"Pulse" by L. R. Burkard

About this book:

  “What do you do when the whole world stops?
When everything you've come to depend upon--transportation, grocery shopping, cell phones, the internet--comes to a sudden, crashing halt?
  Welcome to PULSE.
  Three teenage girls and their families must survive when America's worst nightmare actually occurs: The failure of the electric grid due to an electromagnetic pulse.
  To outsiders, Andrea Patterson has the American dream house and family. But when the unthinkable happens and life is forever different, the dream looks more like a nightmare--one from which she and her family may not wake up alive.
  Lexie Martin's farm family has never been cool like Andrea's, but they've been prepping for disaster for years. For them, the world didn't stop; it just slowed down. The one thing they didn't prepare for? A psycho school bus driver who wants what they've got.
  Sarah Weaver, friend of Andrea and Lexie, lives on the top floor of a ten-story apartment building. When things went black, she thought it could be romantic--like living in the time of Jane Austen.
  She was wrong.
  Has the world collapsed forever?
Who will survive when technology fails? Or perhaps the right question is, Who will get to eat?”


Series: Book #1 in the “Pulse Effect” series.

Spiritual Content- Ezekiel 33:2-4 at the beginning; Many talks about God, Jesus, the Bible & worshiping; Many talks about God, stealing things & blaming; Some ‘H’s are capital when referring to God, but they are not when referring to Jesus; Many Prayers; Many Scriptures are mentioned & memorized; Lexi is said to be “very religious” (her family is Christians); Sarah and her family are Catholics (Sara says she believes in God); *Spoiler* Andrea asks God to forgive her. *End of Spoiler*; Thinking that Jesus is literally right in front of you; Hymns are sung; Mentions of Bible studies & Bible reading; Mentions of Church; Many mentions of Prayers; Many mentions of those in the Bible, parables, & discussions about them;

           *Note: Two mentions of hell: “hell and high water” and “Dad looked like he’d been through hell.”; A mention of the ‘gods’; a mention of karma; Mentions of Muslims, Islam & beheading Christians;

           

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘cruddy’, a ‘d---’, a ‘darn’, a ‘gosh’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘sissy’, a form of ‘suck’, two ‘b----’s, three ‘dumb’s, four forms of ‘shut up’, five ‘heck’s, nine forms of ‘idiot’, nine forms of ‘wretched’, 19 forms of ‘stupid’s; Mentions of curses; Sarcasm; Andrea & her father do not get a long at all; Fighting (verbally) & hating; Many mentions & actually shooting at people, being shot at, & bullet nicks (semi-detailed); Many mentions of dying (semi-detailed); Many mentions of bombs, radiation & terrorists; Many mentions of toilets, grossness & waste; Many mentions of frostbite; Many mentions of starving; Mentions of the recent beheadings & the Holocaust; Mentions of deaths & blood (semi-detailed); Mentions of drunks; Mentions of cigarettes; Mentions of eating dog meat {?!}; Mentions of eating mice; Mentions of hunting, shooting & eating rabbits; Mentions of butchering; A mention of divorce;

           *Note: Mentions of Global Warming & the Ice Age.

Sexual Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss; A couple mentions of kisses; Noticing & Touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Hand holding; Mentions of boys & crushes; Mentions of pretty girls; Andrea is known a flirt at school, but will not sleep around; Wondering if a man is a porn addict, then he touches a girl’s arm later; A mention that Lexi has a “friend from school who claims to be homosexual.”; A mention of rapes that didn’t happen because of firearms; A mention of abortion; Mentions of periods, pads, & that time of the month; Mentions of virgins; Mentions of brothels & prostitutes; Mentions of & Talks about sex, sleeping with someone, wanting to & saying no; Mentions of creeps & selling a daughter; A creep asks Andrea’s father to sell her to him & he’ll give Andrea’s family food (Andrea’s family (especially her father) want her to; but she will not and is understandably upset that they would consider selling their daughter for food);

           *Note: a “big pain in the butt”; Hints & mentions of breeding rabbits.

-Andrea Patterson, age 16

-Lexie Martin, age 16

-Sarah Weaver, age 16

                              1^st person P.O.V. switches between them.
                                       251 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating-

Very interesting plotline. I’ve heard of “preppers” and about EMPs before due to my sister watches those kind of shows. (Though, her preppers are much different from these preppers.) I’m very disappointed in the language, and while it might not bother others since the bigger minor cuss words are dashed out, I’m not amused about it. While the whole plot was…interesting and maybe one day realistic, I am very bothered by the eating dog meat and almost selling a daughter to a creep for food. Just not my cup of tea, I suppose.

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 e-book for free from the Author for this review.

"Stealing Jake" by Pam Hillman

About this book:

  “When Livy O’Brien spies a young boy jostling a man walking along the boardwalk, she recognizes the act for what it is. After all, she used to be known as Light-Fingered Livy. But that was before she put her past behind her and moved to the growing town of Chestnut, Illinois, where she’s helping to run an orphanage. Now she’ll do almost anything to protect the street kids like herself.
  Sheriff’s deputy Jake Russell had no idea what he was in for when he ran into Livy—literally while chasing down a pickpocket. With a rash of robberies and a growing number of street kids in town—as well as a loan on the family farm that needs to be paid off—Jake doesn’t have time to pursue a girl. Still, he can’t seem to get Livy out of his mind. He wants to get to know her better . . . but Livy isn’t willing to trust any man, especially not a lawman.”


Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Many Prayers & Blessings over food; Answered prayers; Talks about God, Jesus, sin & trusting Him; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; A few Scriptures are mentioned; Church going; Mentions of those in the Bible.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’, a ‘stupid’, two ‘dumb’s, and three ‘shut up’s; Mentions of curses said but not written; Pain & Fighting (semi-detailed); Guns & Shooting; Holing someone’s neck & almost choking them (semi-detailed); Mentions of killing children, whipping & overworking them (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of killing; Mentions of starving; Mentions of drinking, drunks, saloons & whiskey; Mentions of gambling; Mentions of smoking and cigarettes; Many, many, many mentions of mines, blackness, death & the dying (barely-above-not-detailed);

Sexual Content- three head/forehead kisses, a cheek kiss, an almost kiss, three barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three semi-detailed kisses, a border-line detailed // very-detailed kiss; Remembering an almost kiss and a kiss (semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss; Mentions of stolen kisses; Touches & Hand-holding (semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (semi-detailed); a ‘strumpet’; Flirting & Teasing; Mentions of waking up in the morning with a woman; Mentions of men preying on young girls; Mentions of childbirth & those who died in it; Mentions of children born out of wedlock; Love, falling in love & the emotions

                 *Note: A cat gives birth (barely-above-not-detailed).

-Livy O’Brien

-Jake Russell
                                P.O.V. switches between them, Luke & Victor

                                              Set in 1874
                                                        363 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Hmm. “Stealing Jake” had some parts I liked (caring for the orphans, prayers and Livy) and some parts I didn’t like (all the kisses & the mentions of killing children). At first, I was very confused with the different POVs, but I got it about fifteen chapters in. This book reminded me a bit of a Karen Witemeyer book. I wouldn’t be keeping this book, though, due to the boarder-line very-detailed kiss. :/

 

See y’all on Wednesday 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 (Tyndale House Publishers) for this review.