"In Pursuit of Civility" by Jen Turano

About this book:

  “Annaliese Merriweather has been appointed the temporary headmistress of the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies while her sister is on her honeymoon, but she doesn't feel cut out for the role. Especially after she loses two of her most troublesome students during an outing to a county fair and has to recruit the help of Seth McCormick, an eccentric inventor, to retrieve them.
    Soon after, one of those mischievous students disappears again, intent on pursuing a pirate map. Together, Annaliese and Seth set out to find her, accompanied by a menagerie of Annaliese's rescued animal companions. As they stumble from one chaotic situation to the next, sparks fly between Annaliese and Seth. Somehow, they'll need to outwit dangerous individuals also intent on seeking treasure and bring everyone back in one piece--all while deciphering what their hearts desire.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies”. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted; A couple talks about God & answered prayers; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; A man accuses Annaliese of giving him a “sermon” about his job as a plume hunter, which makes her quote Proverbs 12:10 and the man says he doesn’t understand Bible verses, so Annaliese shares that she has also been confused when reading the Bible which is why she replies on a good minister to explain the confusing parts to her; A woman comments on always wondering why God gave her the gift of memorization because as a woman she doesn’t get many opportunities to add value to her societies; Mentions of God & God-given gifts; Mentions of prayers, praying, & answered prayers; Mentions of a reverend, church services, & sermons; Mentions of a cross necklace; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A couple mentions of divine intervention; 
             *Note: Religious exclamations: “good heavens” is said five times; Mentions of a castle being “haunted” by “ghosts” (Book #1); A few mentions of luck; A couple mentions of a fortune teller at a carnival who claims to tell people how and when they will die; A mention of someone “channel[ing]” another (teasingly/used lightly, not in the spiritual sense).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn’, a ‘stupid’, two ‘on my word’s, and four forms of ‘idiot’; A parrot has a “loquaciousness” vocabulary and exclaims “Zut!” (which some online say means “d*mn” in French) nine times (which is repeated once and a woman tries to correct the parrot into not using that word, but the parrot continues to say it anyway); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Holding others at gun-point (multiple times), an Explosion, & Gunshots (including aimed at animals; up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone held at gun- and knife-point & threatened with harm and death (barely-above-not-detailed); Annaliese is offered a glass of wine by another adult (social drinking) and while the other is said to drink it, it is not clear if Annaliese does; Many mentions of animals being mistreated, hunted for their feathers or fur, taken away from their proper environments, & killed (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths (including Annaliese’s father by an apoplectic fit); Mentions of crime bosses, possibly planned and attempted murder, & foul play involved in someone’s disappearance (Book #1); Mentions of kidnappings/abductions, near kidnappings, kidnappers, & ransoms; Mentions of criminals, crimes, thieves, stealing, pickpocketing, robberies, & stolen items; Mentions of arrests & prison/jail; Mentions of fires, explosions, & grenades; Mentions of threats of shooting or killing someone (including at gun and knife-point); Mentions of weapons, brandishing them at others (including characters carelessly using pistols or pistol-like weapons for the first time but believing she will be a good shot because she’s read books on the subject), gunshots, & bullets; Mentions of someone being shot, in pain, & bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of saloons/taverns, alcohol, & drinking (including social drinking between adults and a teen girl planning to drink moonshine before she is stopped by the bottle being taken away from her); Mentions of sickness (including a mother lying about being sick often to have time to herself; Her older children are aware she’s lying, but do not question it); Mentions of teen girls running away from home; Mentions of lies & lying (including a mother to her family so she can have time to herself; Her older children are aware she’s lying, but do not question it); Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of gallows/hangings; A few mentions of gossip; A few mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of nightmares; 
             *Note: Comments about & Mentions of women not having as many opportunities as men, publishers not wanting to punish women authors, progressive women, a woman not disliking men but how they control everything a woman can and cannot do, & men saying they will be in trouble with the idea of women demanding the right to vote; A few mentions of celebrities/well-known figures (Leonardo da Vinci, Lord Byron, & Blackbeard); A mention of Romeo and Juliet.
 
