"The Whisper Theory" by Amber Albee Swenson

Title: The Whisper Theory
Author: Amber Albee Swenson
Published: December 28, 2011
Genre: Christian Fiction

During first semester this past school year, one of my professors approached me with an idea. He had received several copies of The Whisper Theory from the author and wanted to put a group of ladies together to review it and participate in the accompanying Bible Study. Of course I said yes, and as the resident blogger of the group, I volunteered to post the review and an interview with the author Amber Swenson on my page!

The Whisper Theory follows a young lady named Meghan as she navigates her way through her first year of college. A devout Christian, Meghan has had no trouble standing firm in her faith. Then she moves in with her new roommates Carol and Jeff, who are not believers. It doesn't take Meghan long, under their influence, to start trying things she's never tried before, and soon she's breaking more rules than she's keeping. What's more, she begins to fall for Jeff. When a murder occurs in their apartment building, Meghan has to decide where she stands and what voice she's going to follow. After each chapter, there is a set of Bible study questions that pertain to the topics referenced in the chapter.

I think I speak for the entire group when I say that we thoroughly enjoyed participating in this Bible study. We had lots of meaningful discussions both on our online forum and in person. The topics we covered were all mentioned at some time in the book: underage drinking, sex, dating, and relationships with family and friends (especially with those of opposite faiths). This is definitely a book for Christian, college-aged ladies, and I think they would enjoy the discussions as much as we did.

The novel itself was realistic for the most part. The challenges that Meghan faces are similar to what I think a devout Christian college student would face. Things got a bit muddy when the murder in the apartment building comes in. That particular plot arc just seemed to distract from the rest of the book. That detail aside, we'd recommend this to anyone looking for a Bible study for a teen or college-age group.

Kaylee says: