{{This
review was updated to the Official Rating System on March 19th, 2016.
This book was first reviewed on September 17th, 2014.}}
About this book:
“THEIR ARRIVAL WAS FORETOLD FOR YEARS….
Andriana is a Remnant, gifted as an empath and one of the Ailith, destined to act as humanity’s last shield against the horrors that now plague those who remain.
After years of training in stealth and warfare, Andriana and her Knight protector, Ronan, are finally ready to answer the Call and begin the life they were designed for. But as they embark with the other Remnants on the first of their assignments, they quickly discover that the world beyond their protected Valley is more dangerous than they imagined.
The Sons of Sheol will stop at nothing to prevent Dri and Ronan from rescuing anyone sympathetic to the Remnants’ cause. And as the Remnants battle the demonic forces, still other enemies close in. Dangers intensity, but so do Dri’s feelings for Ronan–the one emotion she is not meant to feel. In the midst of their mission, Andriana must find a way to master her feelings. Or risk compromising everything…”
Series: Book #1 in “The Remnants” series. Review of #2 Here! {More about this series: “In the first book of the new futuristic dystopian series from author Lisa T. Bergren, the chosen remnants must work to redirect humanity’s course.”}
Spiritual Content- Very much the Light vs the Dark storyline; All about the Call & high gifts; Many, many, many Prayers, Talking to & Focusing on the Maker; Many, many, many talks about the Maker, his presence & power, along with listening, trusting & relaying on him and choosing good; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to the Maker (easy to assume that the Maker is supposed to be God); A couple Scriptures are remembered & mentioned; Many Mentions of prayers & meditation; Mentions of praising & thanking the Maker; Mentions of the Sacred Words (assumed to be the Bible); Mentions of visions of angels (& demons & dark angels); Mentions of followers of the Way; Mentions of being blessed & blessings; A couple mentions of miracles;
“THEIR ARRIVAL WAS FORETOLD FOR YEARS….
Andriana is a Remnant, gifted as an empath and one of the Ailith, destined to act as humanity’s last shield against the horrors that now plague those who remain.
After years of training in stealth and warfare, Andriana and her Knight protector, Ronan, are finally ready to answer the Call and begin the life they were designed for. But as they embark with the other Remnants on the first of their assignments, they quickly discover that the world beyond their protected Valley is more dangerous than they imagined.
The Sons of Sheol will stop at nothing to prevent Dri and Ronan from rescuing anyone sympathetic to the Remnants’ cause. And as the Remnants battle the demonic forces, still other enemies close in. Dangers intensity, but so do Dri’s feelings for Ronan–the one emotion she is not meant to feel. In the midst of their mission, Andriana must find a way to master her feelings. Or risk compromising everything…”
Series: Book #1 in “The Remnants” series. Review of #2 Here! {More about this series: “In the first book of the new futuristic dystopian series from author Lisa T. Bergren, the chosen remnants must work to redirect humanity’s course.”}
Spiritual Content- Very much the Light vs the Dark storyline; All about the Call & high gifts; Many, many, many Prayers, Talking to & Focusing on the Maker; Many, many, many talks about the Maker, his presence & power, along with listening, trusting & relaying on him and choosing good; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to the Maker (easy to assume that the Maker is supposed to be God); A couple Scriptures are remembered & mentioned; Many Mentions of prayers & meditation; Mentions of praising & thanking the Maker; Mentions of the Sacred Words (assumed to be the Bible); Mentions of visions of angels (& demons & dark angels); Mentions of followers of the Way; Mentions of being blessed & blessings; A couple mentions of miracles;
*Note: ‘saints’ is said like a cuss;
We can assume that Sheol is supposed to be Satan (though it’s never
straight-out said); A man does a “h*llish
call” (Dri later says “It was the
sound of the dead and d*mned”); Being summoned to evil spiritual places
& feeling the darkness (semi-detailed); Keallach like to preach
enlightenment; Drifters loathe the talk of the Maker or any god and will kill
anyone who mentions them; A mention of a devilish smile; A mention of hell’s
