About this book:
“When her father dies and her brother, Warin, abandons her, Mazy is forced to seek help from her beloved older brother Sir John, who is training knights at the great estate of Strachleigh. While there, she becomes friends with the kind and loyal Sir Berenger. Circumstances then force them apart: Berenger goes to Prague, while Mazy and her brother move to London. There, Mazy puts her knife-throwing skills to excellent use as she defends herself, and she learns to make breads to sell in the market to earn money. Her business is expanding when Berenger returns to London and they are reunited.
Romance is just beginning to bloom when the king offers Berenger a new mission that also serves as a chance for a title: Berenger is to marry the recently widowed Lady Bristow and take over her estate. To Mazy’s dismay, Berenger agrees to go to Bristow Castle to visit her and make his decision.
But Bristow Castle is hiding secrets, and the only person who might be able to save the knight in distress is the damsel Mazy herself.”
Series: Book #4 in “The Dericott Tales”. Review of the Book #1 Here!, Book #2 Here!, and Book #3 Here!
Spiritual Content- Many Prayers, Thanking/Praising God, & Talking to Him (including Mazy hearing from God on what to do); 'H's are capital when referring to God; Going into a Cathedral, praying, & lighting a candle (Mazy also crosses herself); Mazy wonders why God let things happen (such as her father dying); Mentions of God & His will; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking/praising God; Mentions of churches, a cathedral, & priests; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of blessings; A couple mentions of the Holy Writ & a Psalter; A mention of stained glass of those from the Bible; A mention of martyrs; A mention of a young boy being told that his mother is with Jesus and the angels; A mention of Heaven & someone slitting around like an angel;
*Note: Mentions of evil & evil people; A mention of a feast of Saint Nicholas; A mention of a man calling his family cursed.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: Two ‘witch’s (said when describing Mazy from a man threatening her; used as an insult, but not as someone who practices witchcraft); Some Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Men with ill intent threaten Mazy and she defends herself with her knives and threats of her own (happens three times, including blood/bleeding & injuries, up to semi-detailed); Seeing a riot/violence, Fighting/defending herself, & being threatened (including a man saying that he’ll cut off Mazy’s ears and tongue; all up to semi-detailed); Seeing a loved one pass away, another person’s death, & grief (Mazy’s father, up to semi-detailed); Berenger drinks wine at night; Berenger lies to keep someone from knowing what he’s doing (but asks for God’s forgiveness after saying it); Many mentions of wars, battles, riots, rebellions, violence, fighting, fights, attacks, being attacked, executions, the possibility of dying, & deaths (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of weapons, being attacked, self-defense, harming others, guilt from it, blood/bleeding, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of alcohol, drinking, social drinking at dinner (wine), drunks, taverns/alehouses, & flasks; Mentions of Book #1’s murder, treason, arrests, near executions, & a fight that caused someone to lose an arm (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of treason, traitors, & spies; Mentions of someone being poisoned and killed & another attempted poisoning (*Spoiler* of a child *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of a shipwreck & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a wife saying that her late husband abused her (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fires; Mentions of injuries, blood/bleeding, pain, & a death (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of robberies, stealing, bandits, & thieves; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of deaths of loved ones & grieving (fathers, mothers, parents, and a sister); A few mentions of a body being ready for the funeral & the possible smell; A few mentions of nightmares (including one of being chased by a wolf); A few mentions of someone taking his anger out on those with less power and authority; A couple mentions of possible assassination attempts; A couple mentions of a sickness & deaths; A couple mentions of beatings; A couple mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of someone saying a porridge tastes like an animal’s excrements; A mention of a child being threatened with being strangled if they don’t listen; A mention of a possible beheading; A mention of the possibility of someone’s throat being slit; A mention of someone possibility being drawn and quartered; A mention of a woman possibly being mistreated or abused in a marriage; A mention of those oppressed or abused by others; A mention of a story about a mother being eaten by a wolf; A mention of a flogging; A mention of jealousy;
*Note: Mazy’s brothers resent their father for how he treated them (& Mazy feels sorry that they didn’t grow up with his love like she did).
Sexual Content- Four hand kisses, an almost barely-above-not-detailed kiss, two almost border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses (one unwanted/forced), a nose kiss, a jaw kiss, a head kiss, two not-detailed kisses, four barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three semi-detailed kisses, and a border-line semi-detailed // detailed kiss; Remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Warmth, Shivers, & Hand holding (including a woman touching Berenger’s chest and arms multiple times, up to semi-detailed); Remembering touches & embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Nearness (inducing muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); A man taunts Mazy with kissing her & tries to force a kiss (doesn’t actually happen, but Mazy is shaken afterwards, up to semi-detailed; later she recalls it, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); An older woman (about twelve years older than him) is interested in Berenger, stares at his lips, & tries to tempt him to stay the night with her in her bedroom (twice) and also tries to kiss him (he notices how thin her clothes are (no details) and she comments about making him glad if he stayed with her, but everything else is up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* That woman is trying to tempt Berenger and manipulates his emotions for him to marry her *End of Spoiler*; Mazy & Berenger share bedroom for one night with a child (he promises that nothing unseemly will happen); Seeing a couple kiss (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A brazen woman at a restaurant stands very close to Berenger and also leans down (which exposes her breasts; Berenger keeps his eyes away from her and Mazy is shocked by the woman’s actions); Mentions of kisses, kissing, & wanting to kiss; Mentions of touches, embraces, & hand holding; Mentions of flirting & flirts; Mentions of reputations, a woman’s virtue, & someone insinuating that Mazy’s has lost her virtue (due to being alone and traveling with a man, though nothing happened between them); A few mentions of Mazy’s father warning her to not be alone with men (because they’re not to be trusted with someone as pretty as her) & another father treating his daughter like “there’s a wolf around very corner, waiting to eat [her]”; A couple mentions of men taking advantage (or not taking advantage) of Mazy; A couple mentions of men giving Mazy “wolfish glances” and another looking at her with an ill intent; A couple mentions of men carousing with female servants; A couple mentions of couples embracing; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of being faithful to a spouse; A mention of married couple giving all their attention to each other after their wedding; A mention of affairs & a husband loving another woman; A mention of men not making lascivious offers to Mazy because of her brother’s warnings; A mention of men looking at a pretty woman lasciviously; A mention of a man not saying anything debauched; A mention of young women being mistreated and “left to the vices of evil men” when the head of their family rejects her; A mention of a young woman offering Mazy & Berenger to spend the night in a bedroom together; A mention of a woman oogling a man; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Berenger has always wished to rescue a damsel in distress & maybe even marry her; Mentions of Mazy’s oldest brother wanting to marrying her to a man who is older than their father; Mentions of a mother nursing her baby (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a woman being unable to conceive and a healer in the village being able to get barren women to conceive; A mention of a young woman saying that she loves to watch a certain man walk.
-Mazy, age 16 & 18
-Berenger, age 21 & 23
P.O.V. switches between them
(Medieval) Set in 1383 & 1383
352 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I think that plot-wise I enjoyed this book much more than the third book in this series, possibly even the most out of the whole series thus far.
However, I did struggle with some of the content, particularly the kissing/romantic parts.
Both Mazy and Berenger were fine characters, but she in particularly felt so young to me. (I’m slightly scared that means I’m getting older and not enjoying YA books as much—no, I refuse to believe that.) I think it’s due to her being raised in one place and never going anywhere or meeting new people, that when she’s suddenly thrown into new places and experiences, her naivety shows through. For him, I wasn’t a fan of his savior complex (how he really wanted to save a damsel in distress) and was thankful when those parts finally stopped being mentioned.
While I appreciate that the villain of this story was very different from the typically villain’s this author writes, I really wasn’t a fan of a certain scene involving her trying to tempt Berenger and how easily he was being played by the villain.
Overall, it was a very quick read. I know I didn’t say too much about what I actually liked about this book, but I did like Mazy and Berenger’s friendship (though, she quickly fell for him) and all of their praying. It definitely wasn’t one I really enjoyed from this series, though, which is disappointing.
See y’all on Friday 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment