Books for Christian Girls: "The Secrets of Emberwild" by Stephenia H. McGee

About this book:

  “A gifted trainer in a time women are not allowed to race, Nora Fenton prefers horses to men. They're easier to handle, they're more reliable, and they never tell her what to do. After her father's passing, Nora is determined to save her struggling horse farm, starting with entering her prize colt into the harness races at the 1905 Mississippi Fair. If she wins, she may have a chance at independence. But when a stranger arrives and starts asking disconcerting questions, she suspects he may have other motives than unseating her in the training job that is rightfully hers.
   Silas Cavallero will do whatever it takes to solve the mystery of his father's death--even if it means training an unwieldy colt for Nora, who wants nothing more than to see him gone. But when mysterious accidents threaten their safety and circumstances shrouded in secrets begin unlocking clues to his past, Silas will have to decide if the truth is worth risking ruining everything for the feisty woman he's come to admire.”

Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Psalm 115:1 at the beginning; Prayers; Mentions of God (including a couple men who have been unkind to Nora saying that she doesn’t have the sense God gave a sow and another saying that an accident was God’s own hand of getting her to mind her own business); Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, services, & preachers; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A few mentions of sins (including Nora’s father telling her mother than Nora’s wayward behavior is a punishment for her sins); A couple mentions of those in the Bible; A couple mentions of Heaven; A mention of a miracle;
             *Note: Nora calls a fire “Hades’ breath”.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘idiot’s, seven forms of ‘what in the heavens’, and eight ‘stupid’s; Mentions of curses (said, not written, including Silas holding one back); Being trapped in a fire & Pain (up to semi-detailed); Fighting, Pain, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Very close calls with horses & both human and horse nearly being injured or killed (semi-detailed); Seeing someone kicked by a horse & dying (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing the final breaths of a parent & some grief; Nora fights the feeling of bitterness and resentment towards her parents and uncle; Silas faces some prejudice about his Spanish heritage (such as some men sneering at him and calling him “Mex”); Many mentions of a horse trampling it’s owner, if it was provoked, & the culprit/murderer (Silas’ father, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of a man’s plan to kill someone (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of illnesses & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of sabotage & close accidents; Mentions of a fire, pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fights, fighting, & violence; Mentions of stealing & stolen items; Mentions of a bar, alcohol, drinking, gambling, gamblers, & bets/betting (Silas says he doesn’t play gambling card games); Mentions of tobacco; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of people grieving (a father, a mother, a husband); Mentions of a horse crying in pain & its injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of manure; A few mentions of a war & plantations; A few mentions of the deaths of horses; A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a death from a work accident; A mention of the possibility of a horse being killed by coyotes; A mention of a wreck that could have caused a horse to be put down.

Sexual Content- A cheek kiss, a top-of-the-head kiss, an almost (semi-detailed) kiss, two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, and two semi-detailed kisses; Recalling a kiss & an almost kiss (semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss & Wondering about being kissed (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, & Hand holding (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of blushes & winks; A few mentions of a man hinting to doubting that a child is actually his offspring (the mother was faithful to her vows, though); A mention of love “blooming between the intimacies of husband and wife”; A mention of a woman having to leave the area because she was “in the family way” (hinted out-of-wedlock); A mention of seeing a man forced a kiss upon a woman (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of wondering if a man stayed the night at a widow’s home (he did not);A mention of a man not having a lecherous look towards a woman; A mention of Nora thinking that what man wouldn’t find a woman acting like a wanton alluring; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Nora kicks a man in his groin; Nora wonders why she couldn’t have been born a boy, then she could do as she pleased and no one would be expecting her to get married (we see a lot of comments from Nora at the beginning about being married is similar to giving up her freedom); Mention of comments from men towards women that would be deemed sexist in today’s society (such as a her father believing that women should listen to orders without comment and daughters should be seen more than heard, her uncle berating her for wearing trousers, her father calling her ideas “foolish notions of an addle-minded female”, her father saying that she lacks the wits God gave a sow, etc); Mentions of breeding horses, mares being in season, & studs; Mentions of Nora’s uncle pushing her to marry a man seventeen years her senior; A few mentions of undergarments & blushing around the opposite gender’s ones; A mention of Nora thinking that she thought her uncle was more progressive (in regards to her wearing trousers).

-Nora Fenton, age 28
-Silas Cavallero, age 29
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                            Set in 1905
                                                        352 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add a full star for older girls who like horses}

This was a wildcard book for me. I had never read a book by this author before so I didn’t know what I would be expecting, particularly in the regards to content found in the book.

In that regard, it was on the cleaner side; nothing major for me to note, which I appreciate because that always makes a review easier.

It should be noted, though, that I’ve never been a horse girl. You know those little girls that have posters of horses on their walls and collective horse figurines? That’s never been me. I don’t dislike horses or am afraid of them, I think they’re beautiful animals, but I have no extreme fondness for them. This book is very heavy on the horse aspect. Which shouldn’t have been as shocking as it was, but I would venture to say that there was more horse content than romance content. A positive for those who like horses, yes. Just not my personal thing.

I think my main issue with this story was Nora. She was a little too “woe is my life” of being a woman in the early 1900s and had some anti-men thoughts because in her eyes, marriage means your freedom is taken away and nobody understands her. Until a new employee walks into her life, of course. I won’t lie and say that it felt cliché because of such elements. There was a lot of “Men.” and “Women.” comments from the two of them that I frankly got tired of fast.

So, for me personally, it was an okay read, but not one I really enjoyed reading.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!