"Reality Darkness into Light" by Melanie Kilsby {Teen Week!}

{Welcome to Teen Week! Every quarter we're going to try and do a Teen Week! A week where every weekday has a new review of a Christian book written just for teens! You’re reading the second one of this quarter's! :) {Day 1 here!}}

About this book:

  “Meet Zoe, a young girl who has lost her best friend to suicide and finds herself in a tug-a-war between good verses evil. All of a sudden, her life takes an unexpected twist! Kicked out at 13, she ends up getting involved in the wrong crowd and now is pregnant! Being summoned to darkness, yet called into light. God reaches out to her! Between the kind teacher at school and an annoying new Christian kid, it seems God keeps sending people to speak into her life. With no one to run to and no where to turn. Will she accept Jesus when faced with....Reality?”


Series: #1 in the “Reality” series.  

Spiritual Content- Some ‘H’s are capital and some are not when referring to God (but most are capital);  Zoe says she lives for herself; Elisha is a Christian & her father is a pastor; Going to church once & the sermon is written (*Spoiler* Zoe give her life to Jesus there at the last page *End of Spoiler*)

*Note: Mentions of witches, darkness & animal sacrifices (There’s also The Occult, it feels semi-detailed to me but it’s probably more barely-above-not-detailed, they kill an animal and drink the blood.)

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘shut up’, a ‘stupid’, a ‘suck’ and two ‘dumb’; (verbal) Fighting & Hating; Zoe is very depressed & many mentions of suicide (her and her friend were going to do it together but the friend did it early); Zoe’s parents are divorced & she says she can’t stand them; Mentions of killing animals (see Spiritual Content Note); Mentions of smoking & drinking.

Sexual Content- Zoe is given a date-rape drug and things happen (she wakes up in pain the next morning and ends up pregnant (which leads to mentions of periods and womanhood plus a trip to the doctor’s office), See Note); Zoe goes to have an abortion & there’s hints of things said (like the women saying it’s just a lump of flesh), Zoe decides not to have an abortion after hearing the heartbeat and thinking about her name; Another girl is pregnant by assumed the same guy who got her pregnant; Another (now grown women) was raped on a date and gave the baby up for adoption.  

*Note: I asked the author about the date-rape drug scene before I read it, this is what she said: “It does not go into detail about that.
Here is a synopsis of that chapter:
She ends up going to a party where she knew she shouldn't have been but, she is angry at her mom for the fight that she had and has nowhere to go because she was kicked out. At the party, a guy slips the "date-rape" drug into her drink. She starts to feel like she wants somewhere quiet because her head is pounding and is lead to a room where she starts to feel the drug kick in. This is where she realizes what is really happening. In his conversation, the guy she was with takes advantage of that. The door opens as she blacks out and she sees people come into the room. Then it cuts to the next scene-chapter.
That is basically it! The scene suggests that she was gang-raped. It does not go into any detail about it at all besides her personal thoughts after realizing what could be happening.”.

-Zoe, 13
                                         1^st person P.O.V. of Zoe
                                                        118 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

(and a half)

{Ratings would be higher for girls who have been in these situations; I have not, therefore my rating in lower)

This is a hard book. Like, very hard. What Zoe went/goes through broke my heart. “Reality Darkness Into Light” is a redemption book...you have to read through some really hard stuff to get to the Light at the end. Which this can, sadly, be some people’s life. While necessary for some, I can’t relate to anything Zoe goes through. I truly loved how the author had a Parental Caution at the beginning! {“PARENTAL CAUTION! THIS BOOK DEALS WITH MATURE SUBJECT MATTER CONCERNING: SUICIDE, RAPE, THE OCCULT AND DIVORCE.  As the parent/guardian, please read the book prior to consent if you feel the content may be too strong for your child.” All written in caps.}How I wish all books had that! That would make this blog easier!    

See y’all TOMORROW with another Teen Week 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 review.