Books for Christian Girls: "The Lost King's Daughter" by A. D. German

About this book:

  ““The gold of nobles is a rare gift indeed.” For as long as Finockt can remember, she has sought a means to escape the remote Valínthian village in which she grew up, prompted to depart by something deeper than herself and which she cannot explain. But that same prompting compels her to remain until the day her vengeful enemy seeks her life after he discovers her a golden necklace bearing one half of an intricate cross pendant.
     When she is suddenly rescued by a mysterious, young man who has been tracking her for years, she and the rare, unbefitting item she owns are taken to Thorlóthlon, Valínthia’s stronghold.
     Now Finockt finds herself tossed in the middle of a battle between two kingdoms, each with a claim to one man’s throne, and face-to-face with a regent who holds the key to unlocking everything she did not know about herself and the past she thought was forgotten.
     But does she have the courage to combat Thorlóthlon’s dark history and curtail the inevitable? And what other secret will she find hidden in Thorlóthlon's depths to aid her quest?”

Series: Book #1 in the “In the Shadow of Emerald Fire” trilogy.

Spiritual Content- Three Scriptures are referenced at the beginning (Psalm 65:2, Psalm 34:5, & Psalm 116:14); Prayers & a blessing over food; Finding abandoned chapels & feeling peace in one; Talks about God; 'H's are capital when referring to God & Jesus; A “silent message of hope” comes to Finockt to know what she’s supposed to do; All about many mentions of a cross pendant necklace; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking and praising God; Mentions of a chapels (including Finockt finding an abandoned one); A few mentions of Providence being with someone; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of a banner with a lion representing Christ as the Lion of Judah; A mention of someone saying that he believes that “God does not separate us form those we love for long”; A mention of a Power beyond Finockt’s control spinning a different course for her; In the bonus content at the end, there are the meanings of characters’ names and some have Christian meanings;
             *Note: Finockt wonders if the necklace has a mysterious power as it always draws/calls her to the woods and a stream (someone else says that it’s like a spell over her and always makes her “restless and angry” when she returns, but Finockt feels peace when following it and knows that she should); Finockt is told that the necklace “contains a power foreign to most men, the true meaning of which not many are privileged enough to understand”; Finockt calls the cross a curse because she feels trapped (someone tells her that those who do not comprehend it say that); A group of people’s hope is in the coming of the Lost King’s Daughter; A man’s darkness flees him when speaking to a certain person (who assumingly worships God), but succumbs to the darkness and evil again; A queen is able to know another’s thoughts and stretches out her hand where a sword comes to her; The phrase “saints above” is exclaimed once; Mentions of prophecies & a curse that some have foreseen (including a group of people being cursed to always strive for power of a country, but never attain it; & some believing that Finockt is the only one who can get rid of a curse); Mentions of magic, “magical” items, & spells (in terms of a household’s “unexpected magic”, a magical sword, Finockt wondering if the necklace has a mysterious power, someone saying that the necklace has a spell over Finockt (unclear if that’s true or not), Finockt wondering if a man casted a spell on her, it seeming as if the necklace gathers sunrays to shine more brilliantly, & a mention of fey’s magic in a frosty forest); Mentions of evil, darkness/evil in others, & evil lurking in the forest; A few mentions of ill omens; A couple mentions of seeing someone who has passed again; A mention of Fate dealing a man his tasks; A mention of someone facing “eternal damnation in the next [life]” if he does not change his ways; A mention of an ornery house having the “devil himself” in it; A mention of someone asking enough if they are a magician (teasing); A mention of a place being full of “deep magic and myth”; A mention of someone lurking like a “loosed spirit” (ghost).

