I really enjoyed this! Inspirational stories like this can be tricky, but I thought Todd Burpo did a great job at retelling this story, keeping the reader engaged, and not harping. I thought it might get a little preachy, but I never felt like I was being talked down to. More than anything, I feel a renewed sense of hope and faith, which is what I believe to be the real purpose of stories of this nature. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this. 
 I will say, it's disheartening to see so many terrible reviews of this book. Not based on the writing quality or characters or tone, but simply on the fact that this book is based on faith and religion and Truth. And even more disconcerting is the hundreds of "likes" on these negative reviews. I can't help but wonder if any of these people have actually read Heaven is for Real. If you're questioning the authenticity based on reading this book AND the Bible, then by all means. I'm currently reading the Bible (I'm at the beginning of Deuteronomy reading chronologically), and one of my main purposes for reading the Bible is to know fact. To better tell if stories in books like Heaven is for Real actually have some plausibility. But if you're judging this book purely because it's about God and you don't believe in Him, then I'll pray for you that your eyes will one day be open to Truth.