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Courtship #2
Surrender
Surrender will keep you captivated as it takes you into Brandon and Joanie Vaughn’s new life together and as you follow the unpredictable paths of Maggie and Amie Collins to know God’s will.
A whole new story of discernment and responding to God’s call. A great way of promoting: marriage, Theology of the Body, courtship, chastity, and our Catholic faith.
A whole new story of discernment and responding to God’s call. A great way of promoting: marriage, Theology of the Body, courtship, chastity, and our Catholic faith.
479 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
5 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Carmen Marcoux
3 books30 followersCarmen was born and raised in Saskatoon, the sixth child in a family of seven. In 1988 she obtained
a B.Ed. from the University of Saskatchewan. She and her husband, James, now have seven children of their own, whom they homeschool. They are expecting number eight, due in
December 2006. They belong to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish where they are actively involved in youth, family and music ministries. In January of 2002 Carmen was inspired to write a novel about courtship and chastity. Following
the publishing of Arms of Love, the Marcoux family embarked on a ministry of promoting purity, chastity and courtship. This has led them to organize an annual Purity Rally in their home-town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — where attendance has more than tripled over the past five years!
Carmen has spoken at a number of events including
• as a key-note speaker at a Catholic Family
Conference in Nova Scotia, Canada
• a Pure Fashion Show
• various chastity events
• a Dead Theologian Society
• Pro-Life rallies
• Pro-Life banquets
• high schools
• parent groups
• 100 Huntley Street Television Program
(with Rhonda Glenn)
• EWTN Radio (Next Wave Faithful with
Stephanie Wood)
• Detroit Catholic Radio (Live from the
Shrine with Mary Dudley)
• St. Louis Catholic Radio (Splendor of You
with Deby Schlapprizzi)
• Relevant Radio (Catholic Bookmarks with
Frank Morrock)
• Carmen has also appeared on EWTN’s
ever-popular show Life on the Rock with
Fr Francis.
Young people are truly responding to the message
of Christian Courtship. Having seen the
a B.Ed. from the University of Saskatchewan. She and her husband, James, now have seven children of their own, whom they homeschool. They are expecting number eight, due in
December 2006. They belong to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish where they are actively involved in youth, family and music ministries. In January of 2002 Carmen was inspired to write a novel about courtship and chastity. Following
the publishing of Arms of Love, the Marcoux family embarked on a ministry of promoting purity, chastity and courtship. This has led them to organize an annual Purity Rally in their home-town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — where attendance has more than tripled over the past five years!
Carmen has spoken at a number of events including
• as a key-note speaker at a Catholic Family
Conference in Nova Scotia, Canada
• a Pure Fashion Show
• various chastity events
• a Dead Theologian Society
• Pro-Life rallies
• Pro-Life banquets
• high schools
• parent groups
• 100 Huntley Street Television Program
(with Rhonda Glenn)
• EWTN Radio (Next Wave Faithful with
Stephanie Wood)
• Detroit Catholic Radio (Live from the
Shrine with Mary Dudley)
• St. Louis Catholic Radio (Splendor of You
with Deby Schlapprizzi)
• Relevant Radio (Catholic Bookmarks with
Frank Morrock)
• Carmen has also appeared on EWTN’s
ever-popular show Life on the Rock with
Fr Francis.
Young people are truly responding to the message
of Christian Courtship. Having seen the
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 4, 2012
THIS BOOK WAS AWESOME!
If you are Catholic, you should read this book. And if you are REALLY Catholic, not 'modern' catholic, then you will LOVE THIS BOOK and laugh along with everything they say in it that you hear in your own house!
When the topic of using the rosary as a sleeping pill came up I could not stop chuckling!
Honestly, a book (and series) that I think every young Catholic should read!
<3
If you are Catholic, you should read this book. And if you are REALLY Catholic, not 'modern' catholic, then you will LOVE THIS BOOK and laugh along with everything they say in it that you hear in your own house!
When the topic of using the rosary as a sleeping pill came up I could not stop chuckling!
Honestly, a book (and series) that I think every young Catholic should read!
<3
July 14, 2010
This book was considerably better than the first one. Plus, it is pretty much my life in written form. I really loved it. :)
October 28, 2012
Warning: this review is rather long and rambling.
I liked this book a little better than the first one. The plot was a bit less predictable . . . but in the end things still ended up taking the expected route.
