Lauren Vander Linden’s book on moving past bitterness and learning to forgive serves as a reminder to Christians about how one should live.

The overarching theme in the book is that the choices one makes and the way the choose to live should reflect God’s character. Of course, it is easy to choose bitterness because often life seems unfair. It is easy to not forgive, but God requires forgiveness and the release of bitterness for our healing. Additionally, since He is greater than we are, we should trust in His will and not allow bitterness to hold us back.

While the anecdotes and messages of this book may not be groundbreaking to its target audience, but it moves the reader to contemplate how bitterness affects their life. Lauren frequently discusses scripture, balancing with her use of personal stories.

With a lot of grace and a touch of humor, Lauren Vander Linden writes I WANT TO MOVE ON for those who have held on to bitterness after being wronged. She uses the Bible and her personal experience to illustrate her points about what can happen when we let bitterness fester and how refusing to move past the hurt impacts the offended person much more than the offender.

I mostly enjoyed this short and sweet book. It's an approachable guide. Most of my issues were with the writing choices. There were too many analogies, and most didn't land with me. They were writing devices that didn't add anything. Also, more specificity and vulnerability would've improved this book tremendously—the author employs vagueness, such as "I was going through a very difficult season," in a way that made her advice and experiences feel disconnected from the rapport she was trying to build with readers.

But I'm sorry to say that this is typical for a lot of Christian self-help books. These types of writing choices—and this book in general—are, for the most part, an "it's not the book, it's me" scenario. I don't dip into the traditional branches of this genre very often anymore. When I do, I remember that this annoys me. This is a good book that just fell short of the hard-hitting bitterness breaker it could've been by establishing stronger connections and adding more unique insight.

I did like I WANT TO MOVE ON a lot more than many others in its genre that I've read in recent years. There are some gems here and practical tips that made it worth reading. (3.5 stars)

*This review is based on a digital advance copy provided by the publisher. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

I want to move on is an extremely helpful book on learning to truly forgive. All of the negative emotions and feelings that we hold on to are corrosive to our hearts and souls. Lauren takes us through the steps and techniques that we need to truly move on from pain, disappointment and humiliation to name but a few. Her gentle reminders that God wants us to heal and that we can take our feelings and emotions to him. Being able to name our emotions relating to the trigger is the first step. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who needs to be released from the spirit of unforgiveness.

Many of us are not free. We remain tangled up in the past, holding onto bitterness and hurts. We have been betrayed, unjustly accused, or offended. Whether we excuse ourselves, delay forgiveness, or refuse to consider it, we cannot break free from disappointments and offenses until we let go.

Going through a variety of excuses - self-justification, bitterness as a valid response, assuming offenses, and more - Vander Linden develops an understanding of personal harm and collateral damage, the consequences of holding onto grudges and not forgiving.

If your heart is hurting, if you're ready to change direction, and if you're ready to heal, get a copy. It will transform your future and change the past's grip on your heart.

I enjoyed the techniques discussed in this book on how to move on. Overall, it is a well thought out self help book with tips I plan on using in the future.

"If I don't fight for myself no one will"

I Want to Move On was a fantastic book of stories told with the intention of teaching the reader how to move on. I have grown fond of self help books and find them extremely rewarding. With that being said this was my first book from this author and I cannot wait to read more of her work.

Within this book, different unwanted thoughts are not only portrayed in an extremely accurate and relatable way, they were also remedied with helpful tips and practical tools related to God to beat the bitterness we all may feel at one point or another.

I cannot wait to utilize some of the techniques discussed in this book and finally get my life back BITTERNESS FREE! Pick up a copy of this book, you will not regret it!