REVIEW: "The God of the Garden" by Andrew Peterson

About the book…

★ Title: The God of the Garden: Thoughts on Creation, Culture, and the Kingdom

★ Author: Andrew Peterson

★ Genre: Christian, Nonfiction, Memoir

★ Series: No, a standalone nonfiction book

★ Recommend for: ages 15/16 & up (deals with some heavier themes like depression, grief, etc.)

My Personal Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖Synopsis

There’s a strong biblical connection between people and trees. They both come from dirt. They’re both told to bear fruit. In fact, arboreal language is so often applied to humans that it’s easy to miss, whether we're talking about family trees, passing along our seed, cutting someone off like a branch, being rooted to a place, or bearing the fruit of the Spirit. It’s hard to deny that trees mean something, theologically speaking.

This book is in many ways a memoir, but it’s also an attempt to wake up the reader to the glory of God shining through his creation.

One of the first commands to Adam and Eve was to “work and keep” the garden. Award-winning author and songwriter Andrew Peterson, being as honest as possible, shares a story of childhood, grief, redemption, and peace, by walking through a forest of memories: “I trust that by telling my story, you’ll encounter yours. Hopefully, like me, you’ll see that the God of the Garden is and has always been present, working and keeping what he loves.”

Sometimes he plants, sometimes he prunes, but in his goodness he intends to reap a harvest of righteousness.

💭My Thoughts 

"There's pain in memory, but there's beauty, too. Going back and digging deep may unearth bones, or it may unearth treasure. Don't be afraid."

I love Andrew Peterson's prose. Meandering, imaginative, equal parts humorous and wistful, this book was a good one. In my opinion, a fantastic read for spring.

I will never again look at a tree the same way. But this book was about so much more than trees. Deeply personal, it was truly like having an intimate conversation with the author. In this book, he delves into themes of childhood, grief, redemption, peace, and a forest of memories. I found myself grinning like a ninny over some of the things he said on one page, and then wiping away tears the next. It was almost brutally honest at parts, but beautifully written, and gave me so much food for thought.

Read this book if you love trees, obviously. But also read it if you want to be awakened to the glory of God shining through His creation. Read it if you want to be refreshed. Read it if you want to be moved. Read it if you want to be inspired.

Overall, a beautiful, intimate, multifaceted, poetic, incredibly honest and touching read. I would highly suggest really taking your time with this book in order to chew on his words and enjoy it the most. There were some parts I liked more than others, but I still overall enjoyed it quite a bit and would recommend it to many people.

“The gospel isn’t just about the fact that we’re all fallen- that part’s easy for me to swallow- it’s about the fact that we’re perfectly loved.”

“The God of the Garden is and has always been present, working and keeping what he loves. Sometimes He plants, sometimes He prunes, but in His goodness He intends to reap a harvest of righteousness.”

*Note: Listen to Andrew Peterson’s gorgeous song “Planting Trees” for the ultimate experience. :)

⚠️Content notes

Suitable for older teen readers. The author mentions a place with a lot of crime and recounts a couple unpleasant happenings when he lived there. Brief passing mentions of racism, murder, abuse, etc. Also deals with the experience of severe depression, grief & being angry at God.

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Bookishly yours, 

Lottie M.