Thursday, February 4, 2010

Review of Revolve 2010

A Biblezine? What is that? These were my thoughts a few weeks ago as I stood in front of a display of teen books at my local Christian store. Little did I know that I would be reviewing a Biblezine soon, Revolve 2010. Filled with shiny, eye-catching pictures and plenty of awesome features for girls, this Bible has the look of a magazine, but it comes across without any celebrity gossip or immoral advice and/or images. It still has the beauty advice, healthy tips, and the sections about boys.

The visual appeal of this Biblezine is pretty awesome. Different sections of the New Testament and brightly arranged in the book with scattered articles. The Biblezine really looks like a magazine, and I believe teen girls will be able to find that they enjoy the book.
Here are some of the cool features:
~Three music downloads from Stellar Kart, Britt Nicole, and Group 1 Crew. (Downloaded them myself. All awesome!)
~Book suggestions for Christian teen girls today. “Revolve Book Club” (I will definitely check out several of the suggestions)
~Blogs from Biblical characters (Awesome, and the templates all look like real blogger templates)
~Sections with interesting statistics and ways we can do good to others “Make Your Day Matter!”
~Sections with interviews with the celebrities that were a part of the “Word of Promise Next Generation” audio Bible.

Though this Biblezine has a lot of cool features, it just seemed a little superficial to me. I felt like I was being fed milk instead of the meat.
~The Revolve 2010 Biblezine includes clothing advice, fitness advice, and beauty advice. These things can often be harmless, but it is easy to get obsessed with these earthly things.
~The text messages from God tidbits here and there made me raise an eyebrow.
For example,
“D Lord l%ks dwn frm heaven & sEz evry pRsN//ps33:13" [p.51]
Being a person who does not text (and yes, I am a teenager), some of the verses took some puzzling out. I sort of felt like the Bible was being heavily toned down for girls, not just the text “msgs” but the Bible portions also. Of course, many others will like this section, rightly saying that it is "relevant". This is just my opinion.
~The book’s articles really didn’t get into the real issues. Some obvious ones like being obsessed over the internet, hiding things from parents, and cheating are mentioned, but I didn’t feel satisfied. I just wasn’t challenged. My eyes weren’t opened.
~There’s a section called “Green Girl” about eco-friendly suggestions. Yes, it’s very important to be stewards of the earth God has given us, but we were made to have dominion over the earth and use it for the glory of God, not be slaves to it! The Biblezine just didn’t address that.
~One section mentions yoga as a good way of excercise. Yes, it is, but the spirituality behind it must be watched for.
~In the first interview with a cast member of the Word of Promise Next Generation audio Bibles, it promises at the bottom a free download of the book of John. I checked it out, and it didn’t work.

In the end, the Biblezine must be taken as it is, a clean magazine for Christian girls. I would recommend it to girls who have just become a Christian or are beginning on the road of sanctification. But for others, this books will seem too shallow. I give this book a three out of five stars.

NOTE: This book was provided to me by Thomas Nelson Publishers. 

God Bless,

4 comments:

emii said...

Hey Prism,
Great review. In fact, I must've picked it up in my own Chrisian bookstore about the same time as you -- and pretty much found everything the same as you did. Well, I haven't read it, but I flipped through it, and decided it wasn't really the book for me. :)

Luv.Emii

Karen Twombly said...

Sounds OK, but I'll admit, that text took me a while to figure out, since I text once in a blue moon. =P

Anonymous said...

Thank you for that helpful review. So is it like a bible, or a magazine? Like it is really thick like a bible with a magazine cover, or a magazine with bible tidbits?

Thank you thank you thank you again!

~Prism~ said...

@Brooklyn: I recently added the specifics section in my reviews, so I apologize for not providing that information in my review. The biblezine has 288 pages, so no, it's not as thick as a full Bible. It contains the full New Testament in a newer translation, and I suppose that compacted it a bit. The "articles" are spread out in between the portions of the Bible. It's like seeing a long article (New Testament) in a magazine but having little ones (articles) interspersed.

God Bless,
~Prism~

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