I can't believe the content, it's ghastly, my eyes have been tarnished!
Upon reading the book in full, I have come to the conclusion that it is full of terrible horrible things. Like nakedness and sex. It's just all too much for my pure heart to take. Although I am an adult and even a married women I just can't even think about sex or naked bodies, ewww!
Just kidding! I actually love this book! Come on folks, if you could only start living and loving as human, and stop only acting and reacting as a "christian" I think you might be more open to living how we were intended to live and I'm not talking about sex here. There is no shame in sex or nakedness, right? But then again, I love sex. Shocking isn't it? We aren't living in the victorian era so don't confine yourself with a prim and proper attitude that isn't appreciated, be real.
Also, I don't care if it doesn't exactly portray the book of hosea. Also, this book is nothing like a "secular" romance novel- not that I care either way. It was still a great book. I loved it!
Phenomenal...but not for everyone.
First off, let me just say, I am a sixteen-year-old girl. Just keep that in mind.
Now, Redeeming Love is undeniably the best book I have ever read. Not because it is the most well-written novel I have ever read, because it isn't, but because through Mrs. River's writing, I came to personally know her characters. I felt what they felt, I saw parallels to my own life in their lives and I came to truly understand what love is. Simply put, this book changed my life.
Now, there are hundreds more reviews that will tell you the basic plot, so I will refrain. Instead, I will focus on the highlights and lowlights of this book and some of the things that readers might want to be aware of before diving in.
Redeeming Love is honest. It deals with some heavy topics, among them, rape, child prostitution, abortion, physical and verbal abuse, adult prostitution, marital and premarital sex, unwed motherhood, lust, and others. Francine Rivers does not shy away from these topics, not only because they are a part of her story, Angel's story, but because they are also relevant to many of the lives of her readers. She does not go into explicit, graphic detail, but neither does rush past them. She encounters them tastefully, but not with the typical blushing Christian awkwardness. We know that Angel is raped by a grown man. We don't read intimate porn-like details, but we know it happens and we fill in the blanks on our own. Same when she is prostituted as a child, forced to have an abortion, rendered incapable of having children, and numerous other similar situations. She tells Angel's story without dancing around the rough parts.
Redeeming Love is a novel. It is fiction. Therefore...not real. Yes, it is based on the Biblical account of Hosea and Gomer, but "based" is the key word in that sentence. The book is not meant to be taken in a strictly literal sense, so please, don't go into the story expecting that. What you should expect is beautiful parallels between God's unconditional love for each of his creations and Michael Hoseas's almost unconditional love for Angel, despite her past and lingering baggage. (When I say "almost unconditional," I use that because, though Michael's character represents God, he is human. Humans are incapable of giving true unconditional love.)Prepare to have your heart touched by Angel's pain and Michael's love. Prepare to to feel the prodding of the Holy Spirit as you read some things that maybe hit a little too close to home. Prepare to fully realize the power of love, both human and divine. And maybe, prepare to cry...
This content isn't meant to shock or titillate readers. Rivers doesn't write it in because "sex sells." She puts it there because it is real and it has touched the lives of hundred of thousands of women. She also wants to emphasize that NO ONE, not even Angel is beyond redemption. She conjures up the most horrific past possible to show her readers that no matter what you are, no matter what you've done or who you've been, you are not exempt from God's Redeeming Love. And in addition, she wants to show her readers that there is a difference between making love and having sex. Sex is a gift from God. It is pure, holy, and undeserving of labels such as "dirty" or "unclean." Sex between a man and woman who are married is a beautiful thing. (Yes, it is private, which River's respects to a point, although she does allow her readers a bit if intimate access because the transition between simply having sex to making love s a huge part of Angel's healing and redemptive process.) It is only when sex is perverted and warped into something it wasn't meant to be, like pedophilia, homosexuality, or prostituion, that is ceases to be Some readers may feel uncomfortable with such implications and content. That's okay. But if so, this book isn't for you, and its a shame.
There is so much one can gain from Redeeming Love if the prospective reader is willing to step out of his or her Bible study safe-bubble for just a few hours. It will change your life.
Frank Yerby lives -- with a twist
This book is an odd admixture of the old romantic Frank Yerby bodice-ripper novels and a light touch of Christian love. The pages are filled with gold-rush-era smoldering and stifled passion, but they are somehow combined with a morally high-caliber message: Some things are worth waiting for. In today's atmosphere of moral degradation where one denies oneself nothing because one's Self is supreme, this book reminds older folks and teaches younger ones about the infinite rewards of selfless sacrifice and delayed gratification, Christian style.
Here is a story of a man who, beyond human reason, is led to rescue a spectacularly beautiful prostitute even as she rejects him time after time. Sold into sexual bondage at the tender age of eight, Sarah, who is renamed "Angel" by her keepers, lives a sordid life of slavery, abuse and misuse at the hands of men who only want the pleasures of her trade. Her owners want the same things but they also want the considerable money she brings to her owners. She's the highest-priced prostitute in Pair-a-Dice and has no desire to escape because she believes nothing else is available to her; her destiny is set in stone.
But Michael Hosea, listening to God's voice, brings her out of her bondage after she experiences a horrific near-death beating. He is rejected, seriatim, as Angel keeps leaving him. He marries her according to God's command, loves her unconditionally according to his Christian faith, but she packs her bags again, believing she is not worthy of anything good, especially of being loved by a good man.
He follows her and brings her back over and over again until one day God tells Michael not to follow her this time, that she must return on her own, out of love for him. Then, things happen. Angel discovers her mission in life and the rest you will be enthralled to discover. Don't forget to read the epilogue and final pages.
This book is a long-overdue resurrection of the heaving-bosom novel of delayed passion, but it doesn't bring the profane with it. Along with the delayed gratification comes a well-written non-judgmental explanation of how God works in the lives of ordinary and extraordinary sinners to bring them to the realization that no sins are so great that God will not forgive them.
It is my opinion that Francine Rivers has done two things no one else has done so far. She has, without heavy-handed evangelizing so off-putting to non-Christians, told her readers something many don't know: God forgives even when mankind (and womankind) don't think it is possible. Second, Rivers has created an exciting and inspired novel for all - believers and non-believers. Frank Yerby would be proud. I know God is. And I was enchanted out of my socks by this book.
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