 
Sexual Content- A bit of staring at lips (barely-above-not-detailed); an almost kiss (barely-above-not-detailed) and three barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Talks about kisses, kissing, & first kisses; Wanting to kiss & thinking about kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a couple kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Hand holding, Flutters, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoilers* Towards the end, Annaliese and Seth talk about wanting to kiss each other, but also wanting to just “be” and not have a formal courtship; This stems from Annaliese being concerned that Seth will want a traditional wife which she would not be because of her interests; At the end, they have a discussion about this and share some kisses; A friend tells Annaliese that it’s the 1880s and it’s past time for couples to be able to get to know one another without announcing anything formal; Annaliese realizes in the last couple chapters that she does want to get married to Seth and proposes to him *End of Spoilers*; A woman shudders at the idea of interrupting what some newlyweds were doing when alone together; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & first kisses; Mentions of crushes/infatuations; Mentions of teen girls finding men/young men “dreamy” and ogling them; Mentions of flirting (including teen girls batting their lashes at a boy) & blushes; Mentions of chaperones & reputations; Mentions of romance novels; A few mentions of men’s muscles & teen girls sighing over a man’s muscles; A mention of a man telling another man that the second man’s wife is in love with him (implying an affair); A mention of men eyeing Annaliese like they wanted to devour her; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Conversations about & Mentions of unmentionables & corsets that enhance a woman’s “charms” or bosom (also discussed in mixed company); Mentions of teen girls wanting the enhancer corsets, a woman offering to help with finding undergarments to “enhance a feminine figure”, & a mother not allowing her thirteen-year-old to wear one; A woman digs around in her bodice for a piece of jewelry and while two upright men quickly turn around, two other men gawk of the woman before Annaliese makes them turn around as well; A woman comments about possibly teaching teen girls who to dress in a way that will “really draw” a gentleman’s attention; A mention of a dress with a low neckline; A mention of female praying mantises eating their mate (which makes Annaliese comment that her students’ mothers would not want their daughters to think it’s acceptable to “do away with” one’s mate); A mention of butting heads with someone.
 
-Annaliese Merriweather
-Seth McCormick
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                       Set in 1885
                                                   304 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

After reading “A Lesson in Propriety” last year, I’ve been curious to read Drusilla’s sister’s story and her friend’s story. This book is the sister’s and the next book (releasing in the Spring of 2027) will be the friend’s. This book was quite…zany! Definitely go into this story expecting some silly and dramatic parts, with chaos and adventure thrown in. It’s definitely not a serious story by any means and best for those that enjoy more fluffy—and probably unrealistic—romps in their historical fiction. 

 

As far as our main characters, they are both deemed odd ducks by others, but they go along swimmingly together (pun intended!) because of it and their interests. A very peculiar couple, but they had some cute moments. I didn’t quite feel their romance as they both had their head in their hobbies and then suddenly wanted to kiss the other. I think they worked together because they were both odd by most standards, but I would have liked to see more of their relationship outside of all the crazy events with others that they kept getting swept up into. As a vegan, I appreciated all the animal rescuing and Annaliese’s heart for animals, but it also got to be a little repetitive throughout the book.

 

All the teenaged girls chatter was a bit much to read at times, but I imagine the audiobook would be entertaining due to that. It was dialogue heavy and a lot to read. Norma Jean (Seth’s little sister) was thirteen going on twenty-three with all of her ideas. I’m pretty sure I would have been going gray at a very young she if she was my little sister! She was exhausting at times and drove me a bit crazy.

 

Overall, I wouldn’t say this is a new favorite by Jen Turano, though I did enjoy some elements about it. Because of some comments, I would only suggest this book for ages 15/16+ because while the romance content was lighter between the main couple, there were some other parts I didn’t personally love or feel comfortable with recommending for younger ages.

 

 

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 Author for this honest review.

"Dare" by Tricia Mingerink

About this book:

  “Courage could cost him everything.
    Third Blade Leith Torren never questions his orders or his loyalty to King Respen until an arrow wound and a prairie blizzard drive him to the doorstep of the girls whose family he once destroyed.
    Their forbidden faith and ties to the Resistance could devastate their family a second time.
    Survival depends on obedience, but freedom beckons. How far does he dare go to resist the king and his Blades?
    No matter what Leith chooses, one thing is certain.
    Someone will die.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Blades of Acktar” series.


