Disclosure: I received a copy of this book to review through the BookSneeze program. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.

The biblical stories of Daniel’s ability to interpret dreams has always fascinated me. As a psychology major, dreams in general just intrigue me. Knowing that they have a bit of reality blended into them is enough to make them interesting. The thought that they have supernatural meaning makes me even more excited to analyze them. Most of the time my dreams are shadowy and somewhat eerie, reminiscent of a Tim Burton movie. The dreams in The Living Room were much more spiritual. In fact, the dreams were inspired by God to help the main character Amy to bring the deeds of darkness to light.

Although I really liked this book, it seemed to have a lot going on.  The layers of stories made it difficult to stay interested in the main idea.  I suppose the book was in multitask mode, much like Amy seemed to be most of the time.  Juggling two jobs and a family was hard enough.  Throw a teenage daughter into the mix and it’s no wonder that some of her dreams were disturbing.  In her “living room” where she had spiritual encounters, she experienced peace and tranquility in the arms of God.  I could imagine this so easily and longed to have that experience, too.

Amy was quite self-centered for most of the book.  It drove me a little bit crazy.  She had a wonderful support system with her husband, kids, and best friend.  Her coworkers valued her, too.  She seemed to have a really insecure nature and tended to be whiny.  For example, when her husband didn’t ask her how a difficult situation at work went, she got all teary and mentioned that he forgot to ask about her day.  Sheesh!   She also seemed a bit selfish to me.  Even though her family was having pretty deep financial troubles, she was resentful of opportunities that would enable her to contribute to the family’s needs.  Her heart was usually in the right place, though, and I could identify with her trials as a working mom.   Most of the other characters had very strong personalities and were very likable.  The main idea of the book was really thought-provoking.  It made me wonder how God reaches out to his people today, and if it mirrors the methods he used in the Old Testament at all.   Does he try to speak through me?  Do I listen to his words and help to share them with others?  Those are the lingering ideas floating in my mind after reading The Living Room by Robert Whitlow.