A little while (ok, a long while) back, I finished that discernment series thing. A friend of mine asked me to keep doing reviews, and I loved the idea, so now y’all are getting reviews the last Monday of every month!! *cheers*
This month’s review is of a book I recently read – Held Captive, by Grace Johnson. I’m usually not a big fan of romances or pirate stories, but this… this completely blew those opinions to bits. 😛 Let’s dive in, shall we?
(P.S. Check out my review of the next book, Prisoner at Heart, here)
Held Captive by Grace Johnson
(As a warning, there might maybe be spoilers in here. So beware. I’ll make sure the spoilers are alerted, but just sayin’. 😉)
Most romances are full of emotions, inappropriate passions, rebellion and overall disgusting behavior.
Most pirate fiction is full of bad morals, cuss words, inappropriate comments and lots of drinking.
Held Captive somehow managed to navigate both worlds superbly, while managing to show the darkness of piracy and yet somehow keeping the romance engaging and mostly clean.
*watches peoples’ eyes widen*
BUT. There were some times I got a little uncomfy. So I’ll just go back that that good o’ pros and cons list!! 😀
Content
Pros:
Language – while I would expect a pirate book to be full of cursing, there actually isn’t that much. Occasionally it’s mentioned that so-and-so cursed, but the actual word is never said. Instead Johnson creatively uses the word “deuce” multiple times. I appreciated that. 🙂
No magic (yay!!!)
Spiritual – the story is about Rina’s journey (SPOILER ALERT!!) from being an indifferent unbeliever to becoming a fervent Christian. There are multiple good influences in her life (i.e. a couple pious pirates (ironic XD) in her crew, the Bennet family, etc.) that eventually lead her to Christ. (SPOILER END!!) I don’t remember any other religions in here, and Christianity is shed in quite the positive light. *applauds*
Cons:
Sexual stuff – more than I would have preferred. (SPOILER ALERT!!) Rina and Xavier kiss quite a bit even before they’re married (one was at their wedding, which was quite the humorous scene, I might add), and they’re described as “passionate” “warm” and “hungry”. (SPOILER END!!) There’s also one scene I wish hadn’t been in there. (Some backdrop: Rina has nightmares frequently, and Xavier usually ends up finding her and comforting her.) Once, after a nightmare, Rina asks Xavier to stay with her. (SPOILER ALERT!!) This results in Xavier sleeping in her bed (nothing really intimate happens, other than some gentle kissing, but it still shows a lack of boundaries I’d expect from Rina but had hoped Xavier would avoid). (SPOILER END!!) Xavier is a Christian, and I’d hoped he would have more restraint. There are also a few allusions to lustful glances, fear of abuse, and (after a marriage), getting someone “into my bed”.
Drinking – Rina Blackheart, the main character, is an alcoholic. You can’t really blame her – she’s been raised among sailors her entire life. However, that issue is never really addressed (at least, not in this book), and we see her drunk once or twice. There are mentions of friends being drunk or parties where alcoholic drinks are served. Nothing is really that graphic, but I was ever-so-slightly disappointed that Johnson never resolved that issue. (However, as I said, I haven’t read the others in the series – maybe it gets fixed in those.)
Neutral:
Violence – there is violence, which is neither gory nor completely undescribed. Rina is a pirate, and so she’s taken peoples’ lives multiple times. (SPOILER ALERT!!) She was traumatized when she was about twelve by witnessing her “father’s” murder and having her own eye removed. We get some description about that. One of the things that really brings Rina to Christ, though, is all the blood on her hands – she feels guilty and unworthy of forgiveness, but Xavier and others gently show her that Jesus will forgive any sin. (SPOILER END!!) So, while there is some blood and deaths and whatnot, it doesn’t compare to movies like The Hobbit. I’d say use your own judgement here!
Messages
Oh, wow, where do I start? XD
Pros:
Rina wrestles with the question of salvation a lot in this book. (SPOILER ALERT!!) In the end, she does become a Christian and gives up her pirating ways, but she’s confused and honestly pretty “eh” about it. (SPOILER END!!) One of her crew members seemed to be a Christian (he talked about God a lot), and one of her other crew members’ wife was a Christian. Once Rina meets Xavier and he finds out about her nightmares, they have several discussions about God and his great love and forgiveness.
I was absolutely thrilled with how pirating was cast in a negative light! Usually when you read a story where the pirate is the protagonist (*cough cough* Pirates of the Caribbean *cough cough*), the author doesn’t address the moral issues of what pirating is: stealing, killing, kidnapping, etc. Pirating is wrong, and I’m glad Johnson showed it as such later on in the story. (That being said, though, in the beginning Rina revels in her freedom as a pirate. It takes influences like Xavier to change her mind.)
