RAVEN AUSTEN

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Testimonials
Testimonials

Meet the Readers Who Met Raven

Their words, not ours. Because Raven’s stories deserve real responses.

I picked this up thinking it would be a typical Christian memoir. It's not. Raven doesn't polish her past. She talks about the abortion, the affair with her boss, and the student who threatened her. I cried twice. But I also laughed at the mouse story. She's just so real. I finished the book feeling like I'd made a friend.

— Sarah M Tulsa, OK

I'm not a religious person, but this book got to me. Raven never preaches at you. She just tells you what happened and how God met her in the mess. The part where she reads John 15:16 after feeling invisible her whole life… that hit hard. You don't have to be a believer to feel that moment.

— David R Columbus, OH

What I loved most was that Raven is kind of a mess. She's scared of mice. She panics on icy roads. She once bought the wrong hair product and waited nine months to use it. I felt seen. Her big struggles are real, but the small, silly ones made me trust her. This isn't a saint writing. It's a regular woman.

— Amanda K Nashville, TN

The story about the three boys driving her home in the ice storm stayed with me for days. And the one where her stepdad finds those old IOUs from the Depression? I read it twice. Raven has a way of pulling you into a moment and not letting go. Some essays are two pages. Some are ten. All of them matter.

— Brian T Wichita, KS

I'm not big on poetry, but Raven's poems surprised me. They're not fancy or hard to understand. She just says what she means. The one called "Desolation Boulevard" gave me chills. Her regular essays read like she's sitting across from you at a coffee shop. No pretentious words. Just truth. I appreciate that so much.

— Jessica L Springfield, MO

The abortion chapter wrecked me. Not because Raven gets graphic or angry. Because she's so honest about the regret and the shame and then the slow healing. She doesn't use it to shock you. She uses it to help. I've never read something so painful written with such gentleness. This book is a gift to anyone carrying a secret weight.

— Marcus W Portland, OR

I expected a heavy, sad book. And yeah, some parts are heavy. But Raven is funny without trying too hard. The Redken hair product disaster? The stick shift meltdown with her sister? I was laughing out loud. She balances the dark stuff with real-life ridiculousness. That's what makes her stories feel true. Life is both.

— Rachel T Austin, TX