Official Review: Redeem Region versus Strife State

[Maria Esposito]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Redeem Region versus Strife State" by Faith S. Wells.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Redeem Region versus Strife State by Faith S. Wells is a religious novel. The story begins when Faith Frog, Gospel Goose, Mercy Mouse, and Truth Turtle find out that the fence separating Redeem Region and Strife State has been broken. The residents of Redeem Region live in an abundance of health, peace, joy and God’s love. On the contrary, the citizens of Strife State know nothing about God’s love and live in an environment of hatred, gossip, worry, and violence. Strife State is governed by snare snake (the author purposely avoids to capitalize his name), an evil creature whom his subjects refer to as “your lowliness” and “mighty corruptness”. The residents of Strife State despise Redeem Region and its citizens, thinking of them as enemies. In the hopes of appeasing snare snake, Rebellious Rabbit writes a declaration of war and sends Gossip Goat to the borders of Strife State to deliver it to a Redeem Region resident. At this point, Missionary Monkey and Loyal Lamb decide to venture out into Strife State, hoping to deliver a very important message to the residents of Strife State: that love is real, and that God loves them very much. Unfortunately, they are caught by Rebellious Rabbit, who plans on imprisoning them. However, Missionary Monkey and Loyal Lamb hold the key to a riddle that has always kept Rebellious Rabbit wondering: the meaning of love. They promise him to lead him to the Author of Love, and if he is not satisfied, they will return with him to Strife State and go to prison. What will he discover on his journey?

My favorite aspect of the book is the author’s skill in using metaphors that associate talking animals and elements of nature to symbols, values, and sins that are typical of the Christian faith. So we meet Worry Worm who lives in his Worry Hole, Intercessory Octopus who lives in Obedient Ocean, Poverty Possum whose house is surrounded by weeds, and Love Dove who lives at Trusting Tree. The author uses the characters and the plot to convey messages about God’s love, redemption, and sin. This is particularly evident through Rebellious Rabbit’s journey toward God, which the author refers to as the Author of Love. Rebellious Rabbit is stubborn in his pursuit of snare snake’s approval, but deep in his heart, he is curious to know whether love exists. It is only when he dares to humble himself and trust Missionary Monkey and Loyal Lamb, that he is able to reach the Author of Love. Similarly, when Hope Hog picks up the colorful box that contains Rebellious Rabbit’s war declaration, she wonders how something so beautiful could have something so horrible inside it. Through the symbol of the colorful box, the author shows that the real essence of things lays in what’s inside them, rather than in their appearance.

Beautiful illustrations of the characters fill the pages of this book. Although Faith S. Wells decided to place the illustrations at the beginning of the chapter they were related to, I think it would have made more sense to put them at the end. In this way, the reader can enjoy a visual representation of the narration, rather than have to wonder what the illustration is about. However, this does not make me appreciate the beauty and the quality of the illustrations any less, as they added a lot to my enjoyment of the book. Another aspect of the novel that I particularly appreciate is the music sheets that embellish many pages of the book. These songs are easy enough to be played by children, but anyone can enjoy performing them.

Although there is nothing I particularly dislike about the book, I must note that I found the title to be particularly unoriginal. The author displays her fruitful imagination throughout the book, so I would have expected the title to be more original than it actually is. Furthermore, I must note that, although the book is listed as “other fiction”, based on its contents, I would classify it as a children's book. In fact, the presence of talking animals is mostly suitable for an audience of children between the ages of eight and ten. Although I did not detect any profanities, I must note that there is mention of themes like lynching and incarceration that might disturb their young sensibility.

Besides a couple of instances of missing commas and a typo, the book was beautifully written, with vibrant dialogues and characters. I would recommend this book to Christian children, or parents who seek to read entertaining stories to their kids while simultaneously teaching them about the Gospel. I do not recommend this book for readers who do not identify as Christians. I rate Redeem Region versus Strife State 3 out of 4 stars. If the title of the book had been more creative, I would have happily given this book a perfect rating.

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Redeem Region versus Strife State
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[Julius_]

Wow! This is a great review. I agree with you that animal characters mainly suits children. Thanks for the review.

[Avi moyal]

I loved your review, you have a great point of view

[Juliet+1]

Definitely not a book for non-Christians, as you say, but the animal names are adorable.

[MsH2k]

Halfway through your review, I was wondering what category this book was in. Thanks for clarifying that it is indeed a children’s book. I work with young readers and appreciate children’s books, but for some reason I find the names of the characters a bit overwhelming. Perhaps it’s because there are so many of them. I love the story, though. Thank you for a great review!

[NetMassimo]

This seems a religious fairy-tale. Pretty unusual, but I have to confess my ignorance about the subject. Thanks for a review that makes it clear what it's about.

[Maria Esposito]

Wow! This is a great review. I agree with you that animal characters mainly suits children. Thanks for the review.

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment, Julius

I loved your review, you have a great point of view

Thank you so much for your kind comment, I look forward to reading your reviews

Definitely not a book for non-Christians, as you say, but the animal names are adorable.

I know, right? The author must have an out-of-this-world imagination to be able to come up with so many names! Thank you for leaving a comment

Halfway through your review, I was wondering what category this book was in. Thanks for clarifying that it is indeed a children’s book. I work with young readers and appreciate children’s books, but for some reason I find the names of the characters a bit overwhelming. Perhaps it’s because there are so many of them. I love the story, though. Thank you for a great review!

I was confused about that in the beginning as well! There are definitely a lot of characters in this book, thankfully the author focuses on just a handful of them. Thank you so much for stopping by!

This seems a religious fairy-tale. Pretty unusual, but I have to confess my ignorance about the subject. Thanks for a review that makes it clear what it's about.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review and leaving a kind comment, Massimo

[kandscreeley]

This sounds like Hinds Feet on High Places. I love religious allegories like this. In spite of the title, I'm intrigued. I very well may have to look it up. Thanks!

[xoxoAnushka]

It seems like there are lots of animal characters in it. I was also even trying to figure out the genre of the book—now I know that this book would provide a good fit for children. Amazing review btw!

[djr6090]

I liked your review. It sounds like a cross between Winnie the Pooh and Pilgrim's Progress. I have a sister who raised her children without TV and bought loads of books like this. I'm proud to say that my nephews turned out to be admirable young men. Thanks for your time and insight.

[Maria Esposito]

This sounds like Hinds Feet on High Places. I love religious allegories like this. In spite of the title, I'm intrigued. I very well may have to look it up. Thanks!

I hope you will enjoy it. Happy reading, and thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a comment!

It seems like there are lots of animal characters in it. I was also even trying to figure out the genre of the book—now I know that this book would provide a good fit for children. Amazing review btw!

Thank you so much for passing by, Anushka

I liked your review. It sounds like a cross between Winnie the Pooh and Pilgrim's Progress. I have a sister who raised her children without TV and bought loads of books like this. I'm proud to say that my nephews turned out to be admirable young men. Thanks for your time and insight.

I'm delighted to hear that the lack of TV contributed to raising two admirable young men! I don't have kids, but I definitely plan on limiting their TV time and encouraging them to read books that are a good fit for them. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and comment on my review!