He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Hope, and Happily Ever After

This memoir is about Trish's journey through many different spiritual practices and relationships, while searching for happiness, and ultimately a husband. Her candid sense of humor comes through in her casual, yet gripping style of writing. I appreciated her ability to communicate that not all (in fact probably most) Christians do not fall into the stereotypes that are thrown at them, whether it be that they are Republicans, Bible-thumpers, etc. Her style/experience with faith is one that draws people in wanting to experience it for themselves. I'm not a fast reader, but finished this book in two days because I couldn't put it down.

This is a great book. Smart, funny, honest, and well written. You want to give it to every friend you know who is looking for freedom, joy, peace and love by rearranging their furniture, and also to everyone who is having trouble believing in miracles. I can't recommend it enough.

I found such similarities in my own life. I could not put this book down. I have followed the same paths in my own life, the crystals, astrology, Hinduism etc, etc. But now I am follow a similar path in Christianity and wonder if oneday my prayers will be answered. I found this book funny at times then at times sad & poignant at Trish's quest to find her true happiness. It makes me believe that maybe my own dreams can come true!

Memoir is not my favorite genre, but my wife loves it and she chortled her way all afternoon through the first half of this book, I wondered what I was missing out on. I found out when I stole it to catch up and then we read the rest of the book side-by-side: a laugh-out loud, disarmingly real look at the life of a single woman in America and her quest for happiness. Imagine if Anne Lamott wrote a how-to for finding a mate: witty, deep, spiritual, and awkwardly funny. You can't help but want Trish to triumph in the end.

He Loves Me, Loves Me Not is a well-written and engaging memoir along the lines of those penned by Donald Miller, and reminding me very much of Lauren Winner's Girl Meets God. Trish Ryan lays out her journey from stars and crystals to a tentative step forward, three-step- back, and final two-handed grasp of the truth of Jesus as her source of spiritual fulfillment. The road is winding and full of poetic sarcasm and sweet, struggling surrender. Miller fans, women who despair of finding that perfect Christian man, those on the brink of a spiritual journey, or ones beaten down by religion and empty promises may find soul-balm in this book. Baby-steppers in Jesus, wheel-spinners, spiritual quicksand dwellers and ditch rollers may find fresh air and relief from the struggle in the truths that Trish discovered while wrestling spirituality. However, warning to the sensitive. Trish is transparently generous with her thoughts and not all will please more conservative readers. Trish has embraced freedom in Christ and though I highly recommend and sometimes long for that path, my Baptist upbringing cautions me far too often. So, if you are easily offended by the idea of a Christian drinking alcohol or sharing thoughts that wouldn't pass the prim Sunday School teacher appropriateness test....do yourself a favor and don't go there. Because, if you do go there you are going to not glean the truth from the book but get hung up in the details. Sensitive parents will also want to review the book before allowing OLDER teens to read it because Trish delves into dysfunctional relationships, including her own issues. The chapters covering Trish's growth into wife material really should be must-reading for all females who love Jesus and want a husband real bad.