"Dawn and the Letters" by Eliza Noel

About this book:

  “Dawn Chandler is newly settled in Lone Pine, and she can’t wait for the family wedding. When she and her friend Moriah discover an old letter written during the Vietnam War, they hatch a plan for a grand wedding surprise. Forming the “Smokey’s Sleuths” group with their siblings, they intend to track down the letter’s author.
    As plans move forward with festivities, Dawn tries to ignore Rochelle, the one girl determined to make her life miserable and ruin her friendships. But Smokey’s Sleuths soon discover that Rochelle is the one person who holds the clue they desperately need.
    Will Smokey’s Sleuths be able to track down the letter’s author in time to pull off a wedding surprise, or will Dawn’s struggle to love her enemy keep them from their goal?”


Series: Book #2 in the “Dawn Chandler” series. Review of Book #1, Here!


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are read, mentioned, & thought over; Bible reading; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going, singing a hymn, and listening to a sermon about love and loving your enemies (which makes Dawn cringe); Dawn thinks about her bad attitude (Book #1) and adds “It’s simply a matter of choosing joy and accepting God’s plan for my life. Good friends don’t hurt, though.”; Dawn’s mother has Bible study and assignments related to researching Scriptures for both Dawn and her brother in their homeschool lessons; Dawn listens to a Christian pop group (1 Girl Nation) but cringes when one of the lyrics is to love your haters; When Dawn reads Matthew 5:44 about loving your enemies, she closes her Bible as that’s not what she wanted to hear; Dawn says a prayer that Rochelle won’t come to an event (and is disappointed when her prayer doesn’t work); Dawn also cringes during a sermon about loving your enemies; *Spoilers* Towards the end, Dawn feels like God has been “chasing her down” by bringing up loving her enemies basically everywhere; When she discussed the girl with her mom, Dawn’s mom says that it could be that the Holy Spirit has been convicting her about it *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, & sharing about Jesus with others; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; A couple mentions of Saint Valentine as a martyr who was beheaded; A mention of thinking that a girl might become a missionary one day.
 

Negative Content- Some eye rolling & Sarcasm (most are teasing and not done meanly); Dawn thinks back about her bad attitude (Book #1) and how she likes the small town they live in now; Rochelle is rude and spiteful to Dawn & Dawn wonders why she hates her (at one point, Dawn asks a friend to not tell another friend about Rochelle hating her and says “Please don’t tell Caroline about me not getting along with Rochelle. I feel like if she knew she wouldn’t take my side, and she’d talk about—” “About how Rochelle’s had a hard life and she would tell you that you should be a perfect angel to Rochelle even when she’s tearing you down?” Moriah smiled and Dawn nodded. “Yeah, she probably would say that. I love Caroline, but sometimes she’s too perfect.”); Dawn and Moriah tells Caroline that Rochelle is mean to Dawn, but Caroline says that they aren’t being fair because Rochelle has had a rough few years; Rochelle makes Dawn cry & be upset;  *Spoilers* Towards the end, Rochelle accuses Dawn of hating her (which makes Dawn think “wait, who doesn’t like who?”); Dawn discussed about Rochelle with her mom for the first time after this and when her mom asks if Dawn has been mean back to Rochelle, Dawn answers “kind of…yes, I have” and that she feels terrible about it, so Dawn goes to talk to Rochelle and apologizes for her part in all of this; Rochelle admits that she’s been jealous of Dawn because of her family as Rochelle’s older brother passed away in a motorcycle accident and her parents divorced after that, leaving her with her grandmother because she reminds them too much of her brother *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of mean girls & their comments; Mentions of opening someone’s mail without their permission & later apologizing for it; A few mentions of the Vietnam War, fighting overseas, & a death of a loved one; A couple mentions of a motorcycle accident & death; A couple mentions of a missing person case; A couple mentions of a possible stalker; A couple mentions of not wanting to lie; A couple mentions of a divorce; A mention of war movies; A mention of a place being a “hick town”;
             *Note: In the Prologue, Rochelle thinks that she’s “almost a teenager” and doesn’t want to play dress-up like her grandmother suggested; Rochelle wears ripped jeans & a choker necklace; Dawn’s brother has his best friend saved in his phone as “Walty Baby” (as a joke); Mentions of TV shows & a movie (Gilmore Girls, MacGyver, Petticoat Junction, The 1960s Batman, Sound of Music); A few mentions of a singer & songs (Frank Sinatra, ‘If I Were the Only Girl in the World’, and ‘By Light of the Silvery Moon’); A few mentions of McDonald’s; A couple mentions of Nancy Drew; A mention of a Jane Austen movie; A mention of Star Wars (with a quote from one movie); A mention of a magazine (Seventeen which was a grandmother’s copy from the 1970s); A mention of Google.
 
