For This Very Purpose by E. J. Ashmore

Book Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Eliza has accepted life as a Hebrew slave, never to be seen, heard, or loved. After all, she has it good, working alongside her sister for the wealthy Ameneten family. Though unworthy of love, she is free to love others, and she loves her master’s oldest son, Seti (unbeknownst to him).

Only when Moses returns to the land of Egypt to free his people is she emboldened to pray to the ancient God her mother used to speak of, and she prays for the love of Seti, but only if he first rejects his gods and falls for the Hebrew God.

As the God of gods hardens Pharaoh’s heart, He softens Seti’s and pursues him with a love Seti has never known, while also shining His face on Eliza who learns she is seen, heard, and worthy of love.

This is the Exodus as told from both Eliza and Seti as a love story between God and His people, God and Seti, and Seti and Eliza.

My Review:

4.5/5 stars. Biblical fiction—events from the Bible experienced through the perspective of fictional characters—is a genre I've been interested in recently, but this was my first time actually reading one. I really enjoyed it! I liked the characters and loved the character development, but the romance was a little lacking. It was cute, but it felt a bit like insta-love.

Seti's character journey was the best part of this story. I loved how, even early on, you could see him starting to question and doubt the Egyptian gods. I was rooting for him to know God from the start, and I loved the chapter where he first talked to Eliza and learned about her God.

Speaking of Seti and Eliza, the romance was a big part of the book, but I had a few issues with it. I could partly understand Eliza being infatuated with Seti over the years, it felt very unrealistic and sudden for Seti to be in love with her after only a couple interactions. And then there wasn't really much development between them. They constantly thought about each other but barely saw each other.

One other small critique I have is that the POVs were a bit confusing at times with how often it switched. There were little dividers, but sometimes that only signaled a time skip rather than a POV change, and other times my eyes glossed over it and I didn't realize the POV had switched, especially with it being in third person. I always realized shortly after, but sometimes it took a minute.

Overall though, this book was very engaging. I got very invested as the story went on. It was interesting knowing what was going to happen broadly with the plagues but not how each individual one would play out for these characters. I'm interested to read the sequel at some point, but this story ended at a good place that I don't feel I have to continue it immediately.

Content:

Language: None

Sexual Content: Thinking about/wanting physical intimacy; a character dances in provocative clothing; a mention of naked temple slaves; a character becomes "a god's wife" and there are allusions to sex

Violence: Whippings; dead animal bodies; death; wounds and sickness; circumcision

Drugs/Alcohol: Characters drink wine