Book Review: "Love No Matter What" by Brenda Garrison

I received a copy of "Love No Matter What" by Brenda Garrison in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

In "Love No Matter What" author Brenda Garrison uses her own experience with her daughter, Katie, as a foundation for observing issues between the differing perspectives between parents and their children in a conflict. In hopes of aiding parents in dealing with their children making decisions they don't agree with, and reminds them that the most important thing is to offer love, no matter what.

Review

Since the day I found out I was pregnant with Baby E back in 2012, I have becoming immensely interested in reading books with a variety of approaches to parenting. Something that continues to be true even now that he's almost a year old. I have read books on the psychology of children, and memoirs of parents experiences raising their children that range from a (somewhat) tradition Chinese upbringing, to being a normal All American family. I was looking forward to reading "Love No Matter What" to broaden my readings further. The title alone sends a strong message, because it is true, that your children do need to know you love them at all times.

To be blunt, I found this book unenlightening, redundant, and without any sources to back up claims made. In the first two chapters alone, the same exact thing was mentioned in exactly the same way three times. While I can understand the importance of repeating a point to make sure that it has been thoroughly made, it almost seems like an attempt to lengthen the book, as examples of this can be found throughout. For another specific, essentially the same words can be read on page 45 as are also found on page 47, "This is not to make you feel shame or demoralize you..."

One neat thing about the book, is that after mentioning her perspective on an issue with her daughter, there is a note written by her daughter afterwards sharing her perspective on the same thing. It's an interesting concept to show both sides of the coin, and may encourage parents reading the book to think about the situation from the perspective of their child. However, even with the addition of her daughter's perspective, when addressing an issue a child may have with a parent's approach to a conflict, the conclusion is always assumptive and indefinite. Such as Katie's comment that a situation "probably wouldn't have happened" (page 57) had the parents acted differently.

I also personally found this book too preachy. Throughout the entire book, it never references studies or anything else concrete. The only references made are to the Bible. While that is beneficial to people who follow the Christian faith, her cases are not prove evidence for her statements with any other source. Individuals who are followers in Christianity may, in fact, immensely appreciate that excerpts from the Bible can be found after almost every single point that is made. But, lack of more relevant sources are likely to be unappreciated by others.

People who follow the Christian faith will probably appreciate her constant references to bible verses, and the constant mention of God. But this book does not have any "wow" moments of substantial, deep, or ground-breaking advice. In fact, the advise provided is so basic, I came away with not a single piece of knowledge I was not already aware of. Personally, it was not the book for me, and I will not be reading it again.

Disclosure: These product was received by myself in exchange for an honest review. I received no monetary compensation for my thoughts that are expressed above. All opinions expressed are my own, and were in no way influenced by the brand or any other sources. All photos are the property of Found Frolicking. Do not copy, use, and/or distribute any of the above content without first acquiring permission from Found Frolicking.