The Branch & The Vine by Stephen D. Edwards

What’s the book about?

The book is about how the author got over decades of depression through Jesus Christ. It’s a combination of a memoir and a self-help book. It’s available in most major e-book stores and on hardcover with Amazon. As of writing the hardcover is £21.99. The e-book prices fluctuate depending on which store you choose. On Amazon its £0.99, Google books it’s £2.92 and Kobo it’s £5.06. It’s also availible on the author’s own website for $14.99 in Canadian dollars. So there are quite a lot of options to get this book.

How I found came across this book?

I’ve seen lots of authors on Goodreads trying to get feedback for their books. They will send countless ACRs to people and even through the reviewers have all the best intentions, they can’t physically do them all at once. Even the most prolific authors and publishers have issues getting exposure, so imagine what it’s like for indie authors. I know what it’s like to be in their shoes, even though I don’t have a lot of reviews myself, it’s nice to help them out. So I made a thread on a forum there opening my services for book reviews. I wanted to do it for a while. That’s how this book came to me. The author was the first one to get in touch with me.

Where did I get this book?

The author emailed me and sent me a link to his book on google books with a promo code. I was able to read it straight away on my iPad. I don’t use Google Books very often, but I had no problems being able to read the book. As I mentioned before, this book is also availible on lots of other sites.

What I liked about this book?

I liked how the book is split into sections. I also like the variety of content in there which helps make the book interactive with bible passages, questions, personal experiences and impactful titles. It’s clear that a lot of thought and research went into this.

What I didn’t like about this book?

I couldn’t really think of anything I disliked. It’s not normally something I would read, but can see that this book could be helpful to others. Whilst it’s not something I would have picked up on a whim, I didn’t find anything that made me uncomfortable. I do however think that the prices that this book has been listed under may be off putting to some folk, but I think there is an audience out there who will happily pay for this book. Now, I’m going to be really nitpicky and say I‘m not too keen on the covers because I think the covers clash. I do think the red font is nice.

How it made me feel?

It made me feel happy for the author. Depression is a horrible thing and the journey to beating it has been long and I’m glad he’s found comfort in his faith.

Would I recommend it?

I could see this book being really good in religious studies and discussion. I think those who are studying mental health, may also find this book interesting. I think it’s important that mental health is talked about and also admiring when people talk about the things that comfort them. I know that this book won’t be for everyone, but I think this will shine in its niche. It seems to be doing really well as all the reviews I could find for this have all been positive.

I would like to thank the author, Stephen D. Edwards for reaching out to me. I hope you and the rest of the book community find this review useful. If you are an author or publisher, and you want your book reviewed, you can contact me on Twitter @chloboshoka or send an ePub/mobi/pdf file to [email protected].