Sacrificial Love
To Get To You by Joanne Bischof is a contemporary Christian romance and the first book in the Wild Air series. On the surface it is mainly a road trip but delve deeper and you will find hidden treasures.
The main theme is that of fathers. God our Father will never let us down. Earthly fathers are not so perfect. Earthly fathers may leave us, sometimes through no fault of their own. Responses to being left can vary from hurt and anger if abandoned, to grief and love if it was unavoidable.
The theme of hurt is present in the novel. Riley is hurting and has been for years. He has dealt with his hurt in varying ways but none is a healthy response. His latest attempt is to lock up his heart and to shut the world out, however “the only problem with shutting the world out was that it also shut in the pain.” Riley removed himself physically from his painful memories but failed to do so mentally.
Riley hurts badly because he loves deeply. Hurt and love often go hand in hand. Riley is living with one foot in the past and it is affecting his present and will affect his future if he fails to deal with past hurts.
To Get To You is a novel about second chances. An unexpected road trip gives Riley the opportunity to deal with his past, but will he? The reader is reminded that hurting people hurt people. Can Riley move past his own pain and restore the years that the locusts have eaten?
Grace and forgiveness are twin themes running throughout the novel. There are characters, including Riley who need to both give and receive grace and forgiveness, but will they? Will Riley ever be able to see the past from another viewpoint?
There is the motif of nails in the novel, transporting the reader immediately to the foot of the cross. As Pastor Keith shows Riley a rusty nail he says “that’s love and that’s grace…and it was for you.” The nail motif continues as Riley has a two nail puzzle to do on his trip. This reminds the reader that each of us is intertwined with Jesus. We are locked together with Him and He will never leave us even if we prise Him apart from us. It is not in Jesus’ nature to leave us alone.
Within the novel is the theme of both perfection and brokenness, reminding the reader that in our brokenness we can come to our perfect Saviour and be made whole. “It wasn’t the first time something perfect had to be broken so he could be saved.”
Love surrounds the whole novel. The reader can recognise this even if some of the characters fail to see it. Love is presented in many forms – God for His children; teenage love; parental love; sacrificial love. Love is what ultimately binds us all together and motivates us to action.
This is the first novel that I have read by Joanne Bischof and I was totally engrossed, reading it in just two sittings. I can highly recommend it.
You can sit back and enjoy the road trip or you can delve deeper and let the novel penetrate your soul as “some heroes don’t wear capes.”
I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review. No monetary compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.
JULIA WILSON