Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

10 reviews

beklovesbooks's review against another edition

Terrible book. Hard to like characters. Soft porn for people deceiving themselves that they’re reading something Biblical.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Gore, Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

mr_d8a's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It is a very dark book, but by the end there is hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Well worth the read, if you can stand the first two-thirds of tense life story.

harmshoney's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ohh my.. I have so many words & yet none at all. I am completely & utterly wrecked, changed, & overwhelmed. this is the most beautiful, encompassing, lovely book I have ever read. I am so grateful I can't even begin to explain 🖤

this book is about a woman named Sarah, sold into prostitution at 8 years old. she grew up embracing this life, becoming the most sought after in the industry & called Angel. until Michael.. Michael Hosea saw her & heard God tell him that Angel was going to be his wife. he didn't understand, but he obeyed.

the rest of the story is full of heartbreak & so, so much love. Michael is slowly breaking down Angel's walls with his relentless pursuit & his mighty love. being an example of Christ & his compassion, patience, forgiveness, kindness, gentleness, & more. Angel discovers her healing can only come from one place.. the Father Michael worships.

this story just wrecked me. I really don't even know how else to describe it. it inspired me to pursue the Lord & to pray for my husband. it inspired me to love people & that God's opinion is the only one that matters. it pierced me down to my very core in such an aggressive, beautiful way. I'll never be the same. dramatic? yeah. true? also yeah.

when I finished, I watched several interviews with the author, Francine Rivers 🖤 basically, she's become my biggest inspiration. her testimony is beautiful & she seems to just radiate the Holy Spirit & peace that surpasses all understanding. I wish I could sit with her & let her pour into me. Redeeming Love has also become a tool to help women out of human trafficking. she's spoken at events & donates to this cause with the proceeds.

she's had many women come to her & say, "I want a man like Michael Hosea!!" & she says, "Jesus is the man!!" 🥹 this changed my perspective of the book & I am just so incredibly inspired & grateful. Michael is meant to be an allegory for Christ, & Angel is a reflection of all of us in our own ways.

I'm not exactly sure why - but it seems many people have some misconceptions about this book. Michael is nothing but gentle & loving towards Angel. some seem to think there are moments when he is being abusive, but I didn't see that at all!!

One of my favorite parts of this story, was how Francine covered intimacy so delicately. she was able to explain the intimate scenes in the most beautiful, appropriate way. there was nothing raunchy about it! Truly, it opened my eyes more to how much of a gift sex is within marriage. I'm so grateful she included it in this story!!

I want to reread this book over & over & yet never see it again 😆 it's just so much & I'm feeling so deeply. Redeeming Love is the most powerful work of fiction I have ever read. I am beyond grateful that Francine wrote it. I finished with a hunger to dive into the Word & know my Savior. thank you, Lord, for your redeeming love!! 🙌🏼✨

"𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓?"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

kierasreadingjournal's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

“She destroyed his dreams, and he made her wind chimes.”

I’m going to be completely honest here; I have no idea what to think of this book. I always claim I learn something with every book I read… I look between the lines and see the personal lessons that apply to me as a reader. And while I definitely did learn things with this book, I can’t help but think it could have been so much better executed.

I finished this book in six days. It’s almost 500 pages long.

And while this sounds like it would be a positive, I think the majority of that time was spent searching for and trying to understand the deeper meaning that the author obviously intended.

This story is inspired by the story of Hosea – a story where a God-fearing prophet is told to marry a prostitute who continuously attempts to return to her old ways. It’s designed as an allegory of the relationship between God and His people. (I actually binge-read the whole story last night in an attempt to find any similarities I missed). As such, Hosea is intended to be a representation of God and His love in the story as, I initially assumed, Michal Hosea was to be in Redeeming Love.

And while many people, according to reviews, were able to see God’s love shining out through Michael’s character, I couldn’t see much more than a walking red flag until almost halfway through the book.