My main problem with this book is that a lot of the conversations do not sound natural at all. They are like little mini sermons cut-and-pasted into a dialogue format for the characters. Even when I agree with most of what they are saying, it just doesn't flow in a way that is very believable. Maybe that is just the style of this book, although I would prefer that the author used more of a show-instead-of-tell format to convey her points. In addition, I found some of these aforementioned message-charged conversations difficult to decipher. The pants versus skirts debate annoyed me especially (85). [Side note: I never have trouble finding modest clothing. It bothers me when people act like dressing modestly is SO difficult. I don't think it is. Get a bigger size, layer stuff if you want . . . it's not hard.]
Despite all the information about respecting women and stuff—which is great—I found some of the attitudes of the males in this book to be puzzling. Maybe I'm just too sensitive, but to me it seems that making remarks like "makes me appreciate being a man" isn't all that compassionate when your wife is suffering from morning sickness. The same guy also makes joke about his wife being “barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.” I know it was meant in humor, but . . . really (409)?! It just seems like it's perpetuating a whole different stereotype. John in particular bothered me; he just seems like such an obnoxious alpha-male. An assertion was also made by a character that men are more "emotionally stable" than women (309). Along the same lines, I don't get what is meant by the fact that wives should be "submissive." I want to understand and believe what they are saying, but it’s hard to wrap my head around (194-195). In this context, the word "submissive" just evokes negative connotations to me. I'm not a liberal or a feminist or anything, but I just thought the way some of this stuff was presented was very confusing. Maybe I just didn't understand what they were trying to say?
Like the first book, I found many of the characters in this to be a bit one-dimensional. They just didn't seem like real people. For example, one of the characters is described as not having any body image problems because she's not all "worldly," or something. Well, anyone can have body image problems—even homeschooled Catholic girls from nice families (167). It's great that she is confident in her identity as a child of God, but it’s insulting to imply that that a certain kinds of upbringing makes one insusceptible to those kind of issues.
I find it kind of crazy that Amie is only nineteen and she's already looking to get married. (But maybe that's just because I'm a couple years older than that and have never even been on a date!) Also, was it just me, or did the author reverse the personalities of Katie and Amie? In the first book, Katie was the dreamer. In this book, Amie had her head in the clouds, while Katie was sensible and grounded.
Other things that annoyed me: the bashing of vegetables and healthy food [Grr! Not all nutritious food tastes like cardboard. It can be incredibly nourishing and delicious!] (410); the fact that Brandon only wants to buy a foreign car [What is wrong with him? That's practically un-American!] (410); the phrases "Amie-style" and "Maggie-style" are used way too much; by the end of the book Amie started to act rather irritatingly; the book is really touchy about the distinction between nuns and sisters [It’s not a big deal. I’ve heard of sisters that are referred to as nuns and vice versa. It's kind of an archaic distinction] (372); awkward TMI from Joanie + Brandon; the bit of swearing in this [I'm not sure why the author felt that was necessary].
Okay, now on to the things that I liked: I thought it was great that this book touched on the concept of emotional discretion/chastity [I wish it would've been a bit more specific on what kind of boundaries are healthy to maintain in that area, though]; there were lots of great points made [this was one of my favorite quotes: “to be married to the wrong man and to have been miserable all those years would have been much worse than the time spent waiting for what God had in store for her” (260)]; I've always wanted to learn ballroom dance and I thought it was really fun that some of the characters in this did just that; I'm kind of jealous that the people in this live in an area with so much support for young Catholics; the strong faith of many of the characters really inspired me (much like the last book) to try to have more of a personal relationship with Jesus throughout my day; I really liked the advice that Sr. Charlotte gave Maggie [especially when she shared what Sr. Monica had told her], and I appreciated that she was not pushy about the whole thing; it was neat that Maggie knew her way around with tools (I wish I was a handy sort of person).
Whew! Now that I've vented all that I feel better! :)
Despite the improbable situations, unnatural dialogue, and over-simplistic characters, these books are enjoyable, and I admire Marcoux for having this vision. The book wasn't perfect, but it did inspire me in a lot of ways.
I liked this book a little better than the first one. The plot was a bit less predictable . . . but in the end things still ended up taking the expected route.
