Books for Christian Girls: "The House at the End of the Moor" by Michelle Griep

About this book:

“What Can a London Opera Star and an Escaped Dartmoor Prisoner Have in Common?

Opera star Maggie Lee escapes her opulent lifestyle when threatened by a powerful politician who aims to ruin her life. She runs off to the wilds of the moors to live in anonymity. All that changes the day she discovers a half-dead man near her house. Escaped convict Oliver Ward is on the run to prove his innocence, until he gets hurt and is taken in by Maggie. He discovers some jewels in her possession—the very same jewels that got him convicted. Together they hatch a plan to return the jewels, clearing Oliver’s name and hopefully maintaining Maggie’s anonymity.”

Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Many Prayers & thanking God; Talks about God, faiths, forgiveness, & justice; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & praising God; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of faiths; Mentions of churches & preachers/vicars; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of sins & sinners; A few mentions of Heaven & eternity; A few mentions of miracles; A few mentions of Godspeed; A couple mentions of a sainted glass of the Good Shepherd at a church; A couple mentions of saints; A mention of someone being a miracle worker; A mention of a rider of the apocalypse; A mention of a threat of sending someone to their Maker;

*Note: An Officer (Sebastian) at a prison spouting Scripture incorrectly (missing a word or adding a phrase, we see this a handful of times (Maggie corrects him on one he said to her)) and he also tries to “help” children get on the “right path” via “God’s grace and [Sebastian’s] hand”, more about that in the Negative Content section; He thinks he is trying to atone for his sins *Spoiler* towards the end of the book, he realizes that what he has been doing is not right and that he needs to know God better *End of Spoiler*); Phrases are said (“by all that was holy” and “this godforsaken planet” (the latter said by Sebastian) up to twice each); A man calls Maggie a she-devil; Mentions of calling men devils and demons & their appearances devilish; Mentions of a hellhole, calling a prison cell hell, a pit of hell, and a life and other things hellish; Mention of superstitions, ghosts, & pixies around a moor; A few mentions of hell, the lake of fire, & burning; A few mentions of hellhounds; A couple mentions of a someone’s soul being possessed by a demon; A mention of a man being the spawn of Satan; A mention of a man working for the devil; A mention that assumptions are the devil’s handiwork; A mention of a man having the heart of a demon; A mention of a man’s eyes that are almost demonic; A mention of someone riding hell-bent after another; A mention of bring justice to the world is a calling and a curse; A mention of a man looking down on people like a god; A couple mentions of a man looking like Adonis and a Greek god.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: (if you’re not familiar with any of these, they are used as an exclamation or when frustrated) an ‘idiot’, a ‘not caring a fig’, a ‘pish’, a ‘what the skip-nippity’, a ‘whoever the blazes’, two ‘caw’s, two ‘for the love of God and country!’s, two forms of ‘hang it’, two ‘la!’s, two forms of ‘shut up’, three ‘Egads/Gads’, four forms of ‘drat’, four ‘thunderation!’s, six ‘stupid’x, six forms of ‘what the devil’, eight forms of ‘who/what the deuce’, ten ‘bah/pah’, eleven forms of ‘sweet blessed heavens!/sweet mercy’, and twenty-five forms of ‘blast’; Many mention of curses (said, not written, one called a “belch of damnation”); Sebastian curses (not written) and smokes; Almost drowning in a swamp (up to semi-detailed); Pain, Being shot, Being hit/slapped/hurt, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (semi-detailed); Being in a prison & punishments (semi-detailed); Sebastian is a bully and harms children under the pretense of “showing them the right way to live” (this includes knocking a boy’s food over that he was trying to sell, seriously hurting a teen boy’s wrist, and almost burning a boy’s cheek with a cigarillo); Sebastian also aims a gun at a guard dog; Many mentions of pain, injuries, being slapped/hit, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of thieves/criminals, stealing, & stolen items; Many mentions of prisons/jail, prisoners, punishments/torture, & arrests; Mentions of having to identify a body & death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a man enjoying harming others to do what he wants (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a man and boys bullying and physically harming a girl who is mute (also a mention that “not many women of means would look so kindly on a defective maid” from Oliver, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of knives, guns, gunshots, & being shot at; Mentions of threats; Mentions of gambling & debts; Mentions of pubs, alcohol, drinking, & drunkards; Mentions of smoking, pipes/cigars/cigarillo, & tobacco; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, guilt, & deceit; Mentions of manure; A few mentions of killing a man & the blood (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of violence; A few mentions of an injured dog that was beaten by its prior master; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of murder; A couple mentions of rumors; A mention of starting a war; A mention of slitting someone’s throat; A mention of embezzlement; A mention of eavesdropping;

*Note: Mentions of classic books & their characters.

Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lip touch (barely-above-not-detailed), a fingers kiss, a cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, an almost semi-detailed kiss, four semi-detailed kisses, and a detailed kiss; Wondering about kissing someone (barely-above-not-detailed); Hand Holding, Touches & Embraces (up to semi-detailed); Winks & Blushes; Nearness, Noticing, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); *Minor Spoiler* A man threatened Maggie to warm his bed or he’d ruin her reputation, she chose to runaway *End of Minor Spoiler*; A comment about worshiping a spouse with your body at a wedding, making a woman yours in every way, & the desire in a man’s gaze (all with a married couple); Maggie watches Oliver shaving and thinks about how intimate this scene is and that she as an unmarried woman, should not be watching (but is unable to pull herself away from the scene); A man closes close to smell Maggie’s hair, but she says her virtue is not in danger with him (it’s more of a threat, then sexually motivated); Mentions of affairs & a wife aware of her husband seeking affections from other women (including a mention of his infidelity not only being physical pleasures); Mentions of Maggie dodging pinches, stolen kisses, and other untoward advances from men and their wicked intents; Mentions of winks & blushes; A few mentions of a man’s sister being sullied by a man & killing the man; A few mentions of kisses & kissing; A couple mentions of wanting to be one with another (with the intent of marriage); A couple mentions of women of ill repute/fallen women; A couple mentions of innuendos/assumptions about someone; A couple mentions of reputations/virtue; A couple mentions of flirting; A mention of Oliver saying he admits to a keen study of the fairer sex; A mention of men calling Maggie’s character in question because of her profession; A mention of guilty men being notorious for their wiles; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: Oliver notices Maggie’s curves (“though curved in all the right places, she was a slender woman”); Sebastian comments on different women’s appearances in a negative and judging way (also comments on women’s subordination to men); A mention of a knee to the groin stopping a man from bad intentions; A mention of a scandalously low-cut gown; A mention of a mother and child dying in childbirth; A mention of breastfeeding.

-Margaret “Maggie” Lee, age 25

-Oliver Ward, age 30

P.O.V. switches between them & Sebastian (Maggie in 1^st, Oliver and Sebastian in 3^rd)

Set in 1861 (Final chapter set in 1862)

320 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Well, well, well. While I was hoping to enjoy it, I ended up enjoying this book much more than expected.

I have read “The Thief of Blackfriars Lane” by Michelle Griep and I liked that one, but I would totally believe that this book and that one were not written by the same author. I mean no ill-intent when I say this, it just that “The House at the End of the Moor” had so much more depth and emotion in it. Not that the 2021 book didn’t, this (2020 published) novel, however, had it on an entirely different level.

The poetic style of writing—especially in Maggie’s point of view parts—pulled me in instantly to the story. It was beautifully written and in a style I absolutely adored. Maggie was brilliant and how the author wrote her lines *all the heart eyes*. The pacing of the sentences when something is revealed (big to small, someone’s appeared, somethings happened, etc.) was phenomenal. Not even just the reveals, but also the conversations about God and how they were worded and discussed. It’s like the author knew how to make the sentences to hit the reader with the most impact and it worked flawlessly. Mic drop moments, if you will, again and again.

Both Maggie and Oliver were great. I loved her parts the most, but oh boy, he was a charmer. But in the best way, he had so many moments that I went, “He’s just a nice guy.” “He’s a good guy.” Because of little things he would do. (Also, please do not get me started on the “Who hurt you? I’ll kill him.” trope (not exactly in this book, but very close) because I will become a blushing mess, be forewarned.) They had their little moment of instant attraction, but they both pushed those thoughts to the back burner for the time being because of the important things at stake. (Thank you! Finally a couple in a “romance book” that’s on the run/in a dangerous situation and not looking at each other’s lips at the worst moments! They pushed (most of) their feelings to the side and I appreciated that so much.)

Now, to go into what I wasn’t a fan of: At first, I was incredibly disappointed to see a villain’s (who was twisting Scriptures) point of view. I could easily do without that. However, the ending. Okay, I really didn’t like him. At all. Not even in his last P.O.V. chapter. (To be as safe as possible from spoilers, I’ll be vague: There was hints of it happening, but it felt a little off to me until the very final chapter. And then there was another mic drop moment and I was in stunned silence, once again. So all that means, is that while seeing his P.O.V. bothered me a lot at the beginning and I was ready to strangle him, it bothered me less because the ending and very final chapter.)

I’m putting this book at four stars for my personal rating, though, I think I could have easily given it a five star had a few suggestions not been included. I think those said suggestions may go over younger readers’ heads, but I would still say this book is better for Older High School aged girls and over because of such content. Nothing felt over the top or utterly scandalous, but still, there was mentions of girls/women being ruined by men, affairs, some of the I’m-in-love emotions (which albeit those parts being a little *more* than I would have liked, there wasn’t many in total at all), punishments/being attacked, and the villains (one more evil and one more blinded by his thoughts of atoning for his sins).

So, overall? I’m buying a copy of this book for myself and adding about ten quotes I loved to my Goodreads. I’m eagerly awaiting her next book (to be released on the first on November) and will be checking out the author’s other books in the meantime. Because of some content/comments, I can’t recommend it for younger readers, but, personally, I will be marking it as one of my favorites books from this year.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!