God Loves Haiti

Author: Dimitri Elias Leger

One-sentence summary: As the 2010 earthquake destroys Haiti, three characters try to pick up the pieces and find each other, literally and figuratively.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 6

Our favorite thing about it: That it was a fast and easy read.

Our least favorite thing about it: The writing was poor.

Main Topics of Discussion: Haiti, natural disasters, God, international aid, infidelity, culture, poverty, suffering

Our favorite quote: “You never love something more than the moment you believe it to be lost.”

Notes: Our book ratings really varied on this novel. Some of us rated it in the 7-9 range, and the rest of us gave it a 5. So, our average came out to a 6.

There were some moments of profound in this novel about the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The comments on God and disaster and how a religious culture deals with such pain was interesting. Likewise, the commentary on how outside countries (especially the US) helps in situations like this and the thoughts of the Haitian people about their aid was eye-opening and though-provoking. We learned a lot about the earthquake, the politics of Haiti, and the reality of what life was like after the earthquake. In fact, the descriptions of the aftermath and damage are heartbreakingly realistic and devastating. The weaving of the story into this historic event was interesting too. Those were the positive points we took away from this novel.

What we liked less was the writing, the characters, and the story. The writing was just mediocre. We felt that the story, in the hands of a better writer, could have been much more compelling. As it was, the story was just not that interesting beyond what we learned about the earthquake and some cultural elements. We just didn’t find ourselves caring all that much about the characters or what happened to them. In that same vein, the characters were a tad underdeveloped. We didn’t care about them because we didn’t know them. The ending felt rushed and a little random. Overall, we this was an average read.

Memorable Meeting Moments: We had dinner together at Christina’s before heading back to Lindsay’s house for dessert, tea, and our discussion. We also celebrated Amberly’s birthday.

What We Ate: Various things at Christina’s and LOTS of varieties of cookies at Lindsay’s house.