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aliciabruning's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
sarahetc's review against another edition
5.0
You know it's a good book when you just have to finish it, no matter what. But you can't because your heart is pounding and you're crying too hard to read the words! But they're happy tears! But still!
mrsjack's review against another edition
4.0
JUST FYI!! I had no idea these were Christian romance novels. The author was a romance writer before she became a Christian. However, her research on the historical aspect of her novels make it so worth the 'story'.
alexandraknaub's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
abbyhopkins's review against another edition
5.0
This book has it all.
The character development is *chefs kiss*. I feel like Rivers created characters to represent every walk of life and gave such great perspective to them. I found that the characters made me think really hard about what I believe and brought up a lot of meaningful questions.
I’m also obsessed with the setting. This takes place right after Christ’s crucifixion in the Roman Empire and one of the main characters talks about the early church throughout the book. This time period has always fascinated me for multiple reasons and it was so cool to see it in a fictional book!
Lastly, there are so many wonderful themes that I think authors find hard to capture all throughout Rivers books. 10/10 writing.
I love this series there’s truly nothing like it!
The character development is *chefs kiss*. I feel like Rivers created characters to represent every walk of life and gave such great perspective to them. I found that the characters made me think really hard about what I believe and brought up a lot of meaningful questions.
I’m also obsessed with the setting. This takes place right after Christ’s crucifixion in the Roman Empire and one of the main characters talks about the early church throughout the book. This time period has always fascinated me for multiple reasons and it was so cool to see it in a fictional book!
Lastly, there are so many wonderful themes that I think authors find hard to capture all throughout Rivers books. 10/10 writing.
I love this series there’s truly nothing like it!
baylithill's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
estherfilbrun's review against another edition
4.0
After reading the first book in this series, I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next! This book was a surprising read, in some respects, but also a deeply redemptive one. Watching characters choose the hard road of forgiveness over hate was powerful, and the historical context was striking, especially considering the perspective the Bible gives on certain places that feature in this book. Content-wise, I was a little disappointed at some of the sin that was mentioned in the book—although overall, it felt like a cleaner read than the first book in the series.
There was much to love and appreciate in this story, and for that, I’m grateful. I’m planning to read the last book in the series as soon as I can, even though I’m not sure how many other books I want to read from Francine Rivers. She is a talented author, and I greatly enjoy her style and ways of showing Biblical truth and history through the medium of story, but some of the descriptions of sin are borderline too much for me at times (thankfully, no instances appear condoning of said sin—and rarely is there more than a mention of it—but it is a common occurrence in these books).
There was much to love and appreciate in this story, and for that, I’m grateful. I’m planning to read the last book in the series as soon as I can, even though I’m not sure how many other books I want to read from Francine Rivers. She is a talented author, and I greatly enjoy her style and ways of showing Biblical truth and history through the medium of story, but some of the descriptions of sin are borderline too much for me at times (thankfully, no instances appear condoning of said sin—and rarely is there more than a mention of it—but it is a common occurrence in these books).
julrpie's review
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
michelle_ltc's review against another edition
4.0
This is Christian fiction from the perspective of the earliest Christians after 70 A.D. A bit cheesy romance but captures the faith of that time-period. Read the 1st in the series before this one.