When we started LDSreview.net nearly 5 years ago, we were fairly new newlyweds, fresh BYU graduates, and even fresher new parents. We had left the safety of the breadbasket of LDS culture and were embarking on a new life outside of Utah. We had high ambitions for the site: my husband had a degree in Media Arts and was looking to review LDS films specifically, and I was looking for mental stimulation combined with a love of LDS literature, particularly LDS fiction.

For 5 years now, we have enjoyed getting to know the world of LDS media. We have been introduced to artists that we might not paid attention to if we didn’t have this website. We have seen real talent, and we have seen a pure desire of these artists to enrich the lives of others and bring them closer to Christ with their work.

As the main reviewer on the website, I have also been introduced to some downsides of the LDS media culture. To my dismay, I have read far more mediocre LDS literature (mainly fiction) than there is decent and worthwhile. To add injury to insult, LDS literature is far too expensive, compared with mainstream media. Trite stories of love shouldn’t cost the frugal LDS market $15.95 a pop. My wish for the future would be for the main LDS distributors to be more selective in the literature they choose to publish; to publish it not because it’s clean and fairytale-like, but to publish it because it’s a genuinely good piece of literature, one that could transfer easily into the mainstream market. LDS consumers like myself hunger for clean literature, and I know that there are artists waiting out there for a high-powered LDS distributor to make them known.

This desire also translates into the music arena. Far too much in the past 5 years have I seen the same artists release CD after CD of seemingly similar-sounding music. It seems as if the LDS music industry is an exclusive club that few are privileged to enter. When new artists emerge, they are born from a member of the “club”, and these new artists sound incredibly like the songwriter that birthed them. Like literature, the LDS consumer craves good, new, wholesome music (with regards to language and subject content – we don’t want our music to sound like something our grandmas listen to!) We want to hear music about the gospel that we love, but we’d also like to listen to the rock ‘n roll we all love!

Now, as we come up on our 5-year anniversary, we have realized that we can no longer undertake this LDS review website. Our family has grown, we have changed, and while our love for LDS media still thrives, we need to step away from it to make room for the other challenges and blessings we have in our lives.

I’d like to thank our readers. Thank you for your interest in LDS media, for keeping alive the spirit and the message of what these humble authors are trying to portray. Thank you for allowing us to add our insights and for accepting our reviews, good and bad.

Thank you also to the LDS distributors who have supplied us with media to review: Cedar Fort, Covenant Books, and Deseret Book. You are wonderful individuals and we admire your dedication to the LDS genre.

Lastly, thank you to the wonderful artists who share their creations with us, despite the meager pay. Your talent is a gift from God.