Name: anderson elizabeth's review of Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn
Item: Never Saw You Coming
Rating: 5
Author: anderson elizabeth

Erin Hahn

"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

A Novel

Never Saw You Coming

Ruby Williams

"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. Raised by conservative parents, 18-year-old Meg Hennessey just found out her entire childhood was a lie. 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. While there, she meets Micah Allen, a former pastor’s kid whose dad ended up in prison, leaving Micah with his own complicated relationship about the church. The clock is ticking on Pastor Allen’s 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.

anderson elizabeth

1.23.2022
Okay so everything from my first review / first read holds up so well but I just really needed to reread this book to start off the year. I was explaining how this book feels to me to my therapist recently and I just told her that it's like getting a hug from one of your favorite people after a really long day. This book gave me the space to feel joy and anger and reminisce on sorting out my feelings towards the church. Erin Hahn covers all of my biggies and I cannot thank her enough for writing this book. And I regularly DM her on Instagram to tell her that.

Okay, so I’ve discovered that a fair amount of books that I read make me tear up but when I tell you that I sobbed multiple times while reading this absolutely phenomenal book. I love Meg and Micah with all my heart and want nothing more than to wrap these phenomenal beans into a hug. Both characters found solace in each other as they struggled with various aspects of the church and how harmful/hypocritical it had been to them.

This book has been like a needed and validating hug. The cries are bittersweet. On one hand sad for the shared trauma/grief/turmoil caused by the church. But also thankful for the comfort of not being alone in it if that makes sense. I've already preordered the book so I can transfer all of the notes that I’m typing on my kindle arc to the physical copy.

LOVED:
-continuous faith: despite the fact that Meg and Micah both distanced themselves from the church itself, one of the things that I loved the most about them was the way that they kept such a strong faith in religion itself. This is something that I’ve struggled with a lot as I’ve gone through my own journey of deconstructing my faith over the past 8 or so years. 

-Erin Hahn did a phenomenal job at critiquing the church and diving into a lot of hypocrisy within the church while also validating religion. I think that can be something that is difficult to tackle because oftentimes religion gets heavily intertwined with the institutions and manmade aspects of it that have been created.

WANTED MORE OF: 
Sometimes I was wishing that the scenes were longer. I know that authors, especially YA authors, can be on crunch time in terms of page count but there are a few places, especially in the beginning of developing Micah and Meg’s relationship that felt cut short. I say this because I loved their chemistry so much that I just wanted more of them.

Linda Quintanilla

Never Saw You Coming made me fall in love with YA books again. It is a bit unconventional YA contemporary story. Yet it is so fitting to read and wonder about our own beliefs and values. 
Meg and Micah are both dealing with the aftermath of discovering their families' betrayals. It is a complicated situation yet it is fitting. Nothing ever goes to plan. They will both question their beliefs together and individually. 
I know it is going to raise some hair for most people but Never Saw You Coming handled this topic with sensitivity. There is no swear campaign about having a certain religion. It’s more about questioning a conservation church’s unique views on things. 
Full warning, you may be triggered after reading this book. Contains depression, suicide, and panic attacks.

laura

I loved this book so much, I not only adored the call backs to the previous books in this series. I also really just loved Meg and Micha so much. I really loved how this book explored church life and church expectations. I am a fan of large casts in small towns and this book was just what i needed. It is also rare to find a YA book set after high school and not only in the summer. It liked all the unique elements that made this book so much fun. Puppies and little kids made this story even more fun. I also really loved how this book focused on finding your own way in the world. I loved seeing Veda and Luke again. I would kill for a book about Duke.. Such a prefect summer read!! Hahn as done it again!

Jessika Rucker

I was provided with an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair review by NetGalley. 

I thoroughly enjoyed More Than Maybe and was very excited to read this book! It took me back to high school when I would go to youth group and made some of my favorite memories. I think if you are a Christian who is struggling with some major changes in your life and doubt you could relate to some of the things in the book. You also could really hate this book as it goes through some traditional thoughts. I really loved all of the quirky characters in the story and the challenges they are facing. I do wish that there was a little more of an understanding of both sides of many issues as I am bored of the Christian faith being the go to religion for hatred.

The Nature of Pages

Wonderful and impactful, Never Saw You Coming is another stunning work of Erin Hahn's. She weaves such witty banter, romance, and deep issues together in a way that keeps me hooked and turning the page! (Also would definitely die for Meg).

Ruby Williams &
Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn

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