Review of Salvation by Noelle Adams

Synopsis: You get to the point where you can just say it. There was never anything special about me, except my father is rich and important. That's why it happened.

It was just a normal Tuesday afternoon. I was twenty-three and thinking about my new designer boots. They kidnapped me for ransom. They raped me before I was rescued. My therapist says that talking about it means I'm starting to heal.
I don't really think I am.

It's even harder to talk about Gideon. He couldn’t save me when it really mattered, so he keeps trying to save me now. He refuses to give up on me, and I can’t make him understand. There are some things you just can’t be saved from.

Warning: Salvation is a love story that follows a difficult path of healing after sexual assault. It is a true contemporary romance, but it addresses very hard issues, including rape and attempted suicide. Please consider whether this book is for you.

4.25 Self-Worth Inducing Stars

Review:

As a female and as a mother, what happens to Diana is one of my worst fears. She is going about her daily life and, because of something that someone else has done, decisions her father has made, she is taken for ransom. Then, she is brutally raped before she is rescued. It is the story that most books and movies never tell because it is something that touches on fears within all of us - that sometimes bad things do happen and the good guys don't get there in time. This book was very difficult to read in that your heart breaks for Diana. She is a relatively normal, healthy girl to start with, and then she experiences something traumatic. The rest of the book is about her survival and, slowly, her healing. Which brings me to one of the really good things about Diana's story - Gideon. 

Gideon knows what happened to Diana, and he continues to try to help her heal. He doesn't try to tell her things will be okay, and he doesn't pretend that it didn't happen. He just keeps supporting her and being there for her. She goes through some really dark times, and, in my opinion, some very realistic responses to the trauma that she experienced. As difficult as it is to read, it is good to read a book that feels like it is authentic to real life. Diana slowly begins to figure out how to cope with her life after the event, as opposed to her life before the event. She and Gideon also begin to grow closer as she learns to accept herself as a woman again and as someone who might want intimacy in her life. 

Much of the ending of the book does begin to describe Diana's healing. She still struggles at times, and will occasionally fall into unhealthy patterns. She struggles so much with her worth and feels that she is broken after her experience. The ending of the book moves kind of quickly, and I wish it had described more of her process and how she and Gideon face the healing together. I could see an epilogue adding a lot to this book, if not a second book. Healing from trauma such as she experienced certainly does not happen over night. Still, I enjoyed reading about Diana's journey and how salvation can often come from within.