"Shadowed Eden" by Katie Clark

About this book:

  “Avery Miles is ready to spread her wings and prove her worth on a church mission trip to Iraq, but when their entourage gets blown off course in a desert dust storm, the group is lost in an inexplicable garden oasis. Along with the luscious fruits and crystal springs, Avery and her friends find poisonous snakes, deadly sink holes, and a group of natives that are almost unearthly—but that’s not their biggest problem. No matter which way they trek, they can’t seem to leave.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Beguiled” series.

Spiritual Content- Genesis 3:1 at Part 1, Genesis 3:3-5 at Part 2, and Genesis 3:24 at Part 3; Set during a mission trip with Avery’s youth group; Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, read, & remembered; A few Prayers; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to Him; Finding an old temple; Luca says he hasn’t bothered with God in a few years; *Spoiler* Avery and some other characters find the Garden of Eden near the end *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of youth groups (and leaders), churches, & a mission trip; Mentions of God, His Spirit, & Jesus Christ; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of knowing or not knowing God and praying to know Him; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of those, events, & places in the Bible; Mentions of church going & youth group going; Mentions of an old temple; Mentions of praise songs, hymns, & singing; Mentions of angels; A couple mentions of thanking God; A couple mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of a miracle; A mention of becoming a missionary; A mention of a Bible college;

*Note: There is an angel and a fallen angel; Mentions of a devil & a prophecy of battling with God Almighty; Mentions of a fallen angel character & him turning into a snake; Mentions of evil vs good; Mentions of a dark force following someone around; Mentions of seeing visions; Mentions of something tasting or feeling like Heaven; Mentions of demons, devils, & a dark angel; A few mentions of seeing something satanic; A few mentions of jinxing & superstitions; A couple mentions of spirits of devils; A couple mentions of Hell.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘screw up’, a ‘sucks’, two ‘dumb’s, two ‘idiot’s, and five ‘stupid’s; Lots of Eye rolling, Sarcasm, & Bad attitudes; Pain & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Being attacked by a monkey, dizziness/nausea, & pain (up to semi-detailed); Hallucinating/Visions of humans & bugs/creatures (up to semi-detailed); Fighting (up to semi-detailed); A fire, running from the heat, & flames (up to semi-detailed); A dust storm (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of Luca’s father’s suicide;Mentions of Avery’s mom who left; Mentions of snakes, almost being bit, someone being bitten, & dead/killing snakes (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of quicksand & almost dying (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a fire, heat, flames, & smoke; Mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fighting, punches, & wanting to fight/smack someone; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of someone having a seizure (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hunting, taxidermy, & a meat processing shop (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of using the bathroom outside; A few mentions of other deaths; A few mentions of bombs; A few mentions of anger & punching out a window; A couple mentions of possible animal or human sacrifices; A mention of criminals; A mention of someone being smacked; A mention of sounding hateful.

Sexual Content- Touches & Tingles (barely-above-not-detailed); A bit of Hand Holding (barely-above-not-detailed); A bit of Noticing & Staring; A few Blushes; Many mentions of dating, boyfriends, girlfriends, exes, breakups, & want to get back together; Mentions of flirting, acting coy, & a girl leaning into a guy; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of blushes; A mention of a comment telling a couple to get a room; A bit of still being in love & missing being in a relationship.

-Avery Miles

-Luca
                                          P.O.V. switches between them & Rae
                                                 296 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Okay, after reading this book, I get the title now. When I first started this book all I really knew was it was a mission trip gone wrong to Iraq. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting at all and while I wasn’t a fan of the spiritual realm type stuff (because, personally, I don’t enjoy reading about it from fiction books), it was an interesting story. I wish we had been told Avery & Luca’s ages, but it’s kind of confirmed they’re in high school.

I’m not really a fantasy fan, per say, but this was different and I’m curious to see what the second book will be about.
I do say to say how impressive I think it is that the author can jump to so many different genres and still keep her same writing style! :)

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.