Review: Whose Kids are These?

Whose Kids are These?
by Karon Goodman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Whose Kids Are These? / 978-1-602-60449-0

As a relatively new step-mother, I picked this up from NetGalley for review, but had not realized at the time that this was written by and marketed towards a Christian audience.

As such, I'm not certain precisely how to rate this book - it wasn't particularly helpful for *me*, since the guidance here isn't of the "scientific study" kind that I expected, nor from the perspective of an expert on psychology within blended family relationships. Rather, this book is shaped like something of a "Bible Study" style, with chapters comparing a new step-mom's trials as like Jonah whilst in the belly of the big fish, and with Bible verses sprinkled frequently and liberally about to offer guidance and encouragement.

I think, overall, that if I was a Christian step-mom, I would enjoy this book. The tone is light and encouraging, and for as far as I read - I didn't finish the whole book - there didn't seem to be an excess of blaming or negativity. I do appreciate that the Bible quotes are from more accessible translations - New International Version and New King James Version - which makes the reading much easier. Some of the advice is not 100% what I would agree with, such as the suggestion to vent only to "strangers of the family" (other step-moms) and never to your own mom - I think the reader is the best judge of whether or not their mom can be a good sounding board and still maintain a good relationship with the "other mother", but overall the advice seems very easy-going and ready to be tailored to the individual, which I consider to be a good thing.

I've chosen to give this book 3 stars as a "not my type of book, but still seems pretty good" and post this review to help prospective buyers - at time of writing, I find it difficult to parse from the Amazon market blurb that this is a Christian book for a Christian audience. Hopefully this review will help people with their purchases.

NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through NetGalley.

~ Ana Mardoll

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