Books for Christian Girls: "Queen of Atlantis" by Edmund Lloyd Fletcher

About this book:

“She couldn't handle one small town, how is she going to save the world?
Janet Jones has reached the end of the road. Literally. Jane (to her friends) is a headstrong 18-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome who is fleeing from the ghosts of her past.
Her one simple goal is to find her place in the world -- to make a new life for herself. Her plans are about to change when she mistakenly falls in with a group of international adventurers, posing as a mild-mannered Bible Study.
This swashbuckling team of misfits sets out with the goal of locating a rare sea mollusk. The clues they find along the way propel them headlong into a daring, action-packed adventure that spans the globe.
Michael Moast and his team once again find themselves the one and only line of defense against an international conspiracy and its plans for world domination.
Along the way, Jane makes many new friends, learns a thing or two about herself, and even unlocks the shocking truth behind an ancient secret.”

Series: Book #1 in the “A Moast Unusual Bible Study” series.

Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, read & remembered; A few Prayers; Church going; Going to a Bible study; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Many mentions of a “Bible study”; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, books of the Bible, & biblical teaching; Mentions of churches, church going & services; Mentions of Christians & Christianity; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of Divine Providence; A couple mentions of blessings & being blessed; A mention of praising God; A mention of a miracle; A mention of Christian artist, Chris Rice;

*Note: Mentions of gods & pagan deities; Mentions of a cult; A few mentions of evil; A mention of a demon; A mention of a daemon straight from Hell; A mention of there being ‘you-know-what to pay’; A mention of a devilish grin; A mention of someone smirking devilishly; A mention of a devilishly handsome man; A mention of ghosts; A mention of a ‘cursed’ Aztec temple; A mention of an Atheist nation.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crap’, a ‘sheesh’, a cut off ‘what the—‘, a ‘yuppie’, two forms of ‘shut up’, three ‘idiot’s, five forms of ‘dumb’, five forms of ‘stupid’; Mentions of curses (said, not written though some are written like [explicative] in the spot were one would be); A bit of sarcasm; Pain, poison & a death (up to semi-detailed); Being shot, hinted at being killed & therefore a death (up to semi-detailed); A volcano, earthquakes, lava/flames, injuries & deaths (up to semi-detailed); Explosions, gasses, a kidnapping, gunfire, pain, blood, injuries/wounds & deaths (up to semi-detailed); Fighting, battles, weapons, injuries & deaths (up to semi-detailed); Ms. McCready & Enzo both drink; Jane ran away from home; Many mentions of killings/murders, nearly being killed, killers, bodies, explosives, poisons/toxins, gasses & threats (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of weapons, stabbing, executions & deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mention of torture, tortuous demises, injuries, bruises & a death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of bodies, corpses, autopsies & charred skin (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of blood, deaths & sharks/fish after the bodies (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of natural disasters, injuries & deaths; Mentions of terrorists, assassins & thugs; Mentions of being shot at, gunfire & screams; Mentions of missiles, bombs & land mines; Mentions of drugs, addicts, overdosing, drug lords & drug smuggling; Mentions of bars, drinking, drunks & booze/alcohol; Mentions of smoking & cigarettes; Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of wars; A few mentions of gangs; A few mentions of convicts/prisoners; A couple mentions of the phrase about skinning someone alive; A couple mentions of nooses; A couple mentions of blackmail; A couple mentions of cliques; A mention of the Nazis; A mention of a holocaust; A mention of being suicidal; A mention of a crack-pot; A mention of manure;

*Note: Mentions of car brands (Buick, Corvette, Ferrari, Humvee, Mercedes, Model T & Toyota); Mentions of fictional characters (Ricky & Lucy on I Love Lucy, Jeeves the butler, Donkey Kong, James Bond, The Incredible Hulk, a Marvel comic book character & Frankenstein); A couple mentions of Nikon cameras; A mention of Yale college; A mention of Mission Impossible; A mention of a John Deere tractor; A mention of John Wayne; A mention of Wyatt Earp’s gang; A mention of NASCAR; A mention of a zombie movie.

Sexual Content- A bit of Noticing; Mentions of boys, dating & being single; Mentions of blushes; A few mentions of a hinted scene where a boy wanted something from Jane when they were in the woods (which he didn’t get); A few mentions of a threat of a kiss & then males whistling; A few mention of a teen boy leering at Jane & once at her bare thigh; A couple mentions of a prom & date; A couple mentions of a flirtatious smile & a handsome man; A couple mentions of crushes; A mention of pick-up lines;

*Note: A few mentions of being in a romance novel & love at first sight; A couple mentions of a woman’s tight skirt; A mention of a torn pant leg from the buttocks down; A mention of two bums sitting on one chair; A mention of a rear end being numb.

-Janet “Jane” Jones, age 18
P.O.V. of Jane, Jack, Michael, Dr. Puttery, Enzo & others

{First chapter set in 425BC}

354 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Hmm. Y’know, I keep saying fantasy isn’t my favorite genre. And yet, I keep reviewing them. (The things I do for y’all…;) ) I wouldn’t say that this was the typical fantasy, though. There’s no dragons (well, actual dragons), no talking animals, and no space travel to name a few of the typical fantasy tropes. I would classify this more as a far-fetched fantasy/action & adventure. So, it’s different. And I can appreciate that.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book when I started it. At first, the punctuation typos, the different font and layout along with some details that added nothing to the plot overwhelmed me. It wasn’t until about 100 pages in that I trying to be able to smooth over certain problems and try to get into the story-line. {Which, since I’m supposed to be honest in my review; I’m not sure if I completely understood everything that was going on in this book. I *think* I got the majority of what was happening, but please don’t quiz me.}

Because of the dedication to the author’s sons: “I wanted something exciting for you to read without all the smut and bad stuff.” I was expecting less violence and deaths. I don’t know, that’s just what I was thinking. *shrugs* We would see the all-knowing fly-on-the-wall point of view (also known as a Narrator that knows how every character is feeling and what they’ve done prior to the book starting) of many characters, some to be introduced in a chapter and by the end of that chapter, they’re dead. That took me off guard a bit. It did happen about three times, though, so I was able to expect it at times.

Jane didn’t make the most sense to me, however. After she goes once to a Bible study, the time she goes back, she’s told there isn’t a Bible study and starts trying to track down the members, who each happen to have part of a test of some sort for her. I mean, I admire her dedication to trying to find her new friends, but I can honestly I would not have done that, personally.

I did feel bad for Jane…by the end of the book there are people obsessed with her either wanting to torture her or make her his Queen. Yikes, girl, yikes. At the end though, I’d like to say I totally called the ending budding romance. I SO called it and was happy it was there.

All in all, the majority of this story just wasn’t my cup of tea. It wasn’t bad, it was unexpected in some ways and I enjoyed some parts, but the overall writing style and plot just wasn’t for me.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!