“A ten-day Caribbean cruise might sound like a fabulous way to spend the holidays, but Liz would rather be anywhere than stranded on a ship with her estranged father for his high school reunion.
While an anonymous note, an onboard mystery, and a cute boy help turn the tide on the unwanted trip, Liz and her father drift even further apart. However, when Liz’s reckless actions create a tsunami of unintended consequences, she recognizes that she’s drowning in pent-up hurt and anger. As her carefully created façade begins to ebb away, she turns to her faith and sets off to chart a new course for her life.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Finding Faith” series. Book #1 is “Into the Spotlight” (formally published as “An Unexpected Role”) and was reviewed Here!
Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned & discussed; Talks about God, His work for us, & praying; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Prayers, Crossing oneself, & Thanking God (and the Holy Family and the saints); Going to a church; Liz’s best friend (Josie) encourages her to pray and come to church youth group, but Liz doesn’t get her enthusiasm for her faith; Josie gave Liz a novena to pray for family healing, it’s explained that “novenas for simply structured prayers that ask certain saints to pray for us”, & Liz prays them for multiple days; Liz says she’s “not exactly” Catholic, as her mom would attend a non-denominational church and her dad is Protestant, but she’s attending Mass with Josie’s families; Liz thinks that her faith is lukewarm and that part of her wants to stay in the “bitter, complaining stage” because in some ways, it’s easier; *Spoiler* About halfway, Liz wonders what’s holding her back from joining the church that “has begun to feel like [her] safe harbor?”; She prays in a church for the Lord to help her to move forward and forgive her father; When she does the next novena prayer the next day, she thanks the Holy Family for the power of prayer *End of Spoiler*; When Liz says that God’s been “less forthcoming with any guidance”, Cole says “God is a busy fella some days”; A discussion question at the end mentions about seeking out a priest to talk to if you don’t have someone to talk with about difficult things; Mentions of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, faiths, & forgiveness; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Christmas, baby Jesus, the Holy Family, and Bethlehem; Mentions of Mass, churches, church going, & youth groups; Mentions of becoming Catholic, confirmations, confessions, priests, Easter Vigils and sponsors, & popes; Mentions of saints, novenas, & a novena to pray for family healing (Liz thinks her family is beyond repair, but tries the prayers for Josie’s sake); A couple mentions of rosaries; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of the Bible; A mention of a cross necklace; A mention of a nativity set; A mention of a shrine to Mary; A mention of sins;
*Note: A few mentions of wishing on a star; A few mentions of karma; A mention of a devilishly cute grin.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crummy’, a form of ‘ticked off’, two ‘geez’s, four ‘darn/darn it’s, four forms of ‘heck’, four forms of ‘idiot’, four forms of ‘screw up’, six ‘dumb’s, and fifteen ‘stupid’s; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Liz is not happy to be on the cruise and has a bit of an attitude about it at first (sulky and disrespectful towards her dad and a couple rude adults) *Spoiler* But after praying and confessing, Liz tries to turn over a new leaf and not be snarky or bitter towards her dad *End of Spoiler*; Liz has a few non-alcohol cocktails; *Spoiler* About halfway, it’s revealed that Liz has been stealing items from other passengers, which started when she was younger to get her dad’s attention and then continued into her playing Robin Hood at school, though eventually stopping due to guilt *End of Spoiler*; A comedienne makes hurtful jabs and disses at others; Many mentions of crimes, criminals, stealing, thefts, & thieves; Many mentions of alcohol (including many types & also Liz calling it “liquid courage” for her dad), bars, drinking, having too much to drink, hangovers, & adults socially drinking at parties; Many mentions of divorces (Liz’s parents are divorced and she calls that their “D-day”; Her father walked out on them and since her mother was so distraught, Liz hide her emotions but is still upset about it; She thinks that logically, she should give him a break, but she hates coming in second to his social life and says that he destroyed their family; She thinks that she’s always wanted to cause him pain because of the pain he’s caused her, but feels worse when he’s hurt by her honest words); Mentions of married couples arguing; Mentions of neglectful parents (emotionally and not giving attention to their child); Mentions of cliques, mean kids in high school, bratty teenagers, bullies, & being bullied (Liz); Mentions of gambling, poker, a poker tournament, & casinos (Liz’s dad plays a bit and breaks even at one game); A few mentions of a fight; A few mentions of blackmail; A few mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of high school parties; A couple mentions of cheating; A couple mentions of hatred; A mention of grief over the death of a loved one; A mention of jealousy; A mention of rumors; A mention of a slaughterhouse;
