About this book:
“A band of misfits seek to fight the darkness that's slowly overcoming their kingdom—the start of a grand adventure series in the tradition of The Chronicles of Narnia and the Wingfeather Saga.
The shadows have been overtaking the light, ever since The Great Betrayal. Now, the sun shines increasingly dimmer, it takes more firewood to brighten a room, and the world is growing more desperate and dangerous by the day.
Twelve-year-old orphan Finn survives in this world by being a thief, along with his best friend Adrion and younger sister Lydia. When the three meet a mysterious stranger who claims to know of a lake of light, they set off on an adventure across the kingdom. They discover that Wildfel is a place of great danger and great beauty, where the mist can steal your most precious memories, starlight gathers in waterfalls, spiders spin shimmering webs of glass as deadly as they are dazzling. If they can find this mythical lake of light, it could change the course of their lives, and the kingdom itself.
There are also secrets hiding in the darkness that could change Finn’s very understanding of everything he knows to be true, even about himself—but only if he's brave enough to step into the light.”
Series: Book #1 in the “Lightseekers” series.
Spiritual Content- Finn asks Ehrit for help twice in his mind (like a prayer and says that if he can hear him, he needs help; *Spoilers* Help comes, but not from Ehrit *End of Spoilers*); The phrase “pride goeth before a fall” is remembered; A mention of a prayer (not said towards Whom);
*Note: Before the light started to dim in this fictional world, magic was more commonplace and originally only held by royals and used for good, but as the kingdom grew darker, so did the magic and it’s mainly used by “the seftars” (the kingdom’s witches); It’s said that the king of the kingdom sought out a “great and powerful witch” to create a seed of darkness, which was planted and whoever ate the fruit of the seed could “control the darkness and use it against the light”; An important side character (Ehrit) is said to be a “Current” and it’s later said that anyone can become one, they just have to “learn how to connect to the hidden magic of the world, the underlying magic that holds everything together, and has for as long as the kingdom has existed”, how the shadows “broke the connection” and “only a few people can find it now” (Finn is told that the person would have to start by trusting that it’s still there, then learn about it, connect with it, and “eventually become a conduit of it”; Ehrit adds that those who don’t understand it think it looks like magic, but for those who have learned it, it’s a “deep kind of knowledge about how this kingdom really works” and Finn starts to believe that this hidden magic exists); Finn and his best friend call Ehrit a “guru” because he talks like one (this word is of Hinduism and Buddhism origin); Someone asks if Ehrit is a “wizard or something”, but the answer isn’t shared; Finn asks if magic is bad because he only knows of the magic that seftars use, but Ehrit says what he does has nothing in common with that kind as it comes from “a place of darkness”; *Spoilers* This important side character (Ehrit) is seen talking to a “seftar” (witch) which concerns and confuses Finn; Later, a witch saves Finn and his best friend from be attacked by wolves, which is confusing to Finn because Ehrit said that the seftars (witches) only acted in their own interests; Towards the end, Finn sees that the witches are using the wolves for their own purpose against those who follow the light; *Major Spoilers* At the end, Finn and the others are told the truth that the King is actually the good guy who is trying to protect the light in the kingdom and it is the General who made the deal with the witch; When Finn finds this out, he is able to read a magical book that talks about the King (because he trusts Ehrit, the words are visible to him on the pages unlike how the book was blank earlier in their journey because Finn didn’t trust Ehrit yet); Finn starts to fully trust Ehrit and is told that Ehrit was the key for Finn and the others to believe and get to the Lake of Light; It’s said that one day when the shadows and the General are defeated, the balance will be restored *End of Spoilers*; When Finn touches someone, he can see the “forrest” inside of that person (some are lush, but others are dry; Finn later wonders if this ability is magic); Finn asks Ehrit if he can see the future or know things that are going to happen ahead of time, but Ehrit says that it’s intuition; Finn and the others are told to never eat an apple that “smells like shadows” or the shadows will “gain access to the deepest parts” of them and turn them into “something you don’t want to be”; When two people lie after swearing on the kingdom’s rulers, their voices are taken away and can only come back if they answer truthfully to the people they were trying to deceive in the first place (one person accuses that they were cursed, but another says it’s a powerful oath); Finn and the others cross a “haunted bridge” that has a red mist that tries to take their special memories (up to semi-detailed); It’s said that everyone used to have a little magic, but that back then it wasn’t considered magic but a talent; Talks about trusting someone (Ehrit); Many mentions of magic, using magic, magical places, “seftars” (witches), & their dark magic; Mentions of a magical book; Mentions of a haunted bridge with mist that tries to steal the crosser’s memories; Mentions of luck & being lucky; A couple mentions of curses; A couple mentions of a book of spells; A couple mentions of wizards; A couple mentions of ghosts (as in someone looking like they saw one or being as pale as a ghost); A couple mentions of something tasting “like heaven” and a place being “heaven”; A mention of fairies & gnomes; A mention of something being said “devilishly”; A mention of being taught to worship a public figure.