phyllish
Written on Sep 24, 2019
When an author creates a character who says and does things that would normally cause me to dislike them and yet shows me their motivation so strongly that I have compassion for them instead, I know this is great writing. Jennifer Rodewald has certainly done this in Red Rose Bouquet with Cheryl's character.
While I was uncomfortable with her as the story began to unfold, I didn't dislike her completely. It was obvious that she had a deep secret pain that caused her to shut herself off from others. To create a shield that would protect her from more pain. Not many were able to see beyond that and some of the characters, including her brother, referred to her as the Ice Queen. Ouch!
I liked that Brock didn't like Cheryl at first. It would have been unreasonable with the way she behaved to have him fall in love immediately. While he had given up a life of fame and fortune to help needy kids, he wasn't perfect, though he seemed a little like he was at first.
Here are some things I loved about the story:
Brock's compassionate heart and the way he saw Cheryl's brokenness and sought to help
Brock's willingness to listen to God even when He told Brock to do things he didn't want to do
The roses and the significance behind them
The way the author made me care about Cheryl and see past her ugly persona. I felt like I understood her in a unique way
The message of healing and hope
There were some things I didn't like as well:
Cheryl, at first. This was by design yet it doesn't change the fact
There were sections at the beginning of the chapters that sounded like poetry perhaps from Cheryl's journal. It was never explained what they were.
The story seemed to have a rough start. Perhaps because I didn't care for Cheryl and partly because of the ugliness I could tell was coming
While I don't often read other reviews before writing mine, there were some things I wanted other's thoughts on. I did see some reviewers question Brock's interpretation of the Lord's urging to love Cheryl, saying he shouldn't have interpreted it as romantic love. Some commented on the fact that Brock was attracted to her and kissed her even when she wasn't walking with the Lord. Um. While it shouldn't be encouraged, it isn't something that doesn't happen in real life. Brock is human (well, in the story he is!) and does make mistakes. While reading this, the story of Hosea came to mind, how the Lord commanded him to marry a woman he knew would be unfaithful to him. So Brock's interpretation wasn't necessarily out of place.
While I have enjoyed other books by Jennifer Rodewald more than Red Rose Bouquet and while there are some hard and ugly things Cheryl and Brock both had to deal with, they were handled with compassion and tact. The subject matter is mature yet without being graphic or describing things that it "shouldn't". I don't recommend it for teenagers though, but do recommend it for women who are looking for a story of hope and redemption.
Read my full review at Among the Reads