As I’ve already mentioned a couple times, God’s love and forgiveness are big themes in Rina’s story. She thinks that she doesn’t deserve his love and forgiveness after all the things she’s done – the people she’s stolen from, killed, etc. She believes this, and I quote: “I live me life ‘cording t’ how I been taught: to steal and kill and revel in it. I ain’t got no conscious, no sense of justice, of mercy. ‘Tis all I know, all I’m gonna know. An’ even if there is a God out there, who be I to care? I ain’t some sinner beggin’ to be saved by grace and mercy. I may rot in hell for all I care.” (SPOILER ALERT!!) Gradually she moves on to this, from shortly after her conversion (quoting again): ” “I believe… He loves me! God loves me! And He’s forgiven me and I’m His child now! And He’s my Heavenly Father!” Beautiful. 😀 (SPOILER END!!)
Cons:
Uh…. none, that I can think of right now. XD Would you look at that? *stares in wonder*
Morals
Pros:
Chivalry – I gotta say that I love the way the male characters in this book act. Very few of them are defiant, inappropriate “bad boys”, nor do they treat women like dogs or property. One thing I found very admirable was the story of how when one brother refused to marry the woman he got pregnant, the other two both offered to marry her instead and claim the child as their own, therefore keeping her dignity in tact. 0_0 And, though he does tease her quite a bit, Xavier treats Rina and every other woman he comes across as a lady. Captain Bennet is the same. *cheers*
Love – this is a romance, so it does deal with the topic of romantic love. I appreciate the way Johnson portrays this, though – realistically (at least, I think so – I’m no expert on romance :P). Rina is in a constant war with her emotions: (SPOILER ALERT!!) first she lets herself like Xavier, even admire him; and then the next minute she’s cursing herself for those thoughts and being angry with Xavier and denying any romantic attraction whatsoever. Xavier, on the other hand, is completely oblivious to his feelings until about a third of the way into the story, maybe more. He does kiss Rina, but he doesn’t seem to realize that his feelings go deeper than temporary passion until three-quarters or so of the way through. (SPOILER END!!) BUT! There’s more to this than just the romantic end of things. Oftentimes Xavier or one of the Bennets brings up God’s love and devotion, and Rina wrestles with how her parents can still love her, even after they find out all she’s done. The Bennets show love their neighbor, no matter her occupation. Therefore, romantic love, God’s love, familial love, and neighborly love are all addressed shed in quite the admirably lovely light. 😉
Honesty – Xavier’s honest to a fault. He tells Rina right off the bat about her past, even if he is a little… erm… tactless about it. *grinz* (I like that character, by the way. :P) He confesses to her why he’s a little rough around her, he tells his father the truth when confronted about kissing a woman he isn’t married to, etc.
Courage – when you have a blackhearted scoundrel hunting for your blood, you’ve gotta be at least a little brave. 😛 Rina shows her bravery whether she’s on her ship, trying to escape her captors, or just battling her fear of her arch-nemesis. Xavier courageously rushes to her rescue one night after hearing a sword-fight (though in the end Rina didn’t need rescued XD) and is courageous enough to confess his love for her (c’mon, that takes guts :P).
Cons:
Erm… *thinks* None that I can really think of. Any bad qualities mentioned are cast in a negative light. So, I’m gonna give this a “none”. 0_0
Neutral:
Murder – yep. There’s death. Rina’s fine with her murders through most of the story (SPOILER ALERT!!) (though, in the end, she decides that that was wrong) (SPOILER END!!), and we see quite a lot of sword-fights and thoughts of death.
Writing
Pros:
Johnson does a superb job with writing distinct character voices (go look at that quote up there in Messages: pros section if you don’t believe me), be they pirates, noblemen, or just plain stuffy carriage drivers. 😛
The writing style is easy to understand but still eloquent. Sometimes I had to re-read a sentence twice, but *coughs* someone has to do that to pretty much any book *cough cough*.
There are some speeches in here that border on preaching, mostly from Xavier and Captain Bennet. However, Johnson does an excellent job of getting her point across without making readers skim pages.
There was one ending to a chapter which automatically made me think, “Ok, I can stop reading now ’cause the next chapter is going to be a giant infodump about Rina’s backstory.” BUT. I was wrong. XD We’ll put it that way.
Cons:
There were a few instances where I thought, “Yeah, that could’ve been worded differently.” Other than that, though, I don’t think I have anything to complain about. 😉
Wrap Up
Here’s the bottom line: if you’re a fan of romance/action-adventure but are sick of all the junk in that genre, Held Captive (buy it here!!!)is the book for you. (Honestly, Grace Johnson is the author for you. XD)
And, although I’ve never been much of a romantic, this book… it may have caused my opinion of Christian romance to shift, if only a bit. 😉
Star Rating: 4.5 stars
Take courage, pursue God, and smile while you still have teeth!!
(P.S. Thanks to Grace for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange for this review!!)
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