Finding Beautiful is a Christian nonfiction book about finding true beauty as told through the personal stories of the author and twelve other women from around the world.
Beautifully written and beautiful photographs. That’s how I’d sum this book up. Rebecca had a way of writing that lifted the imagination and it was most evident in how she retold stories from the Bible as well as the stories of the women she interviewed.
The book was laid out like this. Rebecca introduced a concept of beauty in each chapter, told the story of a woman who had a journey of finding beautiful, described the makeover photo shoot, told her own story, told God’s story (a story from the Bible), gave a True Beauty Tip, and concluded with reflection questions.
Rebecca is also a photographer, and I think it’s brilliant that she added a before/after photos of the women she interviewed in the book. In the before photos, they held signs with lies that they had believed in their darkest moments, like rejected, wasted, and monstrous. The after photos had signs like cleansed and at peace, or depicted the freedom and beauty the women found.
The photos were incredibly beautiful. Rebecca traveled to different countries to where the women live and they shot on different locations. The women’s stories were even more incredible. They went through such hardships and triumphed through God’s grace and salvation. Each story was very touching, as were Rebecca’s own stories and how she retold the Bible stories.
I always appreciate reflection questions because they help me pause and internalize what I just read and relate it to my own life. I also like the quotes about beauty dispersed throughout the chapters.
The only thing that I felt was lacking with this book are women of color. It would have been great to see more diversity.
Here’s an Amazon affiliate link you can use to buy the book. There is no further cost to you if you buy the book from this link, but it may give me a commission, which is very helpful. Link: https://amzn.to/2JUyDXo (links also included below).
Title: Finding Beautiful
Author: Rebecca Friedlander
Publisher: Baker Books (April 30, 2019)
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but as always, all opinions are my own and I wouldn’t recommend a book I didn’t like.
