My Hands Came Away Red

Love this book! Thrilling yet beautiful written and draws the reader in! I read it first almost 10 years ago and loved it! It took me legit 3 days to read it! Which was fast for me! Still love it now!

This book was offered free on my Kindle and sounded like it would be worth the time to read. I am very glad I choose this offer. I enjoyed the writing style and the development of each character. As the story goes into the journey of the mission trip I really was glad it was not painted as easy and wrapped in a nice 'Christian' bow. I loved how each person was their for different reasons and each came away with a truer sense of themselves, God, family and life. The journey is real and descriptive and the danger our missionarys are constantly facing. I appreciated the details of this particular area of the world. Lisa I appreciate your writing style and hope to read more of you in the future.

I really enjoyed this book. It is the ultimate missionary story, complete with ministry in an island village, attacks by militant Muslims, culture shock, malaria, and teamwork. This story was very exciting and eye-opening about what is going on in Indonesia. I liked almost everyone in the book--everyone on the mission team--except the main character Cori. She was very hard for me to relate to. She never demonstrates strong Christian character. She signs up for the trip in the first place in order to get away from a situation at home. Wrong motive for missions. You can go on a vacation if your motive is to just get away. Mission work is intense. You enter into a spiritual battle. You have to be adequately equipped. I know--I've been on multiple mission trips all over the US and internationally. When I was with those whose motives was love for Christ and people, the trips were wonderful. When I was with those who had more base motives (running away from home for a while, hoping to hook up with someone of the opposite sex, a desire for adventure), it really caused problems on the team. The only right main motive for being a missionary is love for the Lord and a desire to see people saved. Other motives can come after that. A desire for excitement isn't a bad thing--so long as it isn't the main motive. Even hoping you'll meet your future spouse isn't wrong. A mission trip is a great way to meet someone. But again, that shouldn't be the top motive. I am very passionate about this, because I've really seen how horrible it is to be stuck in a foreign nation with those whose hearts aren't ready for the battle. It affects EVERYTHING. There has to be the one great motive to serve: Love for God, love for people. Cori really doesn't show that. She does start to bond with some people in their village. I never really see her faith in God grow. Their experience ends up being scary and traumatic after the attack, and I can understand her struggles to a point, but she never draws strength from her faith. She wasn't spiritually strong to begin with. I think her personality is kind of mean and sarcastic as well. I wouldn't have enjoyed serving on a mission trip with her myself. I liked her five teammates very much (six if you count Mani). They were all very well-written characters with different life experiences that had brought them to that point. I'd kind of like to read a sequel, to see what happens between Cori and Kyle. But again, I'm not sure what Kyle sees in her. She's so mean. I like how the team bonds. I have been on trips with teammates who hated each other, and I can't imagine going through with them what the characters in this story did. Their bond was what got them through it. As a missionary story with a goal of raising awareness of the situation in Indonesia, this book deserves five starts. For content, it deserves five stars. For most of the characters, it deserves five starts. For a main character, it deserves three, so I gave it four.

This is one of the best books that I have read in a long time. When I started reading I thought this was about a one young girl, but reading on you start living with these young people. You feel their pain when their love ones are killed, their fear in the forrest and when one of them get sick. Just when they think they are home free and are caught you feel desprate with them. The thought that some of them must stay behind is so heart renching that I had to grab a tissue. The pain that is suffered trying to come to terms with all that has happend during their ordeal becomes your pain. And the joy when their friends who had to stay behind is found and send to safety. This book is a must read and shows the endurance of the youth when they place their faith in the Lord.

I have read this book about 5 times since my junior year of high school. I’ve loved it every time. I highly recommend this book. The Christian life is not easy because we have Jesus, but it’s worth it. Excellent book!!

This is very easy read which I could not put down and very realistic. It covers the adventures of a group of teenagers who are on a mission trip to indonesia and encounter terrorism. I have been on short term mission trips to indonesia and really enjoyed it. Very well written, it reads like an autobiography and it really makes you think in a good way. The author makes you think about faith and trust on God n a very easy low key way that is easily read by those with or without a church background.

This was the best novel I've read this year. I stayed up way too late reading it a few nights in a row, and I'm still thinking about the story and the characters weeks later.

Many of these reviews are already helpful, so I won't repeat. What stands out as great to me in this novel is how real Cori, the main female character, comes across. Her narration of the action and inner struggles kept me reading until the last page.To me, though, this story also belongs to Mani, the Indonesian pastor's son. Maybe his voice could come through in a parallel novel?Sometimes the other characters came across as lacking depth. Their reactions and attitudes became too typical of each of them, and I was waiting for them to show some dynamism.* Spoiler * The last comment I have is a negative one. Near the end of the novel, Cori experiences a kiss with Kyle and feels alive for the first time after their ordeal. Of course, this is "real" for many teenagers, but throughout the whole novel I was hoping for her to have a breakthrough in her relationship with God. To not just struggle with her faith, but actually experience God in a personal way that maybe wouldn't answer all her questions but still assure her that God is here with her.