About this book:
“Years have passed, the world has changed, and loss has punctuated the lives of the Eliran people.
A royal disaster, a changing country, and political alliances faltering at every turn, the land of Elira is struggling to maintain its borders, its perseverance… and it’s hope.
A knight on a quest, a lost princess, an evil foreign ruler, and a secret of epic proportions will change the face - and the future - of Elira forever.”
Series: Book #3 in “The Chronicles of Elira” series. Review of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here! (Best to read the books in order.)
Spiritual Content- Many, many Scriptures are quoted, remembered, mentioned, thought about, & discussed; Many, many prayers (including it being said that characters are praying in tongues (not written) and with incoherent words) & Thanking God; Worshiping & Hymns/songs of worship; Many talks about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, trusting in Him, Him always being with us, having hope, & witnessing; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God and Jesus; God speaks to the main characters (usually Scriptures changed to be as if God was saying it to them); Feeling peace from & the nearness of God; Taking communion together with a group; Rosalie was told that no matter what happened to her, the Lord’s words would always comfort her & has many Scriptures memorized; In his time of grief, Elgon asks God why something happened and what did he do wrong (a Scripture comes to mind at this); Elgon feels a sickening ache at the thought of going against an order from God (so he does not go against it); Many, many mentions of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, trusting in Him, having and holding onto hope, & having peace; Many mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, praying in tongues and in “words [the character] didn’t even know”, thanking God, & praising God; Mentions of witnessing & bringing Christ to other lands; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of hymns & singing Scriptures; Mentions of Heaven (including being given a perfect body and soul & spending every second in worshiping the King of kings); Mentions of others being attuned to the spirit realm (including by prophetic dreams); Mentions of miracles; A few mentions of angels; A few mentions of blessings; A mention of fasting; A mention of someone having God-given magic (her talent for healing and helping others, not actual magic);
*Note: Religious phrases are said such as: “Mój boże.” is said once by a side character, a ‘God alive’, a ‘for the King’s sake’, a ‘for heaven’s sake’, a ‘law’ (exclamation), a ‘merciful heavens’, two ‘saints alive’, and two ‘sakes alive’; A person is said to have been “damned” to a life imprisonment; A man is called a demon; *Spoiler* Malcolm runs fast as if he’s flying after meeting someone that is implied to be an angel *End of Spoiler*; Rosalie thinks that to truly know someone is to “know the depths of the evil inside” of the person and is concerned if others will see evil in her; Elgon feels the weight of his crown with the monarchs of past “hanging about the metal circlet like ghosts crowded around their past lives”; Rumors about Rosalie being a witch (locked in a tower) were spread & Malcolm uses it to their advantage (such as threatening that she’ll put a spell on the person of he talks about seeing her; This is done for her safety and Malcolm asks God to forgive him); When thinking about a certain forest that has rumors of ghosts and demons, Malcolm doesn’t doubt that there are demons as they use peoples’ fear against them and adds that “lands carried the sins of those that made them, and when allowed to stay, the evil was given a right to what should never have been under its authority in the first place”(but he notes he has a weapon that would defeat such spirits); Rosalie doesn’t believe in ghosts, but does wonder if there’s something that will harm them in a forest; Mentions of the devil & the enemy; Mentions of hell (Christ saving us from eternal hell, a battle being referred to as “the very gates of hell”, there being “hell to pay” if something happens, all hell breaking loose, “holding back hell” with a battle, someone taking in the “very depths of hell” to get someone back, Rosalie’s prison being referred to as “the hell” she had left twice, a literal mention of hell (the place), & the “hell” of someone’s injuries being his penance); Mentions of mountains and a forest that seem “otherworldly” and that is rumored to have “cursed/evil spirits”, ghosts, or “demons of the past” (the latter adds those demons are “witches and devils and the bodies of those [the king] had defeated who had been too cursed to pass into the heavenly realm”) lurking in them (someone else says that the people in that country believe in “witches, spirits and seances with ghosts” in the forest, but she and her group know there is only one Spirit, the Holy Spirit who is “more powerful than anything than they will ever give Him credit for”); Mentions of a superstitious country and the people there living in fear of a spiritual battle that may not exist because of the lack of knowledge about Christ; Mentions of rumored witches & them casting a spell on others (including rumors about Rosalie & an elderly woman that the villagers call a witch but is not one); Mentions of the ghosts of someone’s past; Mentions of evil (including evil people and their evil actions); A couple mentions of unseen force of darkness being felt; A couple mentions of bad memories being like ghosts trying to hunt someone down; A couple mentions of past demons (in someone’s life); A mention of “ungodly” voices in a forest; A mention of a “god forsaken” land; A mention of something not being written by God in the stars; A mention of hellfire befalling someone; A mention of an evil man being called a demon; A mention of a legend about the “king of the dark realm” mining a place and creating a castle; A mention of musicians casting a “spell” on their listeners; A mention of something calling to someone like a siren; A mention of a rabbit’s foot (to keep a plague away; not sincerely believed in and called witchcraft); A mention of a witches brew.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a cut-off “bit him on the a—“, a cut-off “horse—“, an ‘idiot’, a ‘shift it’, two ‘stupid’s, and five ‘shut up’s; Mentions of curses (said, but not written including by Malcolm); A bit of eye rolling; Good characters lie to the enemy for the sake of their or others’ safety; Almost falling off a cliff, a cave-in, Fighting/Attacking, Shooting arrows, Being shot/shot at, Being slapped, Being kicked, Being captured/tied-up, Being sick, Pain, Injuries, Blisters, Blood/Bleeding, Passing out, & Throwing up (up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* A main character loses a limb, up to border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed *End of Spoiler*; Grief & Heartbreak/Pain (up to semi-detailed); Recalling fighting, battles, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & throwing up (up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone with a slit throat & not being able to be saved (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Seeing fighting, battles, someone held at knife-point, others injured and bleeding/blood, & bodies (up to semi-detailed); Seeing the death of a pony (falling off a cliff and crying over it) & a horse being shot by an arrow (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A villain slaps his son (in his point of view, up to semi-detailed); Rosalie recalls her childhood days of pain and abuse (barely-above-not-detailed); Malcolm is tempted to kill someone and call it self-defense (though it would be unprovoked and an enemy); Both Rosalie & Malcolm have a hot toddy to get warm; During communion, Malcolm has a sip of the wine (unsaid if Rosalie does); Later, Malcom is given wine to drink for his injuries; Malcolm acts drunk to get by some guards; Elgon doesn’t care for wine after losing his memory (Book #1) and being unable to control his own mind; *Spoilers* When Elgon found out that Violet (who was pregnant) was captured by enemy forces, he grieves hard but holds onto hope for the majority of the book and years she is missing; As the years pass by, many others believe that she is gone, but he continues to hold onto the hope that she and their child are alive; *Bigger Spoilers* Towards the end of the book and in the last few years, he gets the feeling that Violet is no longer alive and is heartbroken *End of Spoilers*; Rosalie grieves someone she believe has died & also what could have been (had she not be taken from her parents); Many, many mentions of wars, battles, fighting, being under attack, weapons, deaths, & bodies (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of slavery, slaves, slave traders, being held captive, hostages, prison-like places, & abuse; Many mentions of fevers/illnesses, injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & losing limbs (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of villages being ransacked/raided, stealing, & deaths; Mentions of plagues & deaths; Mentions of poisons & deaths/murders; Mentions of deaths, grieving (including of missing loved ones), & widows and orphans; Mentions of people willing to lay down their lives for others or their country (including for Rosalie); Mentions of guards roughing Rosalie around (& getting in trouble for it as they’re not supposed to harm her); Mentions of possible injuries (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of alcohol, drinking (including for injuries and to stay warm), & drunks; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of nightmares (including ones of Rosalie waking up that she is going to be held captive again by an enemy); Mentions of tattoos (including by a group of good people to recognize others in their group; looked upon positively); Mentions of hunting & traps; A few mentions of starving children; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of torture; A couple mentions of threatening to slit someone’s throat (a hostage); A couple mentions of burns/scars; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a fire sacrifice; A mention of gambling; A mention of wolves attacking shepherds and their flock; A mention of a place smelling like a chamber pot;
*Note: Rosalie recalls the feeling of being held captive & struggles to breath when thinking about it and possibly being held captive again at times; Both Rosalie and Malcom have a negative voice telling them lies (including Rosalie not understand why others believe her to be worth a great sacrifice on their parts); Malcolm feels like a failure and has guilt over not being able to protect someone & at one point, thinks he deserves to die; Malcolm doesn’t want to get married or have children because he was seen others grieve and doesn’t want to be the reason someone has a lifetime of sorrow.