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘gah’, an unfinished ‘what the—‘, a ‘why the devil’, four forms of ‘dumb’, and six ‘stupid’s; Mentions of curses (said, not written; including by Finn); Fictional, in-world phrases and insults (including “thank the General” and “for the love of the General”, a public figure held in respect & muttering “bogs” when shocked or disappointed); Someone is called a “pain in the rear”; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Some lying; Fighting, Being held at knife-point, Being punched, Being chased, Injuries, Pain, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Blades/Knives are aimed and thrown at others (some in a rescue attempt and others to mean harm, up to semi-detailed); Stealing (with some guilt and trying to reason that it was justified as the person lied to him); Rescuing someone who was pushed into the water (pushed with the intent to drown the person, up to semi-detailed); Seeing others held at knife-point, injured, in pain, & bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Being attacked by snakes, spiders, burning fireflies, and wolves & seeing others bitten or almost bitten by them (up to semi-detailed); Snooping through others’ belongings (with some guilt); A nightmare of a snake attack and being bitten (up to semi-detailed); A bit of jealousy; Finn says he has to save his sister (from harm or death) so he can kill her himself (not literally); Finn steals a desert and a drink from food carts; Finn and his best friend bet on a coin about being able to do something (gambling); Going to a tavern (for stealing and for information, no drinking by a main character); Finn thinks about when he and his best friend swindled a man who swindled them and how proud they were of that, but doesn’t want to share it with others “for some reason”; Finn recalls stealing out of necessity, but also when he was bored, liked the thrill of it, or didn’t like the look of someone (he notes that he doesn’t want to be that person who would steal from others anymore and feels guilt over it); Finn feels more invigorated when there’s a “simmer of revenge” in him; A boy says a man who was interested in his mother would roughen him up and told him to either runaway or he will be harmed; Many mentions of thieves, pickpockets, stealing (including stealing to survive), & stolen items; Mentions of deaths & a massacre/fire (including of parents and a brother); Mentions of possible and near drownings; Mentions of gangs, violence, & threats; Mentions of fights/fighting, weapons, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of gambling, betting, & cons (with Finn and his best friend would do to others to survive); Mentions of taverns & alcohol-like drinks; Mentions of animal/insect abuse (a fictional butterfly-like creature that some will kill while extracting gold from its wings); Mentions of venomous spiders and snakes & poisons (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of rumors & gossip; A few mentions of deceit/deception; A couple mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of fart jokes (and a boy saying he loves them); A couple mentions of animal bones & something eating them; A mention of a possible serial killer; A mention of kidnappers; A mention of a lie about a mother threatening to cut off her son’s hands (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of rotting food smelling like death; A mention of a tattoo;
*Note: Finn and his sister, Lydia, do not know what happened to their mother (she left when they were little & they wonder if she’s still out there and could find her; Finn imagines that their mother was hiding them from their father or that their mother was “a terrible person who took them from” their father; Finn wonders if he did something wrong and that’s why their mother left, but doesn’t know why she would leave Lydia who was just a baby then); Finn and Lydia kiss their fingers and touch a flag to show their loyalty to a public figure.
Sexual Content- Finn asks his sister is she has a crush on an older boy (she says she does not).
-Finn, age 12
P.O.V. of Finn
320 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
This was a wild card book for me—I haven’t read any of the author’s other books (this is her debut middle-grade book) and I wasn’t sure if it would be my cup of tea. I definitely was lost at times but overall, it was an…interesting plot. I think it had decent potential, but there definitely were some plot-holes and parts that didn’t make sense to me; I’m not sure if it’s the writing style or just missing some more needed details or a combination of both. It took me a while to get into this story because of the lack of explanation about different elements of the setting and the world. The main character doesn’t really know what is going on either, so at least I wasn’t alone, but it didn’t help my confusion any.
There are very, very subtle faith content elements—almost like having a very light allegory to the plot. A teenaged character is a type of guide and has implications of being like Jesus, but I would have preferred it to be more obvious. It’s more of a Light vs Darkness kind of storyline than I would say being an actual allegory.
As I found plot-holes and parts of the book confusing, it’s difficult for me to give ratings to the usual age groups I usually share ratings for. The ratings listed above are more due to content and age-appropriateness with some intense and scary scenes than an actual recommendation of a book I enjoyed. I think other readers may enjoy this book more than I did, but it’s not one I’m going to personally recommend.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Waterbrook Multnomah) for this honest review.