*Note: Mentions of movies, actresses, & fiction characters (Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Roman Holiday, Grease, The Wizard of Oz, Oliver, Titanic, Forest Grump, Psycho, Gone With the Wind, The Godfather, Freaky Friday, The Wedding Singer, Die Hard, Singing in the Rain, & Some Like it Hot); Mentions of Broadway musicals & songs (Bye Bye Birdie, &Les Misérables); Mentions of singers & songs (Bon Jovi, Madonna, Van Halen, Billy Joel, Nat King Cole, Police, & Elvis); Mentions of brand names & products (iPod, Ray-Bans); A couple mentions of a play (Pygmalion); A couple mentions of MTV; A couple mentions of books & authors (‘Treasure Island’); A couple mentions of Ken & Barbie; A couple mentions of Pictionary & Jenga; A mention of a zombie; A mention of someone looking like a gypsy; A mention of plastic surgery (judgmental tone).
Sexual Content- Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Shivers, & Warmth (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Three forms of ‘hot’; At a tango lesson, Liz is told that tango is the “art of seduction” and that if the couples “keep [their] gaze on each other, your bodies will become one” (she blushes); When Cole comes out of the pool, Liz tries to hide that she’s looking at his chest; Mentions of kissing & couples kissing; Mentions of flirting, blushes, & winks; Mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, old flames, & cheating; A couple mentions of all the girls in a high school wanting to run their fingers through a popular guy’s hair; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of making out; A mention of a married couple kissing; A mention of a paramour; A mention of a player; A mention of a fling during a vacation; A mention of someone having a “thing” for another; A mention of a guy being called “a dish”; Some love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: The phrase “hook-up” is used but not in the sexual fling meaning; Mentions of Liz’s father’s ex-girlfriend who was barely older than her; A few mentions of another man having a very young wife; A few mentions of a trashy romance book with a “shirtless hunk” on the cover (a mother is reading it); A few mentions of a woman’s skintight dresses and plunging necklines; A couple mentions of canoodling couples; A mention of older men arguing about what music video was the hottest; A mention of testosterone; A mention of a guy’s muscles; A mention of a woman’s figure.
-Liz Kennedy, age 16/17
1st person P.O.V. of Liz
262 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Since I’ve enjoyed the other book I’ve read by this author, I was very excited about this new one. Contemporary YA is my original favorite genre and it’s always exciting to see new, clean ones being published. Rather than calling this book Christian Fiction, I would note it as Catholic Fiction as the author, the characters, and the discussions are Catholic based. I have to say that even though the faith changes in Liz felt a bit quick, it was interesting to learn a bit about the Catholic church. I felt like the faith content was very sincere and I really liked that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were mentioned, because I rarely see both mentioned in Christian Fiction books.
At the beginning, Liz can come across as…well, a bit much, or even bitter. Which can be totally understandable and even relatable when you think that Liz has been forced onto this cruise and her very strained relationship with her dad. Once she started helping others and focusing not on herself or her problems, I found her to be much better and I enjoyed the story more. Thankfully, that happens pretty quickly into the story. I was actually completely shocked at a twist and didn’t see it coming—which is very unusual for me!
I’m always down for books that have riddles or treasure hunting themes, and this one definitely kept my interest as I tried to solve the mysteries and riddles.
One more thing to note: The romance was very sweet and clean (Top tier YA flirting that doesn’t cross a line or have a sexual innuendoes—A+ in my book) and was more of a friendship first. I was squeeing over some parts with the two of them, hahaha!
Overall, this was a really entertaining story with good lessons and a super cute romance.
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.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
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