Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

28 reviews

mrs_faith_owens's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.25

Redeeming Love is a beautiful story mirroring the story of Hosea from the Bible. While it is very dark and deals with several sexual themes, it is less explicit than most romance written today. Two of the themes that I think were handled very well in this book are religious bigotry and the idea that one’s Savior must be God and not another person. Instead of siding with the judgmental churchgoers, this book focuses on the redemptive power of God. When Angel begins to see Michael as her savior, God pulls her away to find Him. All that being said, this is a fantastic book, but take the content warnings seriously. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape, Death, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Sexual content, Suicide, Infertility, Incest, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Sexual content, Rape, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Pedophilia

Also contains: Prostitution: minor and moderate Childbirth: minor and moderate

rhythmofryn's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Pregnancy, Rape, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Infertility, Pedophilia, Incest, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicide and Antisemitism

ashdawn's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

This was such a hard and dark book, it made me cry and I am not okay. But it was SOOOOOO GOOD. 

Done through a very solid understanding/retelling of the book of Hosea, it deals with a lot of hard topics and trauma, and redemption and healing. It was so beautiful, and spoke to my heart. I honestly can't believe it took me this long to read it after having it be recommended by a friend years ago.

That being said, though I wouldn't say there are graphic details, there is a lot of mentions of very adult themes like sex trafficking. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Child abuse, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Rape, Pedophilia, Infertility, and Infidelity

quillathe_23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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

There may be triggers for people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Incest, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abandonment

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Trafficking, Abortion, Emotional abuse, 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.

dayna800's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Abortion, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Incest, and Emotional abuse

readsbynaia's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Child abuse, Rape, Incest, and Grief

natgeographic's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

4.5

“how many times did you cry while reading this?”
“yes.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking and Infidelity

Moderate: Child abuse, Abortion, Grief, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Infertility, and Physical abuse

dramagirl2003's review against another edition

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

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

meihessen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Incest, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Infertility, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gaslighting, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Abortion, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault