We all have one thing in common. . . we all bear the image of God.
In this anthology you will find works that celebrate life—no matter the size or capability—by the following April Barcalow, Shana Burchard, Malissa Chapin, Liz Chapman, Alyssa Charpentier, Audrey Colman, Sasha Davis, Cheyenne Farr, Stephanie J. Gibson, Heather Griffin, Kim Griffin, Abigail Kay Harris, Abrigail Julian, Eleena Koep, Vannah Leblank, Katja H. Labonté, Jessica Musgrove, Jemima Owen, H. Michael Shultz Jr., Storm Shultz, Megan Soja, Heather Spiva, I. Sydelle, Mark W. Terpin, and Abigail Thompson.
Yes, I have a story in this collection, but that does not influence my rating or review in any way; the following is my honest opinion. I won’t review each of the stories, poems, and articles separately because it would take much too long, but for the most part they are well written and beautiful, and each is filled with heartwarming, nonjudgmental love and truth. It’s an encouraging, inspiring read and I cried a lot over it. I’m so blessed to be a part of this collection. <3
Even though I only knew two of the authors in this anthology, I knew I had to sign up for it right away. Pro-life stories deeply interest me, and I was so pleasantly surprised by the number of nonfictions in here. I knew there'd be one or two, but I almost think the majority were either nonfiction or poems. And I loved that. Nonfiction pro-life stories are even better. I'm not going to review or even rate each story this time, because the collection is simply too big. And many of the stories/poems were very short. But I will say that on the whole, this was an excellent book. Do I recommend every story, or even every nonfiction story? No. There were several, mostly around the middle of the collection, which I wouldn't agree with our wouldn't recommend because of other reasons. But honestly, for a collection with so many stories and so many authors and especially so many authors that I'd never even heard of, and especially with this particular subject matter, there were really surprisingly few disappointments. The topic was handled so well even in the fictional stories. Yes, I would be very careful who I handed this book to, and I'd say it definitely has a target audience or audiences and it isn't for everyone, but for those within that audience range, I would highly recommend this anthology. It covers many different topics under the general pro-life theme, such as abortion, miscarriages, adoption, and branches even within those... And all done so well and in a way that didn't make me uncomfortable while still doing a good job at presenting the very important messages. An excellent anthology.
This book was stunning, I have never read an anthology that is so divinely driven to share God's love through stories, poems, and messages. I don't think I've cried or become teary-eyed through an anthology quite like I have with this one. These stories and poems have deeply touched me and this anthology is beautifully powerful. Some of my favorite pieces in this book were - My Precious Baby by Eleena Koep - Choose Life by Megan Soja - He is Yours and October by April Barcalow - A Not-So-Secret Revelation by I. Sydelle - Small and Precious by Jessica Musgrove - The Only Goodbye and Mama's Arms by Storm Shultz This anthology was so beautiful in so many ways and I highlighted and made notes where I was given revelations and insights from my own faith and understanding of the Lord's character as a father, a Savior, and a protector of life. This anthology gives such a powerful message for us Christians to stand together when it comes to the depravity of abortion and what it does to mothers, fathers, and the children. These authors showed so much bravery in displaying raw emotion and feelings about stories that came from some of the hardest portions of their lives. This series of pieces deserves a spot on everyone's bookshelf, I will be spreading the word on this anthology when it releases and will be buying a physical copy to annotate. I have so much praise for this book and it deeply touched me as I am someone who is pro-life, who loves little ones and loves the joy they bring, and I know how much God loves his children...especially the lost ones. This anthology deserves so many more stars than just five. This anthology gives vital messages to those who have dealt with some of the hardest things possible when it comes to being a woman, and the messages of love, hope, triumph, faith, and so much more shine through the pages. Absolutely beautiful.
I have known for awhile now that I wanted to dig deeper into pro-life activism than merely posting on social media. I had been praying for God to open doors to get encouragement, love, and support into real people’s hands.
Over a month ago, I was contacted by a lovely follower who informed me there was a pro-life anthology accepting submissions. I quickly asked for the information because I knew I needed to be a part of this. Let me tell you I have never as eagerly checked and rechecked my DMs for the information on a specific submission. Finally — it was only like fifteen minutes later 😅 — I was given the information.
“Seeing Ghosts,” is a story that holds out hope in the midst of grief. Its aim is for one of extending mercy to a situation that we might harden our hearts to because it’s easier than feeling the grief of these real situations. I hope the story challenges you to hold out forgiveness to someone who has hurt you in ways unimaginable. I pray that it challenges you like Christ challenges every believer in Matthew 18.
The stories in this anthology breathe hope. They uplift, encourage, and convict in a God honoring way. I have truly been blessed by all these stories and I can't wait for you to read Image Bearers.
Wow!what a beautiful powerful anthology! So many unique styles, characters, and settings all pointing to the common theme of Image Bearers. All are made in the image of God from conception. Every being is alive. Unique. Sacred. Life is to be protected and nourished. Not something to be discarded as it has become common to do in our sad world. This book needs to get into as many hands as possible and I 100% recommend you to read it.
**I received an ARC copy from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. All comments, opinions, and thoughts are my own.
This is one of the best anthologies I’ve read in a while. It mingles and melds encouragement and impactful truth just as it does poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. The non-fiction pieces were surprisingly good, and there were some gems among the fictional stories as well. (I’ve never been great at reviewing modern poetry, so I’ll just leave it at that.) My favorite stories included “The Road Back Home”, “Seeing Ghosts”, “Matthias Luis”, and many more. I wholeheartedly recommend this lovely anthology to anyone with a passion for the pro-life movement.
I would like to thank the author for giving me a free ARC to honestly review.
This story blew me away! It's a symphony of stories and poems, each striking a different note, but united in harmony of theme. This Anthology illustrates the beauty and miracle of life without shying away from it's hardships. This isn't a Christian cliche or judgemental hit piece. If you have ever faced infertility, miscarriage, or abortion, this is a must read. Balm to the soul.
i m a g e b e a r e r s an anthology by Honey Soul Press ✨✨✨✨
Ages 18 up, unless you've had to grow up fast. <3
This is my honest experiance with this book while still trying to honour the vulnrability & passion for each author even though I liked some a lot better than others: overall each pro life message was incredible, and its not just stories of crisis pregnancies.
Lots and lots of pain, big questions, sorrow, grief, and stress, but also shimmering hope, healing, the joys of family, and love. I was eager and excited to read this, and some stories (and one-liners within) were like notes straight for me, touching deep places in my story even though it is very different from all the ones portrayed here. Over all this was a poignant project to this message: life is precious and sacred at any stage, and there is hope in the midst of difficult situations resulting from that. The diversity of styles (short story, flash fiction, non-fiction, and poetry) was delightful, and I have to especially commend the excellent poems! They were a real joy, and very moving. Though in the diversity there was also a diversity of skill, and that makes this really rather tricky for me to review, as I want to be honest but also not push aside the beautiful messages for some lack of development originality in my opinion. I think it's one of those cases where I just honour the ones that especially stood out to me, and let the others do so for someone else! I skipped several for various reasons, but they'll probably be huge blessing to someone else. I just can't get aside from the feeling that many if not most of the fiction could have had more development for our side characters and main ones, too, sometimes. In an anthology that speaks about the value and beauty of each individual life, that could have been shown stronger in how they developed each and every character. This is my honest critique of how the stories were told, but what the stories were <1>telling1> is of course 100% incredible, powerful, gorgeous, life-changing, and very likely life saving. I LOVE that this is a project, I loved reading it, I love the Press name, and the soft purple of the cover in real life looks so so nice, especially on the lovely fat spine. It was an honour to be allowed to read these intimate, deep, honest and raw tales from the writer's hearts, man I believe born from first-hand living. Hats off and clapping with tear-wiping for the non-fictions. Thank you for sharing your story with us. We are very moved, encouraged, and empowered. <3
SHOUT OUTS!
Hi, these are for the authors of the below, as these ones meant something extra to me personally, wether as a whole, a life-touching one-line, admiration of concept and message, and/or overall emotional and spiritual effect. In no particular order.
✨ a l l the poems of all their kinds, and namely the ones by Mark Terpin -short but powerful, beautiful, spurring; Good Days (and everything else) by Storm Shultz- delicate, stirring, pictoral; The Miracle by Heather Griffen-unexpected, very impressive word and meter skill, interesting; ✨ Time & Tide by Jemima Owen ✨ A Mother's Heart by Kim Griffin--one of the more light hearted stories in here, I loved the solid and admirable grit of little (then teen) Hope :D ✨ Small & Precious by Jessica Musgrove--for the topic she spoke of, this was more uplifting, grace-ful and joyous than some of the fiction, and for that I am grateful <3 Really helpful tbh. ✨He is Yours -April Barclow--very fluid and reaching up to a powerful touching ending, this one drew me right in and though it was super short it didn't need to be longer. ✨ Known- Stephanie Julia Gibson--if you like pro-life non fiction, this is outstanding.
Runner up shout out to H Michael Shultz Jr for giving a very skilled/professional yet warm style entry to this volume.
To be honest, some of these are very very heavy. Take care of your heart should you read!