Sexual Content- A hand kiss and seven kisses by married couples (most barely-above-not-detailed with one being borderline to semi-detailed); A few touches, embraces, nearness, & smelling between a married couple (borderline barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Rosalie expects that the king’s plan for her is to join his courtesans (which she adds that those women are “nice enough” but that they have to live their lives pleasing the king and she hopes there’s more for her life than that); The king wants Rosalie brought to him on her fifteenth birthday & she didn’t understand as a child, but started to understand as a teen when he would visit her more frequently with a look that brought her “fear and confusion” (*Spoiler* Towards the end, it’s revealed that he plans for her to marry his son and bare him a child which will allow him to be in control of more countries *End of Spoiler*); A guard grabs Rosalie’s face and says she’s becoming pretty (she demands he let her go and he slaps her; it’s said that other guards that tried to touch her were never heard from again as she is the king’s); Mentions of girls being rescued from another country (implied human trafficking and/or prostitution) & a bordello (added that the young women were rescued from a place they were in against their wills and “made to do things that no human being should ever have to do outside of their own wishes or desires”); Mentions of married couples kissing & their kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of blushes; A mention of a woman (who is hinted to have been abused by men) shuddering when innocently touched by a man; A mention of a flirtatious grin;
*Note: A mention of a mother nursing her baby.
-Rosalie
-Malcum
-Elgon
P.O.V. switches between them & others
602 pages
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Pre Teens- 
New Teens- 
Early High School Teens- 
Older High School Teens- 
My personal Rating- 
I have so many emotions and I don’t know where to start. When I first began this book, I was eager to find out what’s happened to these characters in the last fourteen years, but also very nervous as well. Which was totally fair and reasonable because ahhh! So much has happened and not all of it is good. My heart is ripped out of my chest a bit, I won’t lie over that ending, but I’m holding onto hope that we’ll see certain characters again in the next book.
Speaking of hope. The faith content in this book was absolutely lovely and so incredibly encouraging to read. The messaging of hanging onto hope and fully trusting on God is something I so needed to read and it touched my heart in more ways than one. The faiths, prayers, Scriptures, and living fully for the Lord is such a prevalent part of this book and is truly the backbone of the plot in such a brilliant way.
To my fellow fans of the prior two books: Brace yourself. That’s all I can say without giving spoilers, but know that as I say those two words about twenty different emotions flashed on my face and tears welled up in my eyes. Brace yourself.
I had goosebumps at the prologue and was kept in suspense the entire book, waiting on two important scenes to happen. Like I said above, my heart is slightly battered after reading everything that these characters have gone through in the last fourteen years since the first book and then also in just the current-day setting of this book. So many scenes played out in my head like a movie, which not every book does that for me. I think that’s why this book flew by despite being 600+ pages long—and probably because I was desperate for reunion scenes.
Rosalie was a dear girl and has been through so much in her fourteen years. While I’m never quite sure what to think about characters in books getting older and reading about their children, I could see so much of her parents in her and that truly endeared her to me. Her faith, courage, and outlook on life was all so similar to Violet and Elgon, my heart was warmed by it. Also seeing her open up to Malcom and him to her was precious. The protector/uncle storyline was so well-done and such an important part of this book that I immensely enjoyed.
I needed book four yesterday when I started this book, haha. If anyone needs me, I’m going to be cuddled with an emotional-support, fluffy blanket and a cup of tea until it releases. I’m only slightly kidding as I type that. Only slightly. I’ll just be here, waiting and holding onto hope for a certain reunion scene. (Please, dear author, please.)
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 and endorsement.
