Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

20 reviews

anna_iz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

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

amhall11'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Trafficking, and Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, and Murder

bibliophilola97's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

shelblyle's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Amazing book for Christian ladies in a season of waiting for love. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Violence

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.

dancinglemur17's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, Abandonment, and Suicide

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

z0z's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-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: Rape, Child abuse, Trafficking, Slavery, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, and Torture

Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

gabs_parr's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Trafficking

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Sexual violence