Bonus shout-out ✨"The Road Back Home" ✨by Liz Chapman--loved the unique Aussie setting and vibes, so good! And even if it was a bit sudden in a certain action from a character, this story spoke of healing, and hope, and God working things for good and guiding people where he wants them and I think as writer's i's our duty to not just meet people in their pain but show them hope, and healing, and that happiness again is possible. That there are things worth fighting for. Anyway, those are just my personal little thoughts. I think I have more, but I'll stop here. :)
May not be for everyone, but the message is shares in so many tender and important ways its: every life is precious, valued, and you are not dirty or beyond healing, and God has good plans for you, knows you better than you know yourself, and loves you deeply deeply deeply.
This book had me on a roller coaster of emotions. From tears to giggles and everything in between. This book is stuffed full of amazing stories and poems that impress on the reader the importance of us all being made in the image of God. My personal favorite was The Grand Scheme of Motherhood by Shana Burchard. This book has the potential to change lives and hearts.
I really enjoyed this anthology. While I didn't necessarily agree with or would recommend every single feature in the book, I still found myself crying and cheering as I worked my way through the pages. I love that every single story showed the importance of human life.
As expected because of the topic covered, some of the subject matter was very heavy. I would be cautious before handing it to a younger reader. I also wouldn't give it to someone who recently experienced miscarriage or infant loss. Some the imagery would be a lot in the wake of fresh loss, especially.
Amazing anthology that brought me to tears at times. I really enjoyed this pro-life collection of poems, short stories, and personal essays. Though sometimes it became preachy I still appreciated the relentless care for and concern for human life. Thanks to the authors for my ARC; all opinions are mine.
Hard themes are tackled here, but with such love and tact that you won't want to put it down. From poetry to short stories and non-fiction, this anthology is a beautiful masterpiece celebrating life and bringing a fresh, genuine perspective on a topic that will never get old.
This anthology is heartfelt and hard-hitting. It is not without bias, and in this case, that’s a good thing. The purpose of this collection is to be a light in the dark landscape of unwanted, unexpected, and difficult pregnancies. More than political rhetoric, it is a passionate and biblically based argument for the sanctity of life beginning at conception.
It’s also a collection of stories – some fiction and some nonfiction – poetry, and artwork. Each entry is no more than a few pages long and followed by a relevant Bible verse. The entries are at turns beautiful, gut-wrenching, encouraging, logical, and compassionate. There is no hated. Each piece is honest, even when it is painful, and leads to hope and life. The only negative I found is a piece that improperly handles the doctrine of original sin. I’ll leave that soapbox for another day.
It’s not my place to impose my conviction on anyone else, or expect anyone who is not a follower of Jesus to have the same morals. It is, however, every person’s place to speak for those who cannot and fight for justice and truth. This anthology does just that. I am so glad that this work exists and am happy to support the authors in their stand for life.
The Verdict Image Bearers sets out to discuss and demonstrate the preciousness of every life with a foundation in the biblical concept of humanity being made in the image of God. The pieces are quick and easy to read in a single setting, but the topics they address and situations they detail run the gamut from exciting to heartbreaking. With a full span of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and artwork, there is sure to be something that will appeal to any reader looking for pro-life themes. Because of the subject matter, I recommend it to teens and up with a content note that should be rather obvious. Characters reference making poor decisions and endure the consequences of traumatic situations. The specifics are usually vague but include mentions of drugs, abuse, mental health struggles, and premarital sex. This probably isn’t a book that I will sit and read through entirely again, but I will likely pick it up from time to time to revisit some of the poems and possibly other pieces. Five stars, with an awareness of the context and purpose for which the collection was compiled.
This anthology is so powerful, so full of emotion, truth, hope, faith that I didn’t only mark a few passages but almost half of the book.
I usually don’t go for short stories or poetry, but I appreciated every piece of the book even though of course some of them spoke to me personally on a deeper level than others and I’m sure that will be the case for every reader.
As expected I cried a lot. But there is so much hope, so much love, so much faith and healing in these stories and poems, that the book didn’t leave me devastated but strangely connected to these authors I know nearly nothing about.
I pray that this book will reach the readers that need support, encouragement and the knowledge that every human being, no matter the size, the capabilities, the age is worthy of our love and protection and is already loved by God, who breathed everyone of us into existence.
I want to say thank you to the authors for speaking up for those who can’t. For being vulnerable, sharing your pain, your loss, your grief, your hope and your convictions with us. For touching hearts and hopefully for changing minds.
We all have one thing in common… we all bear the image of God. No matter our size or capabilities, we are image bearers of the One who loves us most.
* Thank you to the authors for letting me read an advanced copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily and the expressed opinions are my own.
Image Bearers:An Anthology is filled with touching stories, poetry, and spiritual encouragement. There are many short stories and poems born from the authors' experiences and others that are fiction. Some of the life affirming topics touched on are handicapped individuals, miscarriages, abortions, and adoption. I appreciate the different perspectives of the authors and the way they encourage the reader to value human life as God intended.