Book Review: Running Around (and Such) (Lizzie Searches for Love #1) by Linda Byler

Lizzie questions a lot of things about her Amish life like why can't she wear higher heels and a looser hairstyle?  And most of all, why does her family have to move to a new house to become farmers?  What is she going to do in a new town without a lot of kids her age?  Who will she and her two sisters pair up with if there are not enough boys to go around?

Unlike many Amish stories I have read this one has a very distinct modern feel to it.  Lizzie puts Clearasil on her acne that her sisters, Mandy and Emma, do not have.  The girls are worried about their weight.  Emma and Mandy are thin, but Lizzie is not.  Most Amish stories I've read the characters don't care.  They eat high calorie foods without any thought.  Actually, the thought is they need to nourish themselves well for all the work they have to do.

That's what brings me to the 3.25 star rating.  It was a good story.  Lizzie's not your typical Amish character.  She isn't happy to do all that is expected of her, including and especially being a maude.  The problem is it felt too modern, like these were English (as the Amish call them) characters put in the Amish world.  You know, fitting a square peg in a round hole.  They didn't quite fit.

Of course, who am I to say what the Amish are really like?  This may actually be more indicative of their lives than the other "traditional" stories we have read.  Not having spent much time with them I cannot say I know for sure, but it would seem a little odd that this is the "real" story and the others are not one bit accurate.

I read this as a review request from Netgalley using Adobe Digital on my laptop.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.