shelfreflectionofficial's Reviews (844)

I wish I had never started this book. It was very graphic and gruesome and hard to swallow. But you find out all this at the beginning and I had to finish it to know what happens and have some sort of closure, but I would not recommend it to anyone. There are other suspenseful, murder-solving books out there without the graphic details and language used in this book. Don't start it! It will just make you angry and sad and honestly the ending doesn't really do much to resolve those feelings.

I've always liked Steven James' writing. This was an interesting take on some of the familiar Bible stories but with added thought provoking perspectives. A good read.

I really like Dee Henderson books. I was expecting more suspense and action in this one but there was not much, if any, in this book. I enjoyed the story but was disappointed in the book based on her other writings. The story gradually unfolded, but not in an action packed way. It was a slow, 'dramatic', unfolding instead of an intense, suspenseful one.

This was a great read. Francine Rivers did a good job of drawing you into stories you thought you 'knew' all about. Obviously she took some liberties to flesh out the stories as we are not told the thoughts and motives and details of these accounts, but the way she writes makes you really see the other side and perspectives of the 'well-known' passages. It makes you really imagine what it must have been like for them and brings the stories to life. Despite the fictionalized parts of the stories, one thing is certain- the faithfulness and grace of God is not fiction and Rivers picked perfect passages to showcase that. This book is a great reminder that God is always at work in every situation and has a plan. Even when it feels like all is falling apart, that he is far away, or that he must not love us anymore, it couldn't be further from the truth. God is near, he cares, and he will never stop chasing our hearts. We can never have too many reminders of that.

This book has a lot to say about grace and it's all truth. I guess I just wasn't fond of the writing style. I prefer more of a writing style like Tim Keller or Kevin DeYoung. This book felt a little dramatic and repetitive. So my rating is more for the writing style than the actual content.