His whole family was really great to Leah/Faith and Addy.Also, while there were some major flaws with the storyline, I liked it. It's something that hasn't been done before and I was thoroughly hooked. There were a few times when I was on the edge of my seat, sure that Leah/Faith would be caught and Addy would be taken away. I bit my nails down to the cuticles while reading this one. It was so suspenseful and so hard to put down.Overall, Leap of Faith is right in the middle for me. I enjoyed it but there were many flaws with it. If you think you can overlook the flaws and just enjoy the story, I say go for it.