My main problem with this book is that a lot of the conversations do not sound natural at all. They are like little mini sermons cut-and-pasted into a dialogue format for the characters. Even when I agree with most of what they are saying, it just doesn't flow in a way that is very believable. Maybe that is just the style of this book, although I would prefer that the author used more of a show-instead-of-tell format to convey her points. In addition, I found some of these aforementioned message-charged conversations difficult to decipher. The pants versus skirts debate annoyed me especially (85). [Side note: I never have trouble finding modest clothing. It bothers me when people act like dressing modestly is SO difficult. I don't think it is. Get a bigger size, layer stuff if you want . . . it's not hard.]
Despite all the information about respecting women and stuff—which is great—I found some of the attitudes of the males in this book to be puzzling. Maybe I'm just too sensitive, but to me it seems that making remarks like "makes me appreciate being a man" isn't all that compassionate when your wife is suffering from morning sickness. The same guy also makes joke about his wife being “barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.” I know it was meant in humor, but . . . really (409)?! It just seems like it's perpetuating a whole different stereotype. John in particular bothered me; he just seems like such an obnoxious alpha-male. An assertion was also made by a character that men are more "emotionally stable" than women (309). Along the same lines, I don't get what is meant by the fact that wives should be "submissive." I want to understand and believe what they are saying, but it’s hard to wrap my head around (194-195). In this context, the word "submissive" just evokes negative connotations to me. I'm not a liberal or a feminist or anything, but I just thought the way some of this stuff was presented was very confusing. Maybe I just didn't understand what they were trying to say?
Like the first book, I found many of the characters in this to be a bit one-dimensional. They just didn't seem like real people. For example, one of the characters is described as not having any body image problems because she's not all "worldly," or something. Well, anyone can have body image problems—even homeschooled Catholic girls from nice families (167). It's great that she is confident in her identity as a child of God, but it’s insulting to imply that that a certain kinds of upbringing makes one insusceptible to those kind of issues.
I find it kind of crazy that Amie is only nineteen and she's already looking to get married. (But maybe that's just because I'm a couple years older than that and have never even been on a date!) Also, was it just me, or did the author reverse the personalities of Katie and Amie? In the first book, Katie was the dreamer. In this book, Amie had her head in the clouds, while Katie was sensible and grounded.
Other things that annoyed me: the bashing of vegetables and healthy food [Grr! Not all nutritious food tastes like cardboard. It can be incredibly nourishing and delicious!] (410); the fact that Brandon only wants to buy a foreign car [What is wrong with him? That's practically un-American!] (410); the phrases "Amie-style" and "Maggie-style" are used way too much; by the end of the book Amie started to act rather irritatingly; the book is really touchy about the distinction between nuns and sisters [It’s not a big deal. I’ve heard of sisters that are referred to as nuns and vice versa. It's kind of an archaic distinction] (372); awkward TMI from Joanie + Brandon; the bit of swearing in this [I'm not sure why the author felt that was necessary].
Okay, now on to the things that I liked: I thought it was great that this book touched on the concept of emotional discretion/chastity [I wish it would've been a bit more specific on what kind of boundaries are healthy to maintain in that area, though]; there were lots of great points made [this was one of my favorite quotes: “to be married to the wrong man and to have been miserable all those years would have been much worse than the time spent waiting for what God had in store for her” (260)]; I've always wanted to learn ballroom dance and I thought it was really fun that some of the characters in this did just that; I'm kind of jealous that the people in this live in an area with so much support for young Catholics; the strong faith of many of the characters really inspired me (much like the last book) to try to have more of a personal relationship with Jesus throughout my day; I really liked the advice that Sr. Charlotte gave Maggie [especially when she shared what Sr. Monica had told her], and I appreciated that she was not pushy about the whole thing; it was neat that Maggie knew her way around with tools (I wish I was a handy sort of person).
Whew! Now that I've vented all that I feel better! :)
Despite the improbable situations, unnatural dialogue, and over-simplistic characters, these books are enjoyable, and I admire Marcoux for having this vision. The book wasn't perfect, but it did inspire me in a lot of ways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2014
Note: all of these ratings are based on a 1-10 scale, 10 being the best.
Quality of Writing: 2
Rather juvenile, I thought. The dialect is sometimes there, sometimes not. All the characters sound the same - mouthpieces for the church. All in all, very little to save it, except occasional humor.
Pace: 4
Not bad as far as a page-turner goes, but I did feel like it dragged on. The varying different plots did nothing to help that. Luckily, it was linear and very clear when things were going on. Kudos for that.
