It’s been 20 years since Remko and Carrington had to leave the daughter behind in Authority City. She’s grown up, and they have another daughter, but Carrington still suffers from guilt about not being there for her older daughter. Meanwhile, Elise has been fed lies about being unwanted, and believes she is worthless.

Rachelle Dekker’s The Returning is more than just a story about the fight between right and wrong. The characters face the same challenges in their faith that we do. Doubt, questioning if they are doing the right thing, all the what ifs, feeling like they have no value, we struggle with the same problems. Seeing this, even in a fictional setting lets us take a look at where we are and where we need to let go and trust God.

I really enjoyed reading The Returning, the story built nicely on what happened in the previous books and flowed well. With different characters in different areas, there was a need to jump back and forth between them, but this was handled well and the story was easy to understand. The plot moved at a nice pace so that you could follow the events without it dragging.

I fully recommend The Returning (and the other books in the series, The Choosing and The Calling) to readers who like dystopian books that are great to read and leave you with hope.

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for this honest review.

Author Q&A