The modern retelling of Mary from the Bible. This book was a hard read. Rape is one of the main themes but so worth the read. If this is a trigger I want to warn you. It was a good book and worth the 4 star rating!!!

Washington DC
Current Day

Main Characters:

Mary Madison: Director of several women's shelters
Emma Johnson: Battered woman
Nigel Townsend: Mission Director

This was supposed to be a current day rewrite of the biblical character Mary Magdalene. But honestly, if they hadn't mentioned that at all it would have been just fine. I would not have seen the similarity between Mary Madison and Mary Magdalene.

This was a woman who from an early age was living on the streets or from flat to flat with her mother. At twelve, her life was upended when her mother left her for a weekend with a couple that decided she could earn them a tidy profit.

Her childhood story and eventual redemption was an inspiration to women at the shelters she directed. But what a horrific story it was. Hard to read at times, even though Ms. Kingsbury was gentle with what could have been lurid.

Wonderful

My heart rejoices for those who follow the Lord and who share the truth!!

This rating was tough. Who would ever think that a Christian novel would be rated PG13? But that is what I feel to give Divine.
This book talks about being rescued by God and overcoming abuse, both sexual and physical. The physical abuse is graphic, but Karen Kingsbury does a very good job of allowing the reader to capture the essence of what is happening in regards to the sexual abuse, without having to go into detail.
The Jesus side of the story was a little fluffy, but I felt it shared the message of forgiveness without being over the top.
I read this is one day, so if not for my Rating system, I probably would give it 5⭐️

I found this whole book pretty farfetched and kind of hoky, not because it was very much Christian fiction but because of how stupid Mary and Emma both were when they should have known better and learned from their mistakes. Also the police would have looked further into seeing if the grama was Mary's grama instead of not following up on it so that part was very unbelievable.

This book starts off with some really strong radical Christian propaganda. The author invents a number of statistics that are completely unrealistic about Abstinence only education at a senate hearing and rambles on for an extended period concerning the politics surrounding it. While it is just a scene, it is enough to sicken someone who keeps their feet on the ground concerning the education and mental state of the youth today. I personally found this scene unnecessary and nearly deleted the book from my Nook before continuing on.

The book does continue on to tell a very detailed and graphic story about a couple girls and how they came to and overcame a plethora of abusive situations ranging from Child Prostitution, Sexual slavery, and severe domestic violence. If you cannot handle a number of graphic situations, this book is not for you.

I also did not agree with how the author puts words into God's mouth by having him speak directly to a number of characters and appearing to a few others. While I am often an advocate for artistic licence, I do not find it agreeable to take liberties with what God it saying/thinking/doing. We are merely human and cannot know these things.

All-in-all, if you like intense books and you enjoy "faith-fiction" you may enjoy this book, just be forwarned about the liberties the author takes.

Inspiring

I like how the stories unfolded and how the others could relate and feel the presence of God in their lives!

I planned to read a Karen Kingbury book before I heard her speak. I knew she wrote series stories and had no clue where to start. I chose to stay in the few titles that were unattached from the sets. I chose to read Divine. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Now I'm thinking that that was a good way to start. I made myself read this book. I forced myself to finish it. Not because the writing was poor, or the story wasn't compelling, but because the truth of this story was hard to hear. This book is a retelling of sorts of the often misunderstood story of Mary Magdelene. It is a great book. If you choose to read it, then you must promise to finish it. Pick a quiet spot, make sure you have a large box of tissues, your Bible, and your Grandma's picture or phone number nearby. You'll need all of it. This book testifies to the awesome power of prayer. Not prayer for it's own sake, but the God who hears the prayers and how He works in, around, and through them. Praise God and hug your daughters.

This was the first Karen Kingsbury book I've read and with all of her hype I'll admit that I expected something different. I'm new to reading Christian fiction and I've avoiding it because I worried that CF books would be... well, cheesy and a little unrealistic. Which is unfortunately how Divine came across.

Firstly, Mary and a couple other Christian characters in Divine all seem to have a direct conversation with God EVERY time they pray or even vaguely think about God. The second they think about God, He answers. Which is honestly a weird idea to try to present. Does that mean I'm not saved if I don't hear God's voice in my ear when I'm thinking about Him? No. Obviously not, and while it may just be a writing style to explain that Mary and the others are close to God, it took me out of the story.

Also, it seems fairly obvious to me that Kingsbury has never suffered abuse or struggled with addiction. Which is wonderful for her, but her characters come across as cheesy tropes of druggies and victims of abuse. As I was reading this it just made me think that Kingsbury had never seen someone with a rough past, much less talked to someone with a rough past before.

I love the idea of the story. I like the story itself, but the writing left a lot to be desired. If I were trying to get a new convert to read Christian fiction, I would not have them read this book. If I wanted a Christian book to give to someone who struggled with addiction or abuse, I would not give them this book. I'll try another one of her books, because I hate to write off an author from one mediocre book. Kingsbury does a good job writing about the actual abuse without getting graphic, which I appreciate.

I thought I had read all of Karen Kingsbury's older books so I was surprised and excited when I came across a title I had missed.
Mrs. Kingsbury is a master story teller and fantastic at developing characters.
She does not disappoint us with Divine.
A story about addiction, abuse and sex trafficking.
A story of hope and redemption.

Karen Kingsbury does a wonderful job of telling the story of domestic abuse, child trafficking and drug abuse in the story of Mary Madison who suffered because of all three. Knowing the author and her style, it was easy to guess the ending, but one can not know how Mary’s salvation is accomplished nor how it affects the lives of many others without reading the book. As a grandmother, my favorite character was Grandma Peggy, the woman who never loses faith in God’s ability to reach out to Mary.

Disclaimer: I checked out a copy of this book electronically from the library. I was not required to provide a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.

One of the best books I have ever read. It was very easy to follow the story line, I cried and laughed. I highly recommend this book to ALL readers ❤️