Spiritual Content- Daniel 6:10 & 16 at the beginning; Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, quoted, & read; Stories about Daniel are shared and paraphrased (the first handful of chapters); Bible reading; Witnessing & Being witnessed to; Prayers & Blessings over food; Many talks about God, Jesus, Daniel, and not hiding one’s faith; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; In this world, being a Christian and/or owning a Bible is illegal (Leith thinks the king banned the Bible because he doesn’t want to be told that he was under anyone’s control); Renna struggles with the idea of healing Leith, but knows his life isn’t hers to take so she does her best to heal him and places his life in God’s hands; Renna thinks about hiding her faith in front of Leith, but her little sister is not afraid; Renna thinks about how God being for her doesn’t mean she can’t still be arrested or killed for her faith; *Spoilers* Renna’s little sister tells Leith stories about Daniel and God, which interests him; When praying for the first time, Leith doesn’t think he is worthy to be heard by God, but hopes that God will help him for the sake of Renna and her family since God cares about them; Leith feels content with the idea of being used for the good of Renna and her family; Leith doesn’t think God would want him after everything he has done, but another tells him that God will listen to every prayer for Christ’s sake and that Leith is already one of God’s people; Leith wonders if God has adopted him as a son and loved him & feels peace at that thought *End of Spoilers*; Renna thinks that God was silent when her parents were murdered; Many mentions of God, Jesus, trusting Him, God being in control, & His will; Many mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of Christians, faiths, & witnessing; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, secret services, ministers, sermons, & worship; Mentions of miracles; Mentions of cross necklaces; Mentions of sins; A few mentions of Heaven; A mention of devotions; A mention of Godspeed; 
             *Note: Someone comments on facing God’s eternal wrath if you use His name in vain; The king comments about God is imaginary and no match for him; Renna says that God doesn’t work with miracles like Daniel and the lions’ den anymore because “miracles like that are no longer needed” and God works through other ways; Leith remembers seeing those who were killed showing either terror or peace as they saw into the “realm beyond death”; A couple comments from side characters who don’t protect the churches in their areas because they could get hurt for it by the king & having different beliefs than Christians; A conversation where someone says it’s wrong to rebel against the government and the king that he believes God has placed over him (another argues that the government is trying to destroy their faith); Mentions of evil (including someone saying that “all of humanity is evil at its heart”); A couple mentions of luck & being lucky.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’ and two ‘stupid’s; A mention of a curse (said, not written); Eye rolling; Fighting, Being attacked, Being shot and stabbed, Being cut, Being held at knife-point and nearly killed (x5), Cauterizing a wound, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (semi-detailed); Imagining killing someone & being killed (including in a nightmare, up to semi-detailed); Seeing others killed, blood, & the bodies (mostly slit-throats; including Renna remembering seeing her parents killed, up to semi-detailed); Helping someone injured and bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Leith is an assassin & has killed or helped killed others before; Renna struggles with wishing that Leith would die due to his role in her parent’s murders; Many mentions of deaths/murders (including of parents), assassinations, bodies, blood/bleeding, weapons, & grief (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a war & fighting; Mentions of torture & executions; Mentions of slaves & being slaves to a man; Mentions of a kidnapping; Mentions of threats (of harm and death); Mentions of arrests; Mentions of stealing, stolen items, & thieves; Mentions of a tavern, alcohol, & a drunk; Mentions of lies, lying, & deception; Mentions of gossip, rumors, & eavesdropping; Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of beatings & being whipped; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of gambling/card games; 
             *Note: Leith’s father was a physically abusive drunk & sold him to cover a debt; Leith doesn’t think his mother wanted him. 
 
 
Sexual Content- An embrace & a bit of smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Some noticing (including muscles and a form-hugging dress, barely-above-not-detailed); Some blushes; A Blade kidnaps a teen girl in order to “have some fun”with her (but Leith stops anything from happening by ordering the other Blade to take her back; This is mentioned a handful of times again); Mentions of crushes, infatuation, & blushes; A couple mentions of a married couple sharing a couple kisses; A mention of a girl who had “all but draped herself against” a guy; A mention of a girl making eyes at a boy; 
             *Note: Renna tries to kick a guy in a “sensitive area” in self-defense but misses.
 
