Review – Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn

Posted September 13, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 7 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – Never Saw You Coming by Erin HahnNever Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn
Published by Wednesday Books on September 7, 2021
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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five-stars

"BOLD. IMPORTANT. BEAUTIFUL.” - Laura Taylor Namey, New York Times bestselling author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

In Erin Hahn’s Never Saw You Coming, sometimes it takes a leap of faith to find yourself.

Eighteen-year-old Meg Hennessey just found out her entire childhood was a lie. So instead of taking a gap year before college to find herself, she ends up traveling north to meet what’s left of the family she never knew existed - all while questioning the ideals she grew up with.

While there, she meets Micah Allen, a former pastor’s kid whose dad ended up in prison, leaving Micah with his own complicated relationship with faith. The clock is ticking on his probation hearing and Micah, now 19, feels the pressure to forgive - even when he can’t possibly forget.

As Meg and Micah grow closer, they are confronted with the heavy flutterings of first love and all the complications it brings. Together, they must navigate the sometimes-painful process of cutting ties with childhood beliefs as they build toward something truer and straight from the heart.

"Heartfelt and utterly genuine... I already want to reread it." - Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of Small Favors

I loved this book! I am not going to lie. I almost didn’t read this book. I downloaded it without a lot of thought since I really enjoyed the author’s debut novel and wanted to read more of her work. A few weeks ago I opened up the book to start reading and realized that religion would play a big role in the story. As a general rule, I do not read religious books. I decided to read something else that day. Later, I decided to give the book a chance and I am really glad that I did. The characters are religious and their faith is a big part of who they are but I didn’t feel like the book was preachy in any way. I fell in love with Meg and Micah and was thoroughly entertained by this story.

Meg has been raised in a very conservative religious family. Everything ht she thought she knew is turned upside down when she learned that the man she thought was her father isn’t. It turns out that her mother became pregnant with her after a one-night stand at a youth group conference when she was Meg’s age. She was planning to take a gap year before college so she decides to head north to get to know her father’s family. Micah knows all about scandals. He looked up to his father, a pastor, and considered him to be his best friend. But then his father went to jail for the things he did and Micah’s world fell apart.

Meg and Micah were wonderful together. They had so much in common with each other and seemed to understand each other almost immediately. They both were very strong in their faith but were questioning some of the things that went on within the church. It was great seeing these two connect, and I really loved the way that they watched out for one another. I just really felt like these two were good for each other. The secondary characters were also very well done and I loved how important they were to the story. I especially like Duke and would love to see him featured in future novels.

I would recommend this book to others. This book was a wonderful surprise and I think that a lot of readers will find something to relate to within these pages. I definitely plan to read more of Erin Hahn’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Wednesday Books via NetGalley.

7 responses to “Review – Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn

  1. I loved Hahn’s first two books and was worried about this one, but she did a great job. I think the way she was able to separate faith from the institution of the church worked well for me. Not necessarily an anti-religious stance, which I usually see in YA. I loved both Meg and Micah and their journey. I agree with you about the secondary characters too. So great.