Title: Fade To White
Author: Tara K. Ross
Blurb:
Thea Fenton's life looks picture-perfect, but inside, she is falling apart. Wracked by anxiety no one seems to understand or care about, she resorts to self-harm to deflect the pain inside. When a local teen commits suicide, Thea's anxiety skyrockets.
Unexplainable things happen, leaving her feeling trapped within her own chaotic mind. The lines between reality and another world start to blur, and her previously mundane issues seem more daunting and insurmountable than ever.
Then she meets Khi, a mysterious new boy from the coffee shop who seems to know her better than she knows herself--and doesn't think she's crazy. His quiet confidence and unfounded familiarity draw her into an unconventional friendship. Khi journeys with her through grief, fear, and confusion to arrive at compassion for the one person Thea never thought she could love.
A deeply transformational novel from an authentic new voice in Christian young adult fiction.
I first found this author when I was browsing through instagram and looking for new Christian fiction books to read. Then I found out she is the co-host of The Hope Prose Podcast which specialises in interviewing Christian authors of young adult (YA) books.
Fade To White is her debut novel which came out in May 2020 and when I read the blurb and heard Tara talk about it on the podcast, I was interested in reading it as it deals with faith and mental health. If you didn't know, I am also a writer and my first novel also tackles a lot of mental health issues. I wanted to read this book to see how she handled the topic and what is already out there in the market.
I usually don't read YA books (even though my first novel is supposed to be YA) so this was the first YA book I've ever read. I loved the first person present tense style of the book as it really gave us insight into the life of Thea. The book really throws us into the mind of an anxious young person and we are able to experience the damaging effects of anxiety in Thea's day to day life.
I loved that deep issues were explored in the book such as self-harm and suicide. These are all very real issues that young people deal with and it was addressed in a sensitive manner in this book. I also loved that the story pointed us towards the hope and faith we have in God and how our knowledge of God's unchanging nature can help us deal with the times when we feel anxious about the constant changing things in the world around us.
I loved following Thea's journey and seeing how she got to a place where she was willing to trust and hope and put her faith in God. I would have loved to see more of her journey of faith at the start of the book and then see her growth to the end. I would have also loved to see more of some characters like Khi who I thought was very interesting. The book left me wanting more and I would have loved a continuation of the story to see how Thea's life changed in regards to her mindset and dealing with anxiety.
Overall, I liked the story. It touches on important issues that I think the young people in our world need to know about.
Have you read Fade To White?
If not, will you be reading it? If so, you can get your own copy on Amazon.
Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
Have a lovely day and God bless you.
Joanny ☺️