How not to be prejudiced when you have been the victim of the prejudice for almost your whole life? God is good, fine, but what about His people?

Ruthie Turner and her Momma were kicked out from church in Trapp some 13 years ago. Since that time, the good Christians are overlooking them, and Ruthie does the same. Church people are the enemy.
But the new family, the Cunninghams, are behaving differently. They are friendly to everybody (even the convinced (statutory) rapist) and there is certain "something" about them, as if God was with them. OK. But how should Ruthie deal with Dodd Cunningham, the new math teacher, and - pastor??? Her Momma, emotionally unstable and depressed, would throw a fit when - if - realizing that her daughter is friends with the pastor. And they are progressing to more than just friends, as the attraction is undeniable.
But Ruthie would not enter the church - and Dodd is too much willing to see just the good side of people to understand her reasons. And some of the reasons are very valid, as there is a person of hardened heart amongst the Christian congregation, leading them the wrong way.
So will the truth prevail? Is there a chance for forgiveness and reconciliation?

This is one honest novel. I love how Ms Denman is not afraid to portray the "dark side" of Christianity - the (fictional) church led by a wrong elder, where the members are following the shunning and not showing the Christian love. The story of the pharisee and the publican comes to mind!
Being a Christian myself, I humbly accept that the churches like that might exist. And that I myself might behave just like the follower of the "common/majority opinions" in my life. This is a very good wake-up call to review my heart constantly and to renew it in love.

I very much understand Ruthie, she has a good reasons to not to trust the Christians in her life. Actually I would not call her "hard-hearted", in reality she is a very nice person, just scarred and scared from the difficulties coming from the shunning, but also from the life with her emotionally immature mother. This is a heavy load for a girl of 20 years!
But Ruthie is a good person and her inner strength and willingness to overcome her shortcomings and (more importantly) her fears and prejudices are truly admirable.
To be honest, I find her much more compelling than Dodd, the main hero. Dodd is a very good guy of pure heart - and I admire that about him. But unfortunately, he is not wise. He needs to see people for what they truly are and loving them anyway - this is what makes a good preacher in my books.
And I would love to see the changes in the hearts of the Trapp Christians - truly, I am quite angry with them. Such judgmental and self-righteous people! They got out easily. But I know this book is the first one in the series, so maybe there is more about them and their change in the following installments.

All in all, book that honest is not common among the Christian ones. Or so impactful! Beautiful, purifying read.

I was hooked on Jaded from the first sentence. Varina Denman, debut novelist, has a way with words. Of course, it takes more than wordsmithing to take a reader through 350 pages, and Varina succeeded. The plot was very unique. A storyline that, as a Christian, made me a little uncomfortable. Yet, the story rang true. I hope the situation laid out in this novel isn't widespread in the real world, because it saddened me how a church community could shun someone for no reason.

The pacing was great ~ Ruthie and the shunning, Ruthie and the unhealthy relationship she has with her mother, and a romance round out the subplots. I highly recommend grabbing a copy of Jaded and settling down for a gripping page turner!