-Leith Torren, age 18
-Renna, age 17
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        336 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens-

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

There’s three series in the Christian YA market I’ve been meaning to read for years, but have pushed off because I’ve been intimidated by them despite having many book friends that enjoy the books. I’ve made it a goal the past three years to finally start on them, but it’s never happened until now with “Dare”. This series intimidates me the least of the three, so I decided to start it first. I do think it still might be too violent at times for my tastes, but I guess we will see as the series continues what I think about it on that element.  

 

The pacing of this book was interesting because while it felt slow with actual plot points, it moved fast. Which feels like a total contradiction, but basically it means that while not a lot happened at first, I was reading and looked down at the page number and was surprised that I was already seventy pages in. That’s kind of how the whole book felt because while there’s some major plot events, not a ton happens in the grand scheme of taking down an evil king, but yet I still read it faster than normal. 

 

On the violence: while it’s not super gory, some parts were a bit much for my visual brain and why my personal rating is lower. I honestly think those that are okay with fighting and blood and whatnot in PG-13 rated action movies would probably be fine with this one, but those aren’t movies I gravitate towards, so I was reading through squinted eyes at those scenes. 

 

I did really like all the faith content and the parallels to Daniel. When I first started this book, I didn’t realize it was going to have a lot of faith content plainly shared; I was expecting an allegory or another name used for God, so it was a nice surprise to have God and Jesus talked about on-page and very often. It was neat and great to see strong Christian faith content. Leith’s faith arc was well done and reminded me of Saul/Paul in the Bible. I can see the hype for this series based off of the faith moments alone and I have to admit that I’m curious to see what will happen next for our main characters.

 

 

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.

"On My Honor" by Patty Smith Hall

About this book:

  “Ginny Mathis was finished with nursing school and had no intention of staying rooted in the Outer Banks—then war broke out. With her father away, she feels duty-bound to stay and help her mother and younger sister. While working as a clerk for the Oregon Inlet ferry, naval officers ask Ginny and others to be watchful for German U-boats reportedly spotted in the area. So to help occupy her teenage sister, Ginny enlists the Girl Scout troop she leads to help watch for suspicious activity along the coast. 
     Timothy Elliott is no stranger to death. As a British reporter working with the M-6, he’s numb to the losses of war after two years of fighting the Germans. Maybe that’s why he volunteered for this mission—to connect with an ex-German naval officer who stole the Furor’s battle plan for the Atlantic war. When the boat giving him passage to New York is bombed near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Tim is thrown from the boat and wakes up in the care of a group of young girls.
     Ginny follows her sneaky sister on a clandestine mission and discovers the shipwreck victim. Ginny knows she must take charge, but is this man the enemy, or does he hold secrets that could turn the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic in the allies’ favor?”


Series: Part of the series “Heroines of WWII”, but is not connected to any other book.


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, & remembered; Prayers (including one where Ginny wonders if God is hearing her); ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Tim learned about God’s grace and love from his grandfather & his father passed away before Tim could share about Christ with him; Tim hopes for God’s justice and punishment on a German man who committed evil acts; One of the girls comments on it feeling pointless to pray, but Ginny tries to encourage her to pray and watch for an answer from the Lord; Ginny and Tim skip going to church one Sunday morning to investigate; Mentions of God, Jesus, & trusting Him; Mentions of prayers & praying, & praising/thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, Sunday school, & a pastor; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A few mentions of Christians & being one; A couple mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A couple mentions of Tim’s father preaching “fire and brimstone” to him as a child; 
             *Note: Religious exclamations: “For Pete’s Sake”, “Dear heavens”, “heavens”, and “thank heavens” are said up to four times each; Tim says that holding Ginny close is “the closest thing to heaven on earth”; Tim hopes that hell comes to a German man’s mind after being in an ocean on fire due to oil; A girl comments that her mom says movies are “sinful and straight from the devil” (which makes Belle comment that her mother must not have seen some of the popular male actors then); A few mentions of evil (referring to the Germany’s government); A few mentions of Brownies/fairies; A mention of making a deal with the devil; A mention of being lucky; A mention of the girls idolizing Ginny.

