Not Forsaken: Finding Freedom as Sons & Daughters of a Perfect Father by Louie Giglio
4.5 stars
Not Forsaken tackles the topic of what it means when our earthly fathers have fallen short of being good dads and how it severely impacts and misconstrues our view of God. This book is powerful. This book hurts to read. I made peace with my own father and the hurt that came from being raised in a household predominately ran by abuse from the paternal figure, but it still made me cry. It made me cry because I was once this broken girl who refused to call God a father because I thought it was not only distrustful to God but because I had a lot of baggage when it came to the word “father”. I remember sitting across from my Life Group leader my freshman year of college after giving my life to Christ and how she told me about how she called God a father and what that meant for her as a child who was fatherless. I was angry in that one-on-one. I was angry because I didn’t want God to be my Father. I didn’t want to associate Him as a dad because while I had already forgiven my father I was still blinded and held captive by random memory waves abuse that would bring forth fear, anger, hurt, and loneliness. Somehow along the way, I started called God, “Father God”. When I start every prayer it’s always with, “Hey, Father God,” or “Father God”. I don’t know where the healing took place where I made this change exactly but I do know the minute I accepted God as my Father in every sense of the word true healing took place and I became a Daughter of the One True King who really knew her identity and just pander to Christian phrases and terminology of “God is my Father”. God really did become my Father and this book was like a full circle reminder of the healing process that God did in my heart. Giglio is a fantastic writer and listening to this audiobook was like a sermon series dedicated to God being my Father and how Jesus mirrors this in Scripture as well as walking through what it means to be born again. I love the heart of this novel. I love that Giglio wrote this like a series of sermons bleeding together because it’s powerful. Is this a perfect novel? No. I didn’t always love every second of it but I came pretty close to it. This book has power. If God is your Father and you know that, read this book. If God isn’t your Father yet, but you know Him or believe in Him, read this book. If you don’t know God at all and don’t even know if you believe in Him because your own father failed you, read this book. Read this book and let God speak something to you. He walked me through my own hurt and pain and brought abundant healing. My father and I have a pretty good relationship today. We talk and he often confides in me with stories of true pain from his childhood that he has rarely shared with others and not even with my own mother because with healing and forgiveness came a Daughter of God who learned how to pray for my father and with my father on this earth despite the pain that the past may reflect because I don’t look at my father and see the past anymore and this is something to rejoice about.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.5
Plotastic Scale: 4.5
Cover Thoughts: This cover reminds me of Not That Bad by Roxanne Gay and it also has the word “not” in the title. I subliminally pick up books that look similar.
Thank you, B & H Books, for providing me with a copy of the audiobook of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars
Not Forsaken tackles the topic of what it means when our earthly fathers have fallen short of being good dads and how it severely impacts and misconstrues our view of God. This book is powerful. This book hurts to read. I made peace with my own father and the hurt that came from being raised in a household predominately ran by abuse from the paternal figure, but it still made me cry. It made me cry because I was once this broken girl who refused to call God a father because I thought it was not only distrustful to God but because I had a lot of baggage when it came to the word “father”. I remember sitting across from my Life Group leader my freshman year of college after giving my life to Christ and how she told me about how she called God a father and what that meant for her as a child who was fatherless. I was angry in that one-on-one. I was angry because I didn’t want God to be my Father. I didn’t want to associate Him as a dad because while I had already forgiven my father I was still blinded and held captive by random memory waves abuse that would bring forth fear, anger, hurt, and loneliness. Somehow along the way, I started called God, “Father God”. When I start every prayer it’s always with, “Hey, Father God,” or “Father God”. I don’t know where the healing took place where I made this change exactly but I do know the minute I accepted God as my Father in every sense of the word true healing took place and I became a Daughter of the One True King who really knew her identity and just pander to Christian phrases and terminology of “God is my Father”. God really did become my Father and this book was like a full circle reminder of the healing process that God did in my heart. Giglio is a fantastic writer and listening to this audiobook was like a sermon series dedicated to God being my Father and how Jesus mirrors this in Scripture as well as walking through what it means to be born again. I love the heart of this novel. I love that Giglio wrote this like a series of sermons bleeding together because it’s powerful. Is this a perfect novel? No. I didn’t always love every second of it but I came pretty close to it. This book has power. If God is your Father and you know that, read this book. If God isn’t your Father yet, but you know Him or believe in Him, read this book. If you don’t know God at all and don’t even know if you believe in Him because your own father failed you, read this book. Read this book and let God speak something to you. He walked me through my own hurt and pain and brought abundant healing. My father and I have a pretty good relationship today. We talk and he often confides in me with stories of true pain from his childhood that he has rarely shared with others and not even with my own mother because with healing and forgiveness came a Daughter of God who learned how to pray for my father and with my father on this earth despite the pain that the past may reflect because I don’t look at my father and see the past anymore and this is something to rejoice about.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.5
Plotastic Scale: 4.5
Cover Thoughts: This cover reminds me of Not That Bad by Roxanne Gay and it also has the word “not” in the title. I subliminally pick up books that look similar.
Thank you, B & H Books, for providing me with a copy of the audiobook of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Not Forsaken? Do you like to listen to nonfiction audiobooks? What are some that you would recommend that are narrated by the author? Let me know down below in the comments!
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