gates; A couple mentions of warlocks & witches; A few mentions of fortune
tellers who summons the spirits of dead people; Mentions of magic & sorcery
(along with sorcerers); Mentions of Greek mythology; Mentions of religions; Mentions
of a monastery and monks (who believe no god but have a goal to entice the
earth back “to her normal rhythms”); Mentions
of the afterlife, the next life & the afterworld (we can assume the author
means Heaven, but it’s not ever said).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘sheesh’, a ‘stupid’, a ‘suck’, a ‘what the—‘, a ‘wicked-good’, two ‘what in the heck?’s, three forms of ‘idiot’, three ‘shut up’s (one has a please before it); An oath is swallowed; Two curses are said but not written; Lots & Lots of Fighting, Killing, Hitting, Battle, almost being killed, Blood, Arrows, Swords, Daggers & where they are aimed/put (all ranging from semi-detailed to detailed); Lots of Pain & Feeling pain (semi-detailed); Fear & Terror (semi-detailed); Enemies & Trackers (and to kill one you have to cut out their heart or decapitate them); Many Mentions of pain, blood & injuries (semi-detailed); Many Mentions of torture, deaths, murders, killing & bodies (semi-detailed); Many Mentions of illnesses, the Cancer & pain (semi-detailed); Mentions of bullets & shooting (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of thirst for blood; Mentions of hate, jealousy, arresting & prisons; Mentions of crimes, hanging & the gallows; Mentions of heads being cut off; Mentions of hittings & beatings; Mentions of kidnappings & taking children (semi-detailed); Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of wars; Mentions of pubs, taverns, drunks, drinking, wine & whiskey; Mentions of hunting (animals and humans); Mentions of butchering deers for food (blood, semi-detailed); Mentions of dead horses (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of lying & fibs; A few mentions of abuse & beating women; A couple mentions of human waste, sewage, foul smells & private business; A couple mentions of skeletons; A couple mentions of gambling & betting; A couple mentions of smoke; A couple mentions of vomit; A couple mentions of eating horse meat; A mention of a drowned foal; A mention of a girl who was burned alive; A mention of a man who was cut apart; A mention of urinating.
Sexual Content- Remembering an
almost kiss (semi-detailed); an almost kiss, a head kiss, a forehead kiss, a
barely-above-not-detailed kiss, one semi-detailed kiss and a detailed kiss; Wanting
to be kissed & Touched (up to semi-detailed); Many Touches, Embraces &
Shivers (semi-detailed); Staring at bare skin & lips (semi-detailed); Hair
is let down & Hand holding (semi-detailed); Lots of Noticing, Nearness,
Warmth & Smelling (semi-detailed); Many Men stare, leer, rake & lustfully admirer women
(including Dri; comments (up to semi-detailed)); a ‘wench’; Dri & Ronan
have feelings for each other; Dri wishes Ronan would love-love her because he holds her heart; Ailiths aren’t supposed to
marry, mate & bear children; The men of Zanzibar (a place/city) treat their
women as property to be obtained, kept & traded and added that “since brown eyes were the norm any other
color were apparently prized.”; Women are referred to as women-flesh by men
at Zanzibar; Zanzibar women belong to their men and show it by walking behind
him with her hip on his hip; Men at Zanzibar & another city ask if the woman
are for sale/trade (along with mentions of not caring about the age, paying for
them & asking if she’s a certain man’s “womanflesh”);
Men try to take Dri & want to sell her to Zanzibar as womanflesh (They call
her dolly. A mention of an auction, slaves & being a man’s property.); A 50
year old woman says that Zanzibar “is no
place for women, whether or not she’s reached her second decade. Even I barely
get in and out unmolested.”; In Zanzibar, women are valuable & men act
like rabid dogs (hungry) towards them, not caring about their ages; Zanzibar
has a one child per family policy where the males are most wanted, therefore
the females are usually drowned or left to die; Women of Pacifica have a high
infertility rate & many chose not to bear children fearing what it will do
to their bodies; A man has five wives only to protect them and their children; A
man slaps his women’s backside; A lustful man touches Dri’s waist and back,
tries to pull her closer, his lips hover near her face, & his fingers