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘stinkin’’, a ‘Geez Louise’, a form of ‘idiot’, two ‘stupid’s, and seven ‘blood’s; Eye rolling; A couple lies; Being on a drowning ship, Explosions/torpedoes, Being held at gunpoint, Being grabbed and tied-up, Injuries, Pain, & Blood/bleeding (semi-detailed); Seeing someone shot, in pain, & bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Witnessing others screaming and implied dying when ships are destroyed by enemy torpedoes (up to semi-detailed); Helping doctor others who are injured by stitching injuries and relocating a shoulder (semi-detailed); Ginny & Tim go to a morgue and look at every person in order to find someone (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Tim tells Ginny about wanting to kill a German man for what he had done, but how he couldn’t do it; Some blackmailing (Tim to Ginny for her help, but he apologizes the next time he sees her for saying it); Set during World War II, this book is all about & has many frequent mentions of battles/events (including Pearl Harbor), bombs/explosions, possible invasions, ships going down and people drowning, deaths, concern for family members fighting overseas, & grief; Many mentions of World War I, deaths, people witnessing traumatic events, & nightmares of it (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of dead bodies & possibly finding one (including of a child, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a morgue; Mentions of fights, injuries, pain, a gunshot wound, blood/bleeding, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of treason, traitors, & executions; Mentions of threats (including to kill, harm, and arrest) & blackmail; Mentions of prisons/jails & arrests; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of other wars; A few mentions of a near drowning (Ginny when she was young); A few mentions of stealing, stolen items, & thieves; A few mentions of a mother leaving her young daughter (*Spoiler* At the end, it’s revealed the husband threatened the woman with killing her and their daughter if she took the child *End of Spoiler*); A few mentions of Tim’s father leaving him and his sister with his grandparents and their strained relationship (including calling him a disgrace); A few mentions of hatred; A few mentions of a bully; A couple mentions of a man being ordered to shoot his own men rather than the men being captured by their enemies; A couple mentions of possible hostage situations; A couple mentions of breaking and entering; A mention of Hitler’s death camps; A mention of hunting; A mention of the smell of dead animals; 
             *Note: *Spoilers about PTSD/mental health and the stigma around it* Ginny and Belle’s mother has symptoms of PTSD (called “shell shock”) after her time in helping during WWI as a young girl; Belle’s father has her keep her mother’s condition a secret from Ginny because he thinks any treatment that Ginny would want to do will make it worse; The mother has “spells” at night with nightmares and being trapped in memories of seeing deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Ginny knows that her mother has fought “bouts of depression and anxiety” for most of Ginny’s life and her father told her not to speak about it outside the family (which she didn’t understand then, but learned about the “horrible stigma of mental illness” in nursing school); Ginny doesn’t understand why her family has kept her mother’s “spells” from her as she doesn’t think it’s a mental illness like they apparently do; Ginny thinks about how others treat those with psychiatric issues as “less than” and “generationally flawed”; A few mentions of institutions and someone being “crazy” *End of Spoilers*; Ginny & Belle have some sister bickering/spats, but always have each other’s back at the end of the day; A girl comments on her mother giving her “the third degree” whenever she leaves the house (another girl comments it’s because her mother is worried for her); A few implications of some people shunning a man with dark skin; Ginny leads her sister’s Girl Scout troop and there are many mentions of it (and Brownies and Girl Guides), the cookies, and their mottos/pledges; Mentions of pop culture with actors/actresses, movies, & radio shows (Cary Grant,  Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, William Powell, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Vivien Leigh, ‘Thin Man’, ‘The Philadelphia Story’, ‘Shop around the Corner’, ‘Gone with the Wind’, & ‘Little Orphan Annie’); A few mentions of historical characters relating to the area (Orville and Wilbur Wright & Blackbeard the pirate); A couple mentions of singers (Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby); A mention of Joe Louis; A mention of a mother dying in childbirth (Tim’s mother who was delivering his sister).
 
