The Menu by Steven Manchester Blog Tour

About the Book

From New England’s Storyteller Steven Manchester comes a soul-awakening novel about love, faith and family. During Phinn Reed’s romantic quest, he discovers that even through great suffering and loss, he is never alone—not ever—and that we are all eternally connected.

Phinn Reed enters the world with God’s promise of finding his soul mate. With heaven’s memories erased, his romantic quest teaches him that the heart often sees clearer than the eyes—and that not everyone has ordered the same items from The Menu. This inspirational novel is heartfelt evidence that love stories come in many different forms.

Click here to get your copy!

 My Review

The action in this novel is slow and methodical. The purpose of the book seems to be more to cause readers think about living life rather than entertain. It contains some thought provoking messages: leave the world a better place than you found it, make the most of your time on earth, you can overcome any bad childhood experiences, be the unique you God created you to be as no one else can.

This book is not a theological commentary on life and I think any spiritual messages it contains need to be held loosely. Evangelical Christians may take issue with several concepts in the book, such as spirit existence and conversation with God before birth and the appearance on earth of the spirits of people after they have died. The characters assure the reader there is no eternal punishment. Phinn advocates God's unconditional love and cannot believe in such punishment “...if we break certain rules or wander off the right path...” (2296/7300) Any punishment we experience is built in as consequences through our free will. (4545/7300) We determine our own punishment by the life we live. (4872/7300) It was no surprise to me that Phinn could not shake the fear of being punished. (4926/7300) His fictional character knew nothing of the saving work of Jesus Christ.

This novel is a dive into how we live life, being willing to choose the possibility of love while being willing to face the agony of death. It is thought provoking and encourages us to live every moment to its full. Evangelical Christians may find some of the spiritual messages it contains a bit disconcerting.

My rating: 3/5 stars.

About the Author

New England’s Storyteller Steven Manchester is the author of the soul-awakening novel, The Menu, as well as the 80s nostalgia-fest, Bread Bags & Bullies. His other works include #1 bestsellers Twelve Months, The Rockin’ Chair, Pressed Pennies and Gooseberry Island; the national bestsellers, Ashes, The Changing Season and Three Shoeboxes; the multi-award winning novel, Goodnight Brian; and the beloved holiday podcast drama, The Thursday Night Club. His work has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CBS’s The Early Show and BET’s Nightly News. Three of Steven’s short stories were selected “101 Best” for Chicken Soup for the Soul series. He is a multi-produced playwright, as well as the winner of the 2017 Los Angeles Book Festival, 2018 New York Book Festival and 2020 New England Book Festival. When not spending time with his beautiful wife, Paula, or their children, this Massachusetts author is promoting his works or writing. Visit: www.StevenManchester.com

More from Steven

“None of us are ever alone.” I believe this truth in every fiber of my being. For me, few things are more tragic than a fellow human being who is feeling alone. It’s the reason I wrote my new novel, THE MENU.

The premise of THE MENU is a simple one. If you believe in an afterlife, do you also believe that your spirit existed before you came to this Earth? And what if you had a say…what if you actually picked everything you’d experience in this life from a MENU?

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, August 4

Inklings and notions, August 5

For Him and My Family, August 6

Mary Hake, August 6

deb's Book Review, August 7

Debbie's Dusty Deliberations, August 8

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, August 9

Because I said so -- and other adventures in Parenting, August 10

Locks, Hooks and Books, August 11

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, August 12

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, August 13

Older & Smarter?, August 14

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, August 15

Texas Book-aholic, August 16

Cats in the Cradle Blog, August 16

CarpeDiem, August 17

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Celebrate Lit.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)