Review of The Road to Agape

[Jane Ogwang]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Road to Agape" by Rose Anne Harrison.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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A conversation between Katie and her counselor, Benard, works on unearthing the reason behind her anger and paranoia as a parent of two boys. They realize she was taking too long to heal from over ten years of sexual abuse by her stepfather. Imagine a family where shouting that Step-Dad was in love, yes, romantic love, with their child, wasn't a crazy thing. Well, that was the kind of family that Katie had. Their step-dad had sexually, physically, and verbally abused her and her sister over several years with no help or someone to talk to. Katie clearly needed closure but wondered why her sister Charlie didn't complain as much.

This book, The Road to Agape, by Rose Ann Harrison, explores Katie's journey of finding closure, meeting and accepting new love, finding a career, and helping others escape sexual exploitation. Mike was one of the boys that Jim, Katie's stepfather, had dramatically kicked out of Katie's life in a bid to have her for himself. After several years, Mike returns as a successful Tv star, and around the same period, Katie is convinced to report her stepdad to the police. Katie attempts to kickstart a career by offering a column to the dailies about her romantic experiences with the now-famous Mike. They later team up to uncover sexual predation and human trafficking syndicates in their town. Do they realize how deep and complicated that mission was? Will they be successful with their plan, and does Katie finally get justice after all those years of trauma? These are some of the questions you should get answers to by picking and reading this book.

Reading this book was such a wholesome experience as it explored several themes. The themes of sexual violence and abuse, motherhood, faith, family, justice, murder, and corruption are all substantially traversed in the book. Rose Ann comprehensively examined the sensitive topic of sexual violence in families quite seamlessly and expertly. She addresses the things that fuel it and the emotions wrecked on the victims of these heinous acts. She then amplifies the thing that makes it difficult to stop; the silence of the victims. I particularly enjoyed the conversations with the counselor Benard in the book. They were pretty candid and beneficial. He gave good advice with a significant focus on Katie's emotions while emphasizing the need not to let that affect her current and future roles. I also found some insightful quotes there.

The book's second part, Katie's undercover work with sexual predators and human traffickers, was well-written and action-packed. It contained twists and turns that always had me on the edge of my seat. The author developed the plot and characters well, making the reading enjoyable. In addition, the author used simple and easily comprehensible language.

However, one thing could have been done better. There were instances where the author described some pictures in an album, calling them poses 1, 2, and 3. Including actual photographs or illustrations would have eliminated my feeling that these parts were incomplete. She talked about the people in those pictures and the poses they took, yet gave us nothing to reference. Also, while there was nothing wrong with the Christian aspect of the book, I believe it minimizes the audience of a book that is quite insightful and could benefit many people. I will, however, not factor this into my rating as it is not a mistake. It was very intentional by the author.

Given my concern, I rate this book four out of five stars. It is well-written and professionally edited. I only noticed a few errors while reading it. Adding one or two images in the parts, as mentioned earlier, would earn it a perfect score. I recommend it to Christians who have experienced sexual abuse or want to help others deal with its effects. I have to warn, however, of the violent scenes in the book, which make it only suitable for mature readers. Also, given the sensitive nature of the topics discussed, people triggered by the themes I described should avoid the book too.

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The Road to Agape
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[zynnyx_]

I love Katie’s character. I love that she found purpose and happiness in the long run, and I hope she succeeds in her plan. However, I enjoyed reading your review. Thank you

[Edwardsjay]

I hope this book helps readers who are victims of sexual abuse. Thank you for your honest review.

[Jane Ogwang]

I love Katie’s character. I love that she found purpose and happiness in the long run, and I hope she succeeds in her plan. However, I enjoyed reading your review. Thank you

Thank you for passing by, Zynnyx.

[Jane Ogwang]

I hope this book helps readers who are victims of sexual abuse. Thank you for your honest review.

It sure will. Thank you for the comment.

[Mhiz Vyi Vyan]

I’m intrigued by this plot and why Charlie seemed okay with everything that happened to her. I enjoyed reading this review it was well written.

[Oluchi23]

It is a heartbreaking, to for a young lady to have sexual affairs with someone she sees and calls father. It takes lengthy time to heal but the trauma cannot her. This is a post traumatic stress disorder. PTSD. Thanks for the review.

[Jackbed Karimi]

Katie is the main character in this story.She is a strong woman. I hope this book will help those who were sexually molested by especially by the most close relatives.May we learn from this book.