 
Sexual Content- A hand/fingers kiss, three head/forehead kisses, five cheek kisses, two nose kisses, an ear kiss, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, three semi-detailed kisses (including mentions of swollen lips), and a border-line semi-detailed // detailed kisses; A man forces a kiss on Ginny (while she tries to get away, he continues to kiss her and draws blood; semi-detailed); Remembering kisses (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss, touch, & embrace (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes & Flirting; Noticing & Staring (including curves, up to semi-detailed); Tim stops a kiss with Ginny because he cares too much for her to “fall into the same old patterns” he had with girls before he committed himself to Christ and wants to take their relationship slow; When Ginny undoes her hair, Tim gives her a “wolfish grin”; Tim and Ginny fall asleep in the same bed (in a hospital) and he refers to it as “the closest thing to heaven on earth” with having her so close; Ginny’s younger sister Belle (age thirteen) comments on wanting to “keep an eye on the guardsmen” rather than the beach and while Ginny notes she that she herself starting noticing boys at that age, the idea of her sister interested in the young men would be a recipe for disaster due to all the men that will be pouring into their community; It’s implied that Tim thinks that a girl was not protected by her father from a family member, but Ginny corrects that it wasn’t like that; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, & dating; Mentions of reputations; A few mentions of girls practicing kissing by kissing their pillows; A few mentions of a man being sweet on Ginny; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a girl mooning after a boy; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Ginny comments on being a nurse and seeing her “fair share of…anatomy” (said  with a blush); Ginny says that hearing stories about Girl Guides in England helping during WWI give her hope for being more than just being told the best hope for a girl is “a good husband and home”.
 
-Virginia “Ginny” Mathis
-Timothy “Tim” Elliott
                                P.O.V. switches between them, Belle, & another person (once)
                                             Set in 1942
                                                        258 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book was a mixed bag! I liked the historical setting, learning about WWII events I had never heard of, the prayers, and the island setting as well, but ultimately there were some things like the main characters and their romance that lowered my rating and make me hesitate recommending this book to even older teen girls, personally.

 

With some historical fiction books, you don’t have to be super interested in the time period or historical events to enjoy the book; some other historical fiction books, you do have to be interested in that because of the setting and different historical events are a major part of the story. This book was definitely the latter. There were some parts that the apparent significance of whatever was happening felt a little lost on me—like either I was missing an important detail or something was implied, but not really explained—so I did have to use a bit of brain power for some conversations and also do quite a bit of research on details. Because of this, I think those that are really interested in WWII or willing to research are the ones that would be the most interested in this book. The beginning half of the book was mostly like this, but then ending was very rushed—and perhaps a bit unbelievable as well. 

 

I didn’t love the main couple, personally. They fell very quick for each other and it got too kissy for my preference—especially when they had just met! Tim was a bit…brash, maybe would be the right word for it? He came on a little too strong for my tastes and it was more like insta-love because of it. The female main character, Ginny, is also assaulted with a forced kiss by a villain (which was disturbing to read in my opinion) and truly wasn’t necessary for the plot. Overall, this book wasn’t one I greatly enjoyed, unfortunately, due to the reasons listed above.

 

 

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.

BFCG’s 13th Birthday Celebration

With twelve years behind me of birthday posts, it’s probably a fair guess to say that I’m nearly out of words to describe my thankfulness for everyone who has supported BFCG throughout these last thirteen years. However! I truly am so thankful for every single person who has supported BFCG through reading our reviews, sharing the site, and voicing your desire for Philippians 4:8-worthy books. “Thank you so much!” doesn’t seem like enough, but sincerely, thank you so very much for being here! 💗
 

While some might not think of year thirteen as a big milestone like years ten or fifteen, it is in my eyes because it means I’ve been doing BFCG for nearly half my life now—which is crazy to think about! I’m so grateful to the Lord for allowing me to do this ministry for so long and while there’s always a lot of work to do, I truly love doing BFCG. 🥰
 
 

 
When planning this birthday celebration, I thought I would use the website Rafflecopter like I’ve done every single birthday before, but alas, they shut down last fall. So sad to see them go because it was such a helpful site for bloggers like myself! Because of this, I’m having to switch things up and there is a Google Form instead to be filled out to be entered to win one of four $25 USD Amazon gift card! 
 
(Opened internationally as long as Amazon delivers gift cards to your country! This form will close on April 23rd 12:00am CST and winners will be emailed within the next few days.)

 
 

 If the form above does not load properly, please click HERE to fill it out!
 
 
Once again, thank you so much for supporting BFCG and for being here! I truly appreciate you!
 
Have a Blessed week, my sweet friends!