Review : Leap of Faith by Jaime Blair

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Leap of Faith
Author : Jaime Blair
Publication Date : September 3rd 2013
Publisher : Simon & Schuster BYR
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Can true love be built on lies? A teen on the run seeks relief and redemption in this gripping, romantic read. 

Leah Kurtz has finally found a place to call home, a town where she and baby Addy can live in peace, far from the drug-infested place she grew up. Chris is one of the best parts of her new life, the only person who’s ever made her feel safe. And now that she’s found him, there’s no way she can tell the truth:

Her real name is Faith, not Leah. She’s seventeen, not nineteen. And the baby isn’t hers—Faith kidnapped her.

Faith’s history catches up with her when a cop starts asking questions and Chris’s aunt spots her picture in the newspaper. She knows it’s time to run again, but if Faith leaves, she’ll lose Chris. If Chris is in love with a lie, though, did Faith ever really have him in the first place?

Personal Thoughts

Beautiful, raw and honest, Jamie Blair's Leap of Faith was a stunning debut that had me latched onto its pages wanting for the main character to have the happily ever after she deserved. If only the reader had some kind of closure at the end of the book, this would have been a solid 5 stars read for me.

Faith's mother was a drug addict who cared about nothing and no one except for her drugs. She was such a piece of work and my dislike for her only grew by folds as the book progressed. Because she was short on money, she decided to get pregnant and sell the baby to another drug addict couple. When Faith realizes that her baby sister would probably have to grow up in the same circumstances that she did, she kidnaps her from the hospital. Faith was a beautifully fleshed out characters. She was both likeable and unlikeable, which made her a complex and intriguing character. Despite the fact that kidnapping is wrong, I admired Faith's willingness to put herself in the face of danger for the sake of her baby sister who she named, Addy. I did have some issues with Faith from time to time, mostly the fact that she lied a lot to the people she met when she ran away, but I understood her circumstances and got where she was coming from.

The secondary characters in this book were also fabulous. Chris, the boy Faith meets and slowly grew a relationship with, was possibly my favorite. I loved how willing he was to take care of Faith and Addy. He was the good guy who made my heart swell with love for him. Chris' grandmother was another delightful addition to Leap of Faith. She was such a sweetheart and the complete opposite of Faith's drug addict mother. The way she cared for Addy and Faith and the way she showered love on them was a highlight for me in this book.

Now, I've never had a baby before or had to look after one all by myself, but I thought Jaime Blair painted a realistic picture of what taking care of a newborn is like. It was not easy and the toughness and obstacles that a young mother faced were written in an authentic manner, in my opinion. The getting up at random hours, the frequent need to feed and the constant baby poop that has to be cleaned were all shown. In no way did Jamie Blair make the reader feel that having a baby was all fun and rosy. There were definitely some sweet moments such as Addy's first roll and her first laugh that made Faith and the reader feel like all those obstacles that Faith overcame were worth it. The different relationships that Faith developed with the people she met and Addy were also written in such a way that they touched my heart. Faith's growing love for Addy was a highlight for me. I loved watching her interact with the baby and I loved how she was willing to do anything for her sister.

The romance that developed between Faith and Chris was also another favorite of mine. From the beginning, the reader was aware that their relationship wouldn't be an easy one because Faith was pretending to be Leah, a teenage mom running away from an abusive guy, but there was something endearing about it. I was frustrated with Faith for the secrets that she kept from him, but considering her situation and her past, it was realistic. My only problem with Leap of Faith was the open ending. I dislike open ending with a passion. I need closure when it came to books and Leap of Faith ended rather abruptly and I kept turning the pages to see if something was up with my reader and it was blocking. This is actually one case where I would love to see a sequel being written.

Leap of Faith was an outstanding debut and Jaime Blair seems like she's a promising author. This book was emotional and beautifully written. It's a must-read for fans of gritty YA contemporary books.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 3/5

**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**

Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for the e-ARC of Leap of Faith.