Plot Development: 2
Okay, every book needs a climax or crisis point. The crisis point in this book was everybody avoiding their crises. This is a great thing for real life, but it doesn't work well in a novel. It was very ho-hum. Also, there were too many plots. I was expecting Krystal to be a nun - why lay out all that foreshadowing if she's not? But nope, she's ignored by the end. Maggie wraps up nicely, but why are we following her again? For more perspectives on discernment? Again, great in real life, but awful story material.
Characters: 9
The one thing I will say was amazing about this book was how detailed the characters were. Despite their being so many of them, I would see Kevin and go, "The Bander's dad, right?" and then find out I was right, and read on pleased. The characters were very distinct and clear, which is difficult to do in a novel of this size. Yes, they were all essentially the same person, but that person had easily recognizable personas, kind of like God himself :)
Enjoyability: 4
This is mostly because I was reading Little Women at the same time, which has the same message, and is written in a style I prefer. Some days I liked it better than others. Again, the characters and plot are rather dull, but the message is so unique among modern novels as to make it somewhat enjoyable.
Insightfulness: 6
I knew most of this message already - surrender yourself to God's will - but it was very insightful to see people actually live it out. Everyone talks about "praying about it" but no one actually describes what that entails or what will await you at the end. It even inspired me to do some discerning of my own, so thanks for that!
Ease of Reading: 6
Because of the multitude of characters and plotlines, the ease of reading this book is down somewhat from the prequel. Still not a difficult read, just slightly more, "give me a minute..."
All of this averages to a 4.71/10, which is a 2.4/5, hence the 2-star rating.
Quality of Writing: 2
Rather juvenile, I thought. The dialect is sometimes there, sometimes not. All the characters sound the same - mouthpieces for the church. All in all, very little to save it, except occasional humor.
Pace: 4
Not bad as far as a page-turner goes, but I did feel like it dragged on. The varying different plots did nothing to help that. Luckily, it was linear and very clear when things were going on. Kudos for that.
Plot Development: 2
Okay, every book needs a climax or crisis point. The crisis point in this book was everybody avoiding their crises. This is a great thing for real life, but it doesn't work well in a novel. It was very ho-hum. Also, there were too many plots. I was expecting Krystal to be a nun - why lay out all that foreshadowing if she's not? But nope, she's ignored by the end. Maggie wraps up nicely, but why are we following her again? For more perspectives on discernment? Again, great in real life, but awful story material.
Characters: 9
The one thing I will say was amazing about this book was how detailed the characters were. Despite their being so many of them, I would see Kevin and go, "The Bander's dad, right?" and then find out I was right, and read on pleased. The characters were very distinct and clear, which is difficult to do in a novel of this size. Yes, they were all essentially the same person, but that person had easily recognizable personas, kind of like God himself :)
Enjoyability: 4
This is mostly because I was reading Little Women at the same time, which has the same message, and is written in a style I prefer. Some days I liked it better than others. Again, the characters and plot are rather dull, but the message is so unique among modern novels as to make it somewhat enjoyable.
Insightfulness: 6
I knew most of this message already - surrender yourself to God's will - but it was very insightful to see people actually live it out. Everyone talks about "praying about it" but no one actually describes what that entails or what will await you at the end. It even inspired me to do some discerning of my own, so thanks for that!
Ease of Reading: 6
Because of the multitude of characters and plotlines, the ease of reading this book is down somewhat from the prequel. Still not a difficult read, just slightly more, "give me a minute..."
All of this averages to a 4.71/10, which is a 2.4/5, hence the 2-star rating.
May 22, 2021
Come check out more of my reviews of clean wholesome books at:
https://gdonahue23.wixsite.com/books/...
BEST BOOK EVER!! I absolutely loved Surrender sooooo much! The setting, the characters, and the teaching on the theology of the body were so well incorporated into the book that I have to say that Surrender is now one of my favorite books. We hear about Brandon and Joanie and their new life as a married couple and the struggles and joys that go along with that. In the first book, Arms of Love, I thought all the characters were kind of flat, but Maggie and Amie were definitely not like the characters in the first book. I laughed and cried right along with them and felt like I was right there with them. I like how the theology of the body was put into the book and was glad that there were so many young solid Catholics. When Maggie and Amie started to wonder what God was calling them to do, I was too excited to see what would happen and looked at the back of the book, but I am telling you not to do what I did. DO NOT spoil the book for yourself! Everything at the end was so perfect that I wished I could have read it to the end without knowing.
