Something Old Book Review
Book Description
Travel to Plain City, Ohio, to witness the Mennonite and English culture clash. As Katy Yoder accepts a new job and struggles to define her place in the world, childhood friends and a past romance get in the way. Even when her friends try to help her change her judgmental attitude, Katy is certain that seeing things as black and white is the only way to please God. But as love softens her heart, slowly shades of gray seep into her world, and she discovers the right answer isn’t always the easiest one.
My Thoughts
Something Old was my first introduction into the Mennonite world through fiction.
The Mennonite culture is very similar to the Amish in the sense that they have very strong family connections, try to live a simple life, and have a deep devotion to God. However, since they have slightly more access to modern things than the Amish do (cell phones, cars, computers, electricity, etc.), it opens the door to more temptation from the world.
Katy and Jake’s relationship in this book was all over the place, mostly because Katy had such a rigid devotion to her Mennonite upbringing, and she let their rules get in the way of her relationship with God. She was constantly looking for and finding fault with people and circumstances around her, thinking that it would justify how well she tried to adhere to Mennonite rules.
The most surprising topic I found was the subject of their prayer coverings. Their congregation debated whether or not the women should continue to wear them, and if so, where they should be worn. I won’t spoil the outcome of this, but I was surprised that Katy’s friends disagreed with her. I understood their reasons, but still… Within my basic knowledge of Amish culture, their prayer caps are sacred and I suspected the same would be true of the Mennonites. Katy had the same opinion of hers, and I found it odd that a church pastor would hold a vote to potentially remove something so intrinsic to their faith.
All in all, this book wasn’t easy to finish, but I persevered. Katy’s judgmental attitude annoyed me, but Jake surprised me. At one point, he decided that he’d had enough, and I was actually glad! No doubt that there were sparks between these two, and they were flying every time they kissed – mega surprise there! I’m hoping that the next two books focus on Katy’s friends because I liked both of them immensely.
3 Stars
**Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy to review. I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts are my own.
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