The Atonement Child

Francine Rivers

Summary: 
In one horrific, terrifying moment, Dynah Carey’s perfect life is shattered by rape, her future irrevocably altered by an unwanted pregnancy, her doting family torn apart.

Her seemingly rock-solid faith is pushed to the limits as she faces the most momentous choice of her life-to embrace or to end the untimely life within her.

Plot:

This is a very good story, one that portrays a hopeless situation and yet gives hope. Francine is probably my favourite Christian fiction writer, because her books always come from the heart, and her writing and stories are all extremely honest. This is the second time I’ve read this particular story, and even though I knew exactly what was going to happen I still enjoyed reading it. That, to me, is a sign of a great book.

Characters:

The characters are all very relatable, even if you haven’t been in the same circumstances as they are. Dynah, the main character, is a good person, but she’s not too perfect to be believable, just the way a heroine should be. Joe, Dynah’s best friend, is probably my favourite character, coming from a violent background he turned his life around and is a loyal friend and an all-around good person. None of the characters are too good to be true, and none of them are completely hateful, which, if you’ve read my previous reviews you would know, is how I prefer these ‘realistic’-type books to be.

Who should read this:

13+, as this is a Christian fiction book, obviously there is no language or explicit content. However, the issues discussed in this book are violent and Francine is a very honest writer, as I’ve said before. She doesn’t describe everything in detail, but it’s enough to make this a book that will require a certain matureness, in my opinion. If you’ve been through something similar to Dynah’s story, this is definitely something I would recommend for you. Even if you haven’t been close to circumstances like this there are so many other issues addressed in this book that you will probably be able to relate to at least one of them.

My rating:

I loved this book the first time I read it, and the second time was no different. It’s not my favourite of Francine’s books, but it’s definitely higher up on the list. 4/5.

Quote:

“Everyone wanted to be the best. Best student. Best servant. Best Christian. They got caught up in it, pressing and pushing until they forgot whom it was they were trying to please.”