I read this book in one sitting because it was engaging, and because I find people's spiritual journeys interesting. Parts of it annoyed me. There was a definite air of, "OMG, Christians are being SO VERY PERSECUTED" woven in the tales of how some people responded with scorn to her religious beliefs instead of lifting them up as something worthy of praise. That isn't persecution: that is secular society being as bold with their disinterest in religion as Christians have been in their arrogance towards anyone who is not Christian. Then there was her insistence that progressive measures like making the liturgy gender-neutral or making the readings more modern were "political correctness gone awry" while berating the church for not being progressive about ordaining women or accepting women over a certain age as postulants at convents. A preference for gender-neutral liturgy or modern interpretations is just as valid as ordaining women, and both are the right thing to do. There is plenty of room for traditional and progressive liturgy in the church just like there is for women and men in the clergy.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the authentic soul-searching she did throughout the process of her discernment. It would have been much easier to continue to ignore the issues she faced, to gloss over her own shortcomings, or even to dismiss her attraction to religious life and not go through discernment at all. Instead she faced all of those things (some things more readily than others, as is normal) and came to a better understanding of herself in the process. That was a joy to read.