Aleesa Sutton

As a woman living in the South (my particular area still clinging to the notion that not being married by the tender age of 18 means that you will be an old maid forever), I can certainly relate to Aleesa and her struggles to find a husband. I have to admit that I was married at 19, so I can appreciate what she went through. I found myself feeling several old emotions of my angst-ridden, boy-crazy teenage years. I wanted so much better for Aleesa! All in all, through each and every rollercoaster, I truly enjoyed this book and it made me think even more about how our own religious upbringings can dramatically change the entire course of our lives.… (más)

I got this book at no charge in exchange for an honest review.
I approached it with a little fear and trembling, because I was afraid it might be one of those LDS feminist rants that I can't stand. Not getting into that subject, but I am glad to say that it wasn't that. It was in reality a diary. I know, it's called a diary, it's right in the title, Jane! It was a diary that could have been taken right out of my own little notebooks. I wasn't raised in the Church, I joined when I was 18. I hope the author would not be surprised to hear that non-LDS girls think in the same ways that LDS girls do. Oh, he is so cute! Oh, who will I marry? Does he like me? Oh, I know I'm only 12 and he's only 14, but he DOES understand we'll be getting married, right? We all did it, do it, whatever. We follow Aleesa's diary from a young girl up into adulthood.
We all seem to have spent most of our childhood wishing we were grown ups, so that we could start living. Then when we get here and find out that being a grown up isn't all it was cracked up to be. I thought I would grow up, find the right guy (**cough cough**Prince Charming**cough cough**) and I would marry him and have beautiful kids and it would all just happen, right? Well, it doesn't. I even went on a mission and I thought when I get back, that guy will appear and I'll get married. Well, it took me while and I did get married. He isn't perfect (the bigger shock being that neither am I), he says the absolutely wrong thing, all the time. Sometimes one or both of us may not smell quite right. We are normal humans. It seemed to me that Aleesa made the same error that so many of us make. He will be perfect; he will think that I am perfect; I will know it; he will know it; we will not be afraid. Some relationships that we see may look like they happened that way, but believe me, they didn't.
I was well on my way to being a Mormon spinster (28) when I got married. In fact, it was when I finally stopped trying that it happened. And, LDS parents aren't the only parents who inadvertently pressure their kids into getting married (grandkids, they want grandkids!). My non-LDS father lived in fear that I just wasn't going to make it, and I sure wasn't going to have any kids. And then, suddenly, there my husband was. And then 2 little boys. It can happen at any age, and not in your time.
Some people prattle on way too much about how the Church just wants us to get married, as if there is nothing else. That never happened to me, unless you count my father. The Church does want us to get married, but those that don't can either sink into doom and gloom or accept that it doesn't always happen. Maybe it will happen when you are 40, or 50, or not at all in this life. The beauty of it is, you can do it in the next life (imagine how the dating pool will open up then!).
What I liked is that Aleesa still keeps trying, still keeps going and she LIVES her life. That's what you have to do. The book was well put together, and I didn't see any errors. I will say that it all sounded just a little too familiar, and it made me want to skip through (yeah, I know how this part is going to go, so I would skim a little). And she didn't lose her faith. I sensed no bitterness as I have in some people that I have known (bitterness is a very unattractive quality anyway). I can recommend it to anyone in a similar situation.… (más)