linger on her legs (she gets away before anything else happens); When a man
tries to touch Dri’s hair (near her breast) tells him he cannot touch her; The story
of Zesus & how he seduced a women (as a swan) and it resulting in two eggs;
A mention of refusing a man’s advances; A mention of a place gentlemen wouldn’t
go; A mention of a harem; A couple mentions of taking women; A couple mentions
of putting a woman in her place; A couple mentions of birthing pains & the
womb; A couple mentions of parents being discouraged from procreating; Mentions
of women kissing & sitting in laps of men (while wearing revealing clothes);
Mentions of kissing; Mentions of flirts & flirting; Mentions of blushes;
Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of girls far younger than age 20 marrying; Mentions
of good-looking men & pretty girls; Mention of compliments & people
believing to only exchange compliments in the most intimate of situations (“Catering to our most base desires…”); Mentions
of terrible comments of a woman attending to a man’s needs; Mentions of women being
used; Mentions of men who trade women; Many Mentions of lust & men wanting
women; Attraction, love, falling/being in love and lots of the emotions;
*Note: A mention of a dress with
its neck wide, but covering Dri’s breasts; A mention of a dress Dri wears that taut
over her breasts and hips; A mention of a butt hurting from riding a horse; A couple
mentions of bra & underwear; A couple mentions of half-dressed women; A few
mentions of women in Castle Vega showing their bellies & cleavage while
kissing men; A few mentions of nakedness; Mentions of stripping down to
underthings to bathe; Dri accidentally flashes her bare belly & Ronan quickly
looks away (when he accidentally shows his bare chest/neck, she stares); A man
takes off his shirt in front of Dri and he has her put a new shirt on him.
-Andriana “Dri”, age 17
First person P.O.V. of Dri
First person P.O.V. of Dri
Dystopia
416 pages
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416 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High
School Teens-
Older High
School Teens-
My personal
Rating-
This is such a Lisa T. Bergren novel! I don’t think I’ve read any dystopia
books with swords and arrows. {“River of Time” series, anyone? Review of Book #1 in that series,
HERE!} I, of course, had to dock stars because of the Negative & Sexual
content. I was expecting a really big cliff-hanger at the end and was shocked
when there really wasn’t one.
Here’s a neat feature in the back of
the book!
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE:
Ailith: A-lith ("noble war"; "ascending, rising")
Andriana: An-dree-ana, or Dree, for "Dri" ("warrior")
Asher: Ash-er ("happy one")
Azarel: Ah-zah-rell ("helper")
Bellona: Bell-oh-na ("warlike")
Chaza'el: Chazah-ell ("one who sees")
Kapriel: Kah-pree-ell (variant of "warrior")
Keallach: Key-lock ("battle")
Killian: Kill-ee-un ("little warrior"--though he's not so little in my novel!)
Raniero: Rah-near-oh ("wise warrior")
Ronan: Row-nun ("little seal"; I know. Not as cool, right? But he was named Duncan at first draft and I had to change it due to publisher request, and "Ronan" sounded like a medieval, cool warrior name to me. I overlooked the real translation in favor of the man he became in my story. And that guy, to my mind, is more like a warrior, with the spray of the sea upon his face as he takes on the storm--which is like a seal!)
Tressa: Tre-sah ("late summer")
Vidar: Vee-dar ("forest warrior")
Ailith: A-lith ("noble war"; "ascending, rising")
Andriana: An-dree-ana, or Dree, for "Dri" ("warrior")
Asher: Ash-er ("happy one")
Azarel: Ah-zah-rell ("helper")
Bellona: Bell-oh-na ("warlike")
Chaza'el: Chazah-ell ("one who sees")
Kapriel: Kah-pree-ell (variant of "warrior")
Keallach: Key-lock ("battle")
Killian: Kill-ee-un ("little warrior"--though he's not so little in my novel!)
Raniero: Rah-near-oh ("wise warrior")
Ronan: Row-nun ("little seal"; I know. Not as cool, right? But he was named Duncan at first draft and I had to change it due to publisher request, and "Ronan" sounded like a medieval, cool warrior name to me. I overlooked the real translation in favor of the man he became in my story. And that guy, to my mind, is more like a warrior, with the spray of the sea upon his face as he takes on the storm--which is like a seal!)
Tressa: Tre-sah ("late summer")
Vidar: Vee-dar ("forest warrior")
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