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A review by jazzyjan94
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
3.0
Redeeming Love is one of those books that I remember reading multiple times in high school. But I don't think I've read it since then. I've been wanting to revisit it for a while, especially once I heard that there is a movie coming out this year. I finally got a chance to pick it up and I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you.
Redeeming Love is an allegorical (I think) of the book of Hosea in the Bible. It is set during the Gold Rush in California and we are introduced to a young prostitute named Angel. All she has known is life in a brothel and has accepted that that is her life after her first attempt to escape from that life failed. One day, a young farmer, Michael Hosea, sees her in the streets and is told by God to marry her. He then tries to get to know her and try to convince her to leave her life at the brothel and marry him. She is then badly beaten by the brothel's body guard and in order to save her life, Michael marries Angel and takes her back to his farm to nurse her back to health. Michael refuses to take advantage of Angel, determiend to prove to her that there are some good men in the world, however she constantly fights his love for her. She runs away to try and get her money back from the mistress of the brothel, but discovers that the building as burned down in a fire. She starts to go back to her old lifestyle, but Michael sweeps in a takes her back home. As she adjusts to life on the farm, she starts to change, however she ends up running away several more times, especially when she realizes that due to events in her past she probably can never give Michael children.
This summary does not give the book justice, I tried to do my best to summarize it without giving away too much.
While I write this review, I am still trying to figure out my thoughts and feelings about Redeeming Love. It should be noted, I don't think this is a bad book, it is a very compelling read, especially when you read why Francine Rivers wrote this book. I think it's hard for me to determine how I feel about this book has more to do with this fact that there are some really gritty and horrible things that happen in this book. I would definitely caution against reading this book if you have experienced some sort of sexual abuse in your past, unless it won't trigger you. Even for others, I would caution against reading this if you are looking for something light and fluffy, this is defintely not that kind of read.
As I mentioned before, Redeeming Love is based on the book of Hosea, which is one of the minor prophetical books in the Bible. In Hosea, God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute (although there is some debate on whether she was a prostitute when he married or if that happened later one), who then runs away from him several times and has children that are from other men. God used this as an illustration to show how He loved the nation of Israel, but they kept turning their backs on Him and worshipping idols. This is just the Cliffnotes version, I encourage you to read the book of Hosea for yourself if you want to read more.
Francine Rivers did a good job of adapting this "story" (for lack of a better term, because it is something that did very much happen), especially with changing the time period it was set in and even the cast of characters. I felt like Michael Hosea was a great character, and he is definitely potrayed as someone who is both godly and flawed. Then there is Angel, who when we first meet her as an adult she is definitely hardened from the life she had been forced to live, but over time we see how love, and the Lord, can help soften a heart of stone. Then there is Michael's brother-in-law Paul, who is just awful until the last 50 pages...but then again, I felt it was a good depiction of those who claim to be righteous but are actually hypocrites, if you've read the book you know what I'm talking about.
There were some fantastic supporting characters in this book and they definitely helped make up the story.
Overall, while Redeeming Love is considered to be a favorite Christian fiction for many people, I just don't know if it is one of my favorites any more. I don't know if it is because I've matured since I read it back in high school, where I am in my life right now, or if it is just covers a heavy subject matter that I needed to be in the right mood to read. I don't know. There wasn't anything particularly bad about it and it was captivating enough to keep me reading, but I didn't love it and I'm not quite sure what about it made me not love it, except the issues it covers. 3/5 Stars.
Redeeming Love is an allegorical (I think) of the book of Hosea in the Bible. It is set during the Gold Rush in California and we are introduced to a young prostitute named Angel. All she has known is life in a brothel and has accepted that that is her life after her first attempt to escape from that life failed. One day, a young farmer, Michael Hosea, sees her in the streets and is told by God to marry her. He then tries to get to know her and try to convince her to leave her life at the brothel and marry him. She is then badly beaten by the brothel's body guard and in order to save her life, Michael marries Angel and takes her back to his farm to nurse her back to health. Michael refuses to take advantage of Angel, determiend to prove to her that there are some good men in the world, however she constantly fights his love for her. She runs away to try and get her money back from the mistress of the brothel, but discovers that the building as burned down in a fire. She starts to go back to her old lifestyle, but Michael sweeps in a takes her back home. As she adjusts to life on the farm, she starts to change, however she ends up running away several more times, especially when she realizes that due to events in her past she probably can never give Michael children.
This summary does not give the book justice, I tried to do my best to summarize it without giving away too much.
While I write this review, I am still trying to figure out my thoughts and feelings about Redeeming Love. It should be noted, I don't think this is a bad book, it is a very compelling read, especially when you read why Francine Rivers wrote this book. I think it's hard for me to determine how I feel about this book has more to do with this fact that there are some really gritty and horrible things that happen in this book. I would definitely caution against reading this book if you have experienced some sort of sexual abuse in your past, unless it won't trigger you. Even for others, I would caution against reading this if you are looking for something light and fluffy, this is defintely not that kind of read.
As I mentioned before, Redeeming Love is based on the book of Hosea, which is one of the minor prophetical books in the Bible. In Hosea, God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute (although there is some debate on whether she was a prostitute when he married or if that happened later one), who then runs away from him several times and has children that are from other men. God used this as an illustration to show how He loved the nation of Israel, but they kept turning their backs on Him and worshipping idols. This is just the Cliffnotes version, I encourage you to read the book of Hosea for yourself if you want to read more.
Francine Rivers did a good job of adapting this "story" (for lack of a better term, because it is something that did very much happen), especially with changing the time period it was set in and even the cast of characters. I felt like Michael Hosea was a great character, and he is definitely potrayed as someone who is both godly and flawed. Then there is Angel, who when we first meet her as an adult she is definitely hardened from the life she had been forced to live, but over time we see how love, and the Lord, can help soften a heart of stone. Then there is Michael's brother-in-law Paul, who is just awful until the last 50 pages...but then again, I felt it was a good depiction of those who claim to be righteous but are actually hypocrites, if you've read the book you know what I'm talking about.
There were some fantastic supporting characters in this book and they definitely helped make up the story.
Overall, while Redeeming Love is considered to be a favorite Christian fiction for many people, I just don't know if it is one of my favorites any more. I don't know if it is because I've matured since I read it back in high school, where I am in my life right now, or if it is just covers a heavy subject matter that I needed to be in the right mood to read. I don't know. There wasn't anything particularly bad about it and it was captivating enough to keep me reading, but I didn't love it and I'm not quite sure what about it made me not love it, except the issues it covers. 3/5 Stars.