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’, a ‘wretch’, and two forms of ‘blast’; A bit of eye rolling; A few mentions of curses (including one by Finockt, all are said, but not written); Being attacked (multiple times), Being held at knife/sword-point, Being chased, Being threatened with death, Fighting back, Almost drowning/falling into water, Falling off a horse, Passing out, Injuries, Pain, & Blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Battles, Attacks, & seeing deaths and bodies (up to semi-detailed); A fire & concern for a loved one (up to semi-detailed); Grief (for loved ones and dear friends, up to semi-detailed); Remembering seeing deaths & bodies (up to semi-detailed); Social drinking at parties & dinner (including Finockt being given ale and watered down wine a few times, up to semi-detailed on the tastes; Others drink on page as well); A villain talks about killing Finockt & she is watched carefully to keep that from happening (she is attacked multiple times); A villain slaps his son (barely-above-not-detailed); Finoickt feels like a trapped prisoner at times; Finockt doesn’t make a promise to someone because she doesn’t think she can keep it; Finockt doesn’t follow instructions a few times and disobeys an authority figure to be able to find out information; Finockt deceives someone that she thinks is a spy & feels guilt over it; For a moment, at one point, Finockt feels ugly bitterness & hatred for the cross necklace and people involved because of what she’s had to do; Many mentions of wars, deaths, killing, battles, attacks, fights, fighting, people being knocked out, fires, & a village being destroyed; Mentions of deaths & a missing (assumed dead) child; Mentions of bodies, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a mother being sick & close to death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of stealing, stolen items, thieves, crimes, & criminals; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & a drunk; Mentions of smoking, pipes, & tobacco (a young man smokes on page); Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deceit; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of hunting, animals for their meat, & stuff animals; A few mentions of murders (not in a war-setting); A few mentions of a man killing his own brother; A few mentions of prisoners & a death/execution; A few mentions of murder holes of a castle & how they were used (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A few mentions of blackmail; A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of death sentences & a possible public execution; A couple mentions of possibly being killed because of a reckless horse; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a potential hostage; A mention of others acting like beaten dogs;
             *Note: Finockt is told by someone that he blames her mother for the death of his family (she is distraught hearing this, but she counters his claims); A horse is hit multiple times with arrows (said that it’s in pain and runs off into the woods, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of coffin-like structures.

Sexual Content- A hand kiss and a forehead kiss; A bit of Touches, Hand holding, Noticing, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a couple in an embrace; Finockt feels ashamed to have been out at night unaccompanied with a young man; Finockt blushes when told about her producing a male offspring; A few mentions of a young man liking Finockt (she views him as one of her best friends but later confesses to herself that she loves him); A couple mentions of romantic gestures (which Finockt hoped for from a certain young man deep down, but it’s said that “her feelings were beginning to outweigh her reason” when alone with him in a dangerous situation); A couple mentions of courting; A mention of a kiss; A small amount of love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A few mentions of mothers passing away in childbirth & other babies not surviving.

-Finockt
                                P.O.V. switches between Finockt & many others
                                                        462 pages

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My personal Rating-

This book has intimidated me for a while. Purely because of the page length of over 460 pages. Well, I decided to dive into the world these last couple of days and finally read it. Overall? I enjoyed it. I do think it was a bit too long at times and not too much happened in this book, but it was an interesting plot and I would be curious to see what happens in the next book of the series.

The story is told almost in a narrator style, but not *quite* that way or in a normal third-person point of view style. It took me a long time to be able to follow along well because it was similar to head jumping (when the point of view changes between different characters and their thoughts within the same chapter with no breaks). This was probably my biggest struggle when reading with the slow pacing.

As far as the characters, I liked Finockt, but never really felt connected to her because of the head jumping and birds’ eye view of what was happening. Everyone else I felt distrustful towards (much like she did after betrayals) and watched with a narrow eye.

There’s not much dialogue—which I typically prefer—but the author has a focus on giving the reader the details of the surrounding nature and events that take place. Very descriptive and gives a lot of the play-by-play, so to speak, which I didn’t always love, I’ll admit, but made it easy to visualize the places, areas, and textiles.

The pacing felt very slow for the majority of the book, but once we hit about page 300 or 65% that was where things started being revealed finally to Finockt and I started being more interested in the plot. Everyone was keeping her in the dark about things, events, and why she was there prior to that—for over four months. She’s much more patient than me, because I would have been relentlessly pestering for answers after a week. I feel like a lot of things could’ve been omitted and that could’ve happened closer to the hundred-hundred and fifty page range.

There’s a very light romance thread, but it almost come out of left-field and definitely was not the focus of the book at all. The faith content was light, but you could tell that the good guys of the book had a faith.

It’s definitely a slower paced novel than I expected it to be, but that’s not necessarily a negative thing. I do wish more events and dialogue had happened within these many pages, but I do appreciate how it was very, very clean throughout the whole story. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger which was nice, but it does end with a lot of things unresolved, making sure you know it’s the first book in the series.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!