"Alison Henry and the Creatures of Torone" by C.J. Darlington

About this book:

  “After being picked on at school yet again, Alison Henry seeks refuge in her favorite place, the woods behind her cabin home. Her day couldn't get any worse. At least that's what she thinks before she spots the magnificent buck. Desperate to protect the deer from a teenage gang out to shoot him, Ali has no idea she's about to begin the adventure of a lifetime. This buck is no ordinary deer, and it turns out Ali is no ordinary girl.
  When she suddenly begins to hear the buck talking in her head, she thinks she's going crazy. She certainly can't be The Interpreter this buck named Artemis says she is, the one destined to bring together the men and creatures of his realm. She's just a kid who misses her deployed father and gets teased at school for wearing the wrong clothes. But Artemis is convinced. She must follow him.
  Before the full moon sets Alison Henry finds herself in the strange land of Torone where evil beasts trap and devour the creatures of the woods and the rightful heir to the throne is hunted and on the run. What can one girl possibly do?”


Series: Hopefully Book #1 in a series…? ;)

Spiritual Content- Good vs Evil story-line & Ali is determined not to let the evil side win; A couple Scriptures are mentioned; Talks about God; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches/chapels, a vicar, & a christening; A couple mentions of when Ali challenged a teacher who said that God didn’t exist; A couple mentions of faiths; A couple mentions of blessings; A couple mentions of godspeed; A mention of a nun;

*Note: Mentions of evil & evilness; Mentions of mythological animals; A few mentions of dark arts (magic & spells), which aren’t allowed in Torone; A mention of a demon scream.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn’, a ‘shut up’, two ‘idiot’s, and twelve ‘stupid’s; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); A few mention of words Alison isn’t allowed to/shouldn’t say; A bit of eye rolling & sass; Fighting, fights, threats, swords, arrows and shooting them in self-defense, & killing beasts in self-defense up to semi-detailed); Watching fighting & fights (up to semi-detailed); Pain, blood/bleeding, a fever, passing out, & a mean boy threatens Ali with a knife and ends up cutting into her leg (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of killing, dying, fighting, fights, shooting, threats, & deaths of beasts (barely-above-not-detailed to semi-detailed); Many mentions of deaths, wars, battles & fighting (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of blood/bleeding, injuries/wounds, stitches, scars, pain, screams, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a planned execution (that didn’t happen); Mentions of murders of humans, animals, & a murder that was ordered, but didn’t happen; Mentions of a family betraying & willing to kill each other for a title/kingdom; Mentions of traps that hurt an animal very badly before it’s killed (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fighting to the death; Mentions of violence & killing in self-defense; Mentions of a murder, body, & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths & bodies (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of bloodshed & terror; Mentions of the thought of dying or being eaten; Mentions of evil beats & the smells (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of dungeons; Mentions of hunting, poaching, knives, & a deer is almost shot (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hatred; Mentions of rumors; Mentions of mean girls & their comments; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of a woman who was trampled to death (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of smoking, cigarettes, & cigars; A couple mentions of wanting to slap/punch someone; A couple mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of poison; A mention of drinking wine; A mention of manure; A mention of urine;

*Note: A mention of FedEx; A mention of Star Wars; A mention of the Jonas Brothers: A mention of L.L.Bean.

Sexual Content- A mention of a man looking at Ciara’s figure; A mention of a woman saying to a man that propriety isn’t her strength to a man at her room door (he doesn’t come in, though);

            *Note: A mention of a busty woman in a movie; A mention of kicking someone’s butt.

-Alison “Ali” Henry, age 12
                                          P.O.V. of Ali
                                                  293 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

I’ve said before many times that I’m really not a fantasy girl—but this fantasy I got into. This one was FUN! The characters (three words: Talking fantasy animals!) were great and Ali made me laugh many times with her comments. There was a bit more violence and fighting that I was expecting (which is why that even though Ali is 12, the Pre-Teen Age Group would only be okay for), but it is a Good vs Evil plot. Quite honestly, the parts that were semi-detailed were only barely barely-above-not-detailed, so it wasn’t over the top at all.

Sooooooo….where’s book #2? Because that ending was such a cliffhanger!

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 Author for this honest review.