And while that may have just been my own fault – my own expectations crumbling around me – that caused that section of the book to be unrelatable and frustrating (and not a few times to think that if I wasn’t already a Christian reading this book, I would want nothing to do with Christianity altogether if it was represented as it was in this story), it still stands to reason that others, knowing the inspiration behind this story, would have gone in with those same expectations.

Surprisingly, even after all that’s said and done, this was the book I was needing at the time.

It came at a perfect season in my life, and while yes, it is full of some less-than-agreeable content and ideology, it still made a positive impact on me and my personal journey.

If only for the quote above and the first time she said his name… 

“Michael.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, Trafficking, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury

While most of it isn’t in-detail, I will admit I was SHOCKED at some of the content that was in it — especially for a Christian novel.

dramagirl2003's review

dark hopeful inspiring sad fast-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

oh my goodness this book is masterpiece. I've genuinely grown in my faith through reading this story, it paints a vibrant picture of all of us. we struggle with separating ourselves from our sinful past, and the shame that comes along with it. we run from God, but he never stops loving and chasing after us. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Incest, Abortion, and Death of parent

bat_029's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

when i put the trigger warnings i realised how fucked up it was, yes it destroyed me mentally but surprise surprise it also became one of my favorite books. I picked it up without reading the trigger warnings, i also didnt realise that its inspired of a story from the bibel, it was a nice surprise , didnt think i would like it much. Some scenes really had my jaw on the floor and my pillow wet from tears but i totally recommend reading it-BYE     T-T

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

196ahunt's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very very slow start (first half really), but a beautiful and thought provoking message.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

allisonshewfelt's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Francine Rivers has crafted such a beautiful and inspiring work of art. I really can't wrap my head around how this romance is unlike anything I've ever read. In redeeming love we follow Angel and Michael. Angel is sold into prostitution at 8 years old and it's all she knows. She despises it but is stuck there and can't do anything about it but she also puts on a mask of feeling when in reality her work has erased every part and emotion of her. Then we meet Michael, a Christian farmer who asks God for a wife. Not coincidentally he spots Angel and God tells him that he must rescue her from this life and teach her how to love.

This book is really deep and has a lot of trigger warnings but it's really powerful. It's a perfect example of how God's unending love can redeem anyone no matter how dire their sins are. Love can overwhelm any evil or darkness and always results in pure happiness.

Angel does run back to her life a few times because of her demons and she's confused on why someone like Michael is rescuing her. She had deep feelings of unworthiness and shame. Michael goes back for her twice similar to how God always comes back for us and forgives us no matter how bad the situation is. It also shows that you really need someone that knows how to forgive multiple times because I don't think she would have changed if he hadn't gone back for her. 

My favorite scene is when Angel leaves him for the third time, not because she's confused but because Michael wants children and unfortunately, she can't have them. She runs away in the best interest of him which really shows how she's grown to love his good natured demeanor. I also love her interactions with the Altman family especially the children. Once Angel realizes no one's going to hurt her anymore and all Michael wants to do is love her, her personality really comes out and she's so sweet and silly. I love her and Michael so much.

I think some people gave this one star because of all the heavy topics but keep in mind this is based off a book in the bible and, unfortunately, there was a lot of prostitution during that time so I think the book is just trying to be as realistic as possible to portray the true message and I think she really wanted to show the dirtiness of sin. I didn't mind the sex scenes between Michael and Angel. I'm not sure why people had a problem with it because usually when you get married you copulate your marriage and married couples in general have sex. It's not bad and it's a gift from God.

The movie was soo good. It portrayed the intensity of the book very well as this is very intense for a christian book. The casting was amazing for Angel and Michael. Even though the movie is heavier there was still some moments of laughter. I still recommend it even if you're not Christian. If you're going to read any book from my reviews, please read this one. It's so impactful and really worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Trafficking, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

leah_152's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you read this & can't relate to it on some level, you need a reality check. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Classism

As disturbing as some of this story is, the hope, love & forgiveness in this book totally outstrip it.

cait's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, and Abortion