‘What’s the one thing you love so much that you could never live without it? Your favourite pillow? Attention? Clean underwear?’ DiMarco asks her readers to consider questions like this and others, to help them focus in on what their obsessions are, both good and bad, ‘light’ and ‘dark’. 

She encourages her readers to work through a number of exercises at the beginning of the book to help them come to a better understanding of what makes them tick, in order that they are able to deal with idols and put God back at the centre of it all. She challenges her readers: ‘If you keep doing what you’re doing and living like you’re living, you’ll keep getting what you’ve got – is that enough? Or do you want more?’

Idol Girls covers a variety of topics, from romance and food to worry and the internet – looking at each of them (and other issues) and the way in which they can become idols in our lives. DiMarco then offers practical, biblical solutions and draws a picture of what life can look like with God back at the helm. 

What I like is that she doesn’t ever pretend that this will be an easy task – she constantly asks her readers to be really honest in their self-analysis and leads by example – admitting the areas that she herself struggles with. 

Visually, the style of the book is similar to any teenage girls’ magazine or chick lit novel; from the Paris Hilton-esque tiny dog and handbag combo on the front cover, to the internal design of the book – the images will resonate with her young female audience. Hungry Planet books (founded by DiMarco), describe themselves as having been written for the post-modern, multi-tasking generation and both the style and voice certainly reflect this.  

What I liked about this book though, is that DiMarco’s message isn’t compromised or watered down by the informal, trendy style. Instead, the design helps carry what is undoubtedly a tricky message for any of us to wrestle with, and make it easily digestible for her audience. The book is interspersed with Biblical and contemporary examples to highlight particular points and diMarco ensures she keeps her readers’ attention with short (but probing) tasks along the way. This would make it an ideal book for either individual or a group study.