I recently received a copy of the revised and expanded edition of Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge from BookSneeze, a program that provides bloggers with free books in exchange for honest reviews.
New York Times bestseller Captivating aims to unveil the mystery of a woman's soul and is to women what its predecessor, the bestselling Wild at Heart, was to men. The description on the back cover of the book begins like this: “Every woman was once a little girl. And every little girl holds in her heart her most precious dreams. She longs to be swept up into a romance, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, to be the beauty of the story. Those desires are far more than child’s play. They are the secret to the feminine heart.”
Never having read the original, I cannot comment on what has been revised and expanded. However, I can give my review of this particular edition, which I thought was wonderful. Throughout the book, John and Stasi Eldredge give examples of why and how women may have pushed their childhood dreams aside. With stunning insight, they map out the all-too-common road of a modern woman’s life and show that just because those dreams have been pushed aside, does not mean we can’t find our way again. The path, of course, is through Jesus Christ.
Although the book can be a little “cheesy” at times, it will certainly awaken the heart of any female reader to her own longings and desires to be the beauty, even if they are long forgotten. Men who read this book will gain a whole new perspective on the women in their lives, and I would certainly recommend it to any man struggling to win a woman’s heart. I definitely plan on giving this a second read, and I hope other readers find this book to be as inspiring as I have.
