Review of Finding Fireflies: First Line Friday

Review of Finding Fireflies: First Line Friday

Welcome to my review of Finding Fireflies by A. C. Williams on this edition of First Line Friday. Before we get to my thoughts, let’s start with the details. Finding Fireflies is the first book in the Misadventures of Trisha Lee series. It falls best into humorous women’s fiction that is set in contemporary times. It is available in both eBook and paperback. I’ll share the link at the end of my review of Finding Fireflies.

Finding Fireflies First Line

“I’m not afraid to go back to prison.” What a great first line! I doubt any other Christian fiction begins with prison. I mean, it could, but I’ve not read it. One line and BAM! You’re fully tugged into the story.

My Review of Finding Fireflies

With a great first line hooking readers from page one, line one, this story has a lot to live up to in the rest of the three hundred plus pages. This was my first book by A.C. Williams, and I’m happy to report she did not disappoint.

I picked this book because like the main character, Trisha Leigh Lee (even the story behind the name is humorous), I am a pastor’s kid. I understand those struggles as you fail repeatedly while everyone’s eyes are on you as the pastoral family. Full disclaimer, my failures did not land me in jail, but still. I relate.

Trisha struggles do include some that I haven’t faced, other than jail time. By my thirties I was married with four kids and my life was pretty settled. Even though she’s 32 in the story, this is really Trisha’s coming-of-age story. She’s realizing who she is and who she’s been and who she wants to be. And it’s all because of a prostitute with firefly earrings. Even though our paths may have been different, I still get Trisha and her struggles. I think a time of introspection and revelation about who you are comes for all of us. Maybe it does more than once.

She also still lives at home because working for the church doesn’t pay the big bucks. This is one place where my experiences and Trisha’s differ, and I don’t quite relate. Not the working for peanuts part. I get that. But the way her family interacts. Yes, she still lives at home, but her parents don’t treat her like an adult at all. Their interactions are more like those I’d attribute to a parent of teens. Having been a parent of multiple teens, I know the signs. Of course, I’ve never lived at home at 32, maybe that’s the way those situations work.

But that’s not my only point of divergence with Trisha’s family. I am a pastor’s kid and a pastor’s wife. While I know the life in the fishbowl mentality that can take place, it’s something I actively fought against when raising my children. Even though I felt the “we’re to be an example” mentality when growing up, my parents balanced it. We would make mistakes. We were human. Even the pastor. And that was okay. But Trisha’s family seem to have jumped into the fishbowl with both feet. They seem to be driven by a need to portray perfection and it’s taken such a hold that when Trisha messes up, embarrassment and damage control are the first reactions. It’s no wonder Trisha is so consumed with always being exactly what she thinks others want of the people in the positions she holds.

While I couldn’t relate to this mindset of Trisha’s family, I know it exists. And it does provide the story with a lot of opportunity for humor as Trisha’s natural inclinations are far from the perfection she feels she has to exhibit. And when you add her tendency to land herself in unusual situations because she may react more on her feelings than her thinking, there’s a lot of humor packed into the pages of this book.

I loved all the people in the singles group and Trisha’s friends. Everyone is there. And at first, some may seem like caricatures, but give it time. Trisha’s just coming to age. The growth will be worth the wait. I also love how Trisha, even though there is this push for perfection, listens to the nudge of God in situations that go counter to her family’s wishes. While it’s true she might want to slow down and actually form a plan at some point, when God uses Jordin to get hold of her heart, Trisha is tenacious about following His lead. And when things go sideways (as they often do with Trisha), she has a friend to encourage her. Her family will come around. One day they’ll see she did the right thing, even though it wasn’t the expected or perfect thing.

This book is a perfect example of don’t judge a book by its cover (Not literally, the cover is as fun and quirky as the book). You may be tempted to think this will just be another fun, humorous story. It is, but it is so much more. Inside this singles group the story revolves around, you’ll find friendship, hints of romance, unexpected support, and a good dose of danger. But most importantly, there’s growth and understanding that will gently get the reader to examine their own ways of looking at others and encourage them to step away from performing to portray perfection to those around them and start living only for the One who created them.

I give Finding Fireflies five stars and look forward to reading the next in the series.

Purchase Finding Fireflies