Amy Gallagher’s life epitomizes the aspiring writer’s worst fears: extra time to write spent doing everything but writing, additional rejections on pieces that have already been rejected, and a love life as unreliable as a magazine article on dating. In Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce, the reader finds Amy at an impasse. If she continues on her current path, will she ever be a writer? Ever have love?
The writing style in this story is fresh, humorous, and entertaining. So much so that author Bethany Pierce does a good job of keeping the reader interested even when nothing major is happening. The main character, Amy, is likable and easy to relate to. And the faith elements prompt the reader to evaluate how much of their belief system comes from external expectations and learned behaviors versus a genuine response to a relationship with God.
SPOILER ALERT!!! Though the remainder of this review won’t divulge every aspect of the story, the outcome is revealed. Don’t read further if you haven’t yet read Amy Inspired and intend to.
There wasn’t much I disliked about the story. Occasionally, however, I wondered where it was going. I expected to see the character falling in love or at least eventually writing that novel she dreamed of writing. It made me nervous when I neared the end but didn’t see the plot culminating towards resolution. I would’ve liked to take that journey with the character. Unfortunately, the story ends without Amy accomplishing the goal. That she begins a relationship with the mysterious Eli (starving artist/ex-roommate) is implied at the end of the story; as is the notion that she will leave safe Copenhagen, Ohio to move to New York. However, it is left to the reader’s imagination whether or not Amy and Eli will last, if Amy will publish an article let alone write her novel, how well she will transition into life as a New-Yorker, and if her IL (Interesting Life) will end in a happily ever after.
Without the achieved goal, it read more like a very well written television series: where there’s no finish line in sight, but the cast and crew keep it so interesting you’re going to stick around to see the finale regardless.
Though I don’t mind an occasional loose end, the unspoken in this novel leaves room for a sequel, which I hope Pierce will one day write. I’d buy it. I want to see more of what Eli and Amy look like as a couple and experience their process of falling in love. And I want to celebrate Amy’s writing success after she’s put in a good-spirited effort to make it happen.