My favorite character in Surrender would have to be Kyle. He was so sweet and patient and knew exactly what he wanted since he was eight years old but was willing to let God change his plans. He knew that God had something picked out for him, and that would be the best path to follow. The book Surrender is technically for adults, but I am almost 16 and loved it! Definitely read this book if you do not know what kind of life God is calling you to, if you will be married, if you are going to enter into a courtship, or if you are literally anyone else because this book was so good!!
Things to Mention: Talks about being physically intimate with someone outside of marriage, abortion, and some other stuff related to the theology of the body. There are some kisses with little to no detail. It implies two married being physically intimate with their spouse but nothing more. A few "hells."
https://gdonahue23.wixsite.com/books/...
BEST BOOK EVER!! I absolutely loved Surrender sooooo much! The setting, the characters, and the teaching on the theology of the body were so well incorporated into the book that I have to say that Surrender is now one of my favorite books. We hear about Brandon and Joanie and their new life as a married couple and the struggles and joys that go along with that. In the first book, Arms of Love, I thought all the characters were kind of flat, but Maggie and Amie were definitely not like the characters in the first book. I laughed and cried right along with them and felt like I was right there with them. I like how the theology of the body was put into the book and was glad that there were so many young solid Catholics. When Maggie and Amie started to wonder what God was calling them to do, I was too excited to see what would happen and looked at the back of the book, but I am telling you not to do what I did. DO NOT spoil the book for yourself! Everything at the end was so perfect that I wished I could have read it to the end without knowing.
My favorite character in Surrender would have to be Kyle. He was so sweet and patient and knew exactly what he wanted since he was eight years old but was willing to let God change his plans. He knew that God had something picked out for him, and that would be the best path to follow. The book Surrender is technically for adults, but I am almost 16 and loved it! Definitely read this book if you do not know what kind of life God is calling you to, if you will be married, if you are going to enter into a courtship, or if you are literally anyone else because this book was so good!!
Things to Mention: Talks about being physically intimate with someone outside of marriage, abortion, and some other stuff related to the theology of the body. There are some kisses with little to no detail. It implies two married being physically intimate with their spouse but nothing more. A few "hells."
May 12, 2017
A well-written continuation of Carmen Marcoux's first book "Arms of Love" that looks favorably on the beauty of marriage and religious life, and shows from another character's perspective that no two relationships are alike.
October 26, 2023
"Surrender" is the sequel to "Arms of Love" by Carmen Marcoux. I was recommended this book by a friend, and it changed the way I currently view dating as a young adult. Though very easy to read, I found the practical example of chaste dating very helpful and inspiring.
July 1, 2014
I enjoyed this book. Much like the first one (though arguably better), it's a thoroughly decent story. "Decent" being the key word there. I mean, it's wholesome and heartwarming, with impeccable morals, a bit of humour, and ridiculously relatable circumstances. It's something I might possibly recommend to a lot of people, especially to teens. But (yay buts!)... Marcoux's writing is very unfortunately lacking ("tedious" could be used here, maybe?). The dialogue is strangely unnatural and almost annoying at times. The characters are surprisingly uninteresting (not Maggie, though—I'll give it that). So much of what's said is said again and again and again. It has so many good points, good ideas, great statements amount a lot of...well, stuff—but it's sometimes a bit difficult to really appreciate all that when you're also feeling somewhat annoyed at the stilted way in which it's presented.
It's a good book, okay? Upon the whole, it's a likable book. It's not a perfect book. If it, I don't know, happened to be well-written, or boasted a cast of really great characters at least, it would be much closer to that mark, as well as much easier to recommend. Same goes for Arms of Love.
Now please ignore everything I've just said and at least attempt to read these books. Try not to hate them...for their cheesieness, their stiff mushiness (probably a bit of an oxy moron, but there it is), or even their habit of being extremely tedious.
3.5/5.
It's a good book, okay? Upon the whole, it's a likable book. It's not a perfect book. If it, I don't know, happened to be well-written, or boasted a cast of really great characters at least, it would be much closer to that mark, as well as much easier to recommend. Same goes for Arms of Love.
Now please ignore everything I've just said and at least attempt to read these books. Try not to hate them...for their cheesieness, their stiff mushiness (probably a bit of an oxy moron, but there it is), or even their habit of being extremely tedious.
3.5/5.
January 27, 2009
Liked this one as well.
October 7, 2010
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Must read.
Read
January 16, 2015very good book love the author!
January 25, 2013
Another Awesome book by Carmen Marcoux!
I love it!!
I love it!!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews