Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

7 reviews

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.

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

milpeaches's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Beautiful story, highlighting God’s love. Very enjoyable but would recommended being in a good headspace when reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Child abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Grief, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Incest, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Trafficking

cali's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

Graphic: Death of parent, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Incest, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

carabrown's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

2.25

Pros: You’ll read this book in a flash. 

Cons: I felt like I was reading a dated or just not-my-speed version of Christianity. 

There should be tons of content warnings for this book - incest, rape, infertility, etc. 

I wished that in the end Sarah had stayed in San Francisco helping others find a better path (one that they freely chose for themselves, unlike Sarah, whose decision was made for her - even if Michael wants to say she was “free” the whole time). She seemed so purpose driven there - loved that for her.

Ultimately, everyone finds God through a different path - I just didn’t like that the first 3/4 of the book felt like the wrong way to evangelize.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking and Rape

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Incest, Infertility, and Sexual content

writtenbydnicole'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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

fbzcab's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion and Incest