Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers Review

 Hello Bookish Friends :)

A couple of weeks ago,  I finally did a thing guys. I finally read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. I've been hearing about this book for ages, but I'd never got around to reading it. I decided I desperately needed to change that fact, and while I do think this read is probably not appropriate for anyone under the age of eighteen, it's an absolutely amazing testament to the transforming power of God's love, and I can't wait to talk about it today with you all.

I will however say, that I don't expect my review to ever be able to do this book justice. It's been read and reviewed thousands upon thousands of times, and I'm not even trying to compete with that. 

However, I do hope that even one reader stopping by my blog will feel compelled to give it a try, and that would honestly be good enough for me. 

God is sooooo good guys, and I love amazing stories that remind us all of that fact.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers:

Source: Libby App

Publisher: Multnomah 

Publication Date: 1991

Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical Fiction

Synopsis:

California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael Hosea obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance her frozen heart begins to thaw.

But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she can no longer deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does…the One who will never let her go.

A life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

If you pick up Francine River's Redeeming Love, and it doesn't cause you to want to evaluate your relationship with God, I'd be pretty surprised. I know that this review will never be able to articulate just how amazing and profound this beautiful story of redemption is, but I'm still going to attempt to try. This was a book that I'd had recommended to me over and over again, but for some reason I never got around to picking it up. I'm so glad I finally got the chance to read it, and I love how the entire romance points to God's never ending grace and sacrificial love to each and every single one of His precious children. No one is ever too far gone to be redeemed by the power of God's love, and while I absolutely adored Michael and Angel's redeeming love story, I enjoyed even more that it represents God's great love for us.

We first meet Angel as a young girl who has nothing but horrific circumstances come her way. Her dad doesn't want her, her mom dies after making a living as a prostitute, and she's sold into prostitution at the tender age of only eight years old. So begins a decades long lifestyle for Angel; one she fears she'll never truly be able to break away from. Michael Hosea sees Angel walking down the street one day, and feels God telling him that she's meant to be his wife. However, he's determined that God must be mistaken, especially since Angel rebuffs every attempt Michael makes. However, when horrific circumstances leave Michael no choice but to marry Angel, in order to save her from evil people who mean her harm, he listens to God's prodding, and takes her as his wife. Marriage isn't easy at the best of times, but Michael and Angel are already starting everything off on the wrong foot. Michael has much to learn about offering sacrificial love. Angel has much to learn about accepting sacrificial love, and both have to be willing to give God everything before their marriage can ever truly become what He intends it to be.

While I've read quite a few reviews who criticized the story as they didn't like how Michael "saves" Angel by forcibly marrying her, I didn't take the story that way. Instead, to me personally, this entire story points to the fact that nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible for our amazing God, who chooses to work in our lives because He loves us. He will never stop pursuing us, even those of us who, like Angel, feel like we could never truly deserve His never ending grace and mercy.

I fell head over heels for this heart wrenching, beautifully told story, and I only hope that the movie does it justice, and brings the truth of God's redeeming love to even more that need to hear it.

Final Rating: 5/5.

I can't possibly recommend this enough.

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owner. 

Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you all have a great day!