 
Sexual Content- A handful of girlfriends (mainly that an older brother does not have one nor want one as he plans to be single for his whole life);
             *Note: Caroline loves singing love songs & says she can’t wait for her wedding (which makes her sister tease her about who she’ll marry since that part isn’t known because Caroline may have not even met him yet; This is brought up a couple other times in good-natured teasing); Dawn says she’s excited to be allowed to wear make-up for a wedding and encourages a friend that she’s be beautiful with it & a friend teases her about being naturally beautiful; A brother teases about doing chores and getting buff from them (he tries to flex his muscles and strikes a pose; done humorously).
 
-Dawn Chandler, age 12
                                P.O.V. of Dawn (Prologue in Rochelle’s)
                                                        141 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book picks up right after the first book ends, which I always like because then I feel like I haven’t missed out on anything! 

 

We met Rochelle in the first book as she was the girl that had some mean comments towards Dawn being from the big city. Dawn is told that she’s “upset with the world” but that’s all we learn. In this book, we find out her story and that her home life has been rough. I feel like Dawn has some very realistic reactions and comments about Rochelle and everything involved with the two of them not liking the other. The truth and resolution come by the end of this short book and while I would have liked it to be a bit longer, it felt very accurate and realistic. 

 

The sibling and friendship parts/conversations are so fun to read! It’s also really refreshing to see that and the post I’ve homeschooler content in this series. You can tell this was written by someone closer to the age of the main character than a lot of other middle-grade books. Particularly because there’s many little things that feel natural and explained or written like this age group would say, for example the makeup comment listed above. This has been a sweet series and I hope that there may be more books in it some day! 

 

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.

"Elizabeth Gail and the Mystery at the Johnson Farm" by Hilda Stahl

About this book:

  “Libby had just started to relax and accept her new family's love when some strange happenings began to threaten her security. Libby knew she wasn't at fault, but who was the culprit? Would someone solve the riddle in time to keep her from being sent away again.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Elizabeth Gail” series.

Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are read, discussed, & thought over; Being told the Christmas story & Being witnessed to; Church going, Sunday school, & lessons; Talks about God & praying; 'H's are not capital when referring to God or Jesus; Libby shrugs off being told about God loving everyone as “just another of the strange things she had to put up with in her new foster home”; *Spoilers* At the end, Libby is asked by Mrs. Johnson if she loves Jesus and Libby nodded yes which she is glad to hear and encourages Libby that Jesus will be her; At the very end, Mr. Johnson has a serious talk with Libby about making Jesus her Savior, which Libby has been thinking a lot about and he explains about sin and the crucifixion; Libby prays and is now about of God’s family, adding that she’ll really need Jesus’ help to forgive the mean girl *End of Spoilers*; When discussing a mean girl’s actions, Mr. Johnson says she isn’t a Christian and it’s added that she’s been coming to church regularly now (which Susan thinks is because of her crush on her brother); Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, those and events in the Bible, & a family devotional time; Mentions of churches, church going, a Sunday School class, & a Christmas program; A few mentions of a nativity sets; A couple mentions of Blessings & being Blessed.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘dumb’s and two ‘stupid’s; Being lost in a snowstorm, punching someone in the nose, & pain (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); At the beginning, Libby tries to irritate her caseworker by chewing gum loudly; Libby is determined to not love anyone again because it hurts when they no longer want her; Libby tries to act indifferent towards her new foster family because she didn’t want to come live there and can’t be nice (she snaps at her new foster siblings and has a range of emotions because while she wants to be friends, she can’t because it will only make it worse when she has to leave; She says that she hates living there and hates them which makes her foster sister say that they’ll hate her too if she keeps acting like this); Libby thinks that the Johnsons will be like every foster family she’s had and will send her away when they’re tired of her, so she decides to *Spoiler* runaway, but Mr. Johnson finds her as soon as she is leaving and they talk *End of Spoiler*; Libby feels like a burden and that nobody wants her, but tries to believe the Johnsons’ words about them wanting her; As the book continues and routines are made, Libby and her foster siblings act closer to siblings (with Libby only lashing out and crying about them possibly not wanting her or not believing her some of the time); The foster parents think Libby lies to them on different things that happened (when she really didn’t do them) and later apologize for upsetting her (Libby is upset that no one believes her; *Spoiler* It turns out the main girl is causing trouble for Libby, see next Spoiler for information on this *End of Spoiler*); When a mean girl at church is rude to Libby, Libby pinches her and the girl calls her an “aid kid” (which makes Libby upset; Later the girl gets in her face and says she’s nothing, which makes Libby want to yank the girl’s hair out but she instead hits the girl in her nose (the boys laugh at her bloody nose, barely-above-not-detailed; There is a two-page illustration of this scene before the blood); The girl is continuously rude, mean, & hateful to Libby including pushing her and blaming her for events; The mean girl tells Susan that she and Libby aren’t “real sisters” and *Spoilers* when the mean girl blames Libby for something, Susan says that she’s glad they’re not really sisters when she’s upset at Libby; Towards the end, the girl sets Libby up as a thief and want her to leave or her family will press charges against her; Libby will be sent away but the Johnsons hope be able to get her back once it’s all settled down; When one more thing happens and it’s obvious that Libby didn’t do it, the whole family goes over to talk with the mean girl’s family (her mother makes a negative comment towards Libby) and the truth comes out so Libby gets to stay *End of Spoilers*); Libby doesn’t understand why her foster siblings are still being nice to her even after she messed up and aren’t planning to do something mean to her (when a misunderstanding happens later, Libby thinks one of them is getting back at her and yells out that she hates that foster sibling); When Libby speaks angrily, Mrs. Johnson tells her to go to her room and not to speak that way; *Spoiler* Libby gets lost in a snowstorm and wonders if she’ll ever be found or searched for; She’s very upset at the foster sibling that took her outside and thinking the worse about her, but the girl hit her head and was unconscious for a time, which makes them both realize the other wasn’t being mean and apologize to the other *End of Spoiler*; A few hints to other foster families that Libby has had that weren’t great or nice to her & Libby is concerned that her next foster family won’t be nice to her; Libby is concerned that a goose will bite her and peck her eyes out; Mentions of a theft, stealing, & making someone look like a thief; Mentions of Libby punching a girl in her nose, the injuries, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of an injured filly (due to Libby not doing a chore properly) & it’s bloody leg (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of hatred (including Libby and the mean girl both saying they hate the other); Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a car wreck & death; A mention of Libby slapping a foster brother for teasing her; A mention of the possibility of a dog being run over; A mention of a bar; 
             *Note: Libby last saw her mother five years ago when she promised they would be together, but then her mother away after a month with a “weird man she’d met in a bar”; Libby doesn’t know where her father is because he left her and her mother when she was two; It hurts Libby to think about her parents; *Spoiler* About half-way through, she is told that her father was killed in a car wreck & that her mother would like to have Libby for Christmas, which Libby thinks that “they” will decide if she goes or not; When asked about it, Libby comments that her mother might want her back and could desert her again; The mother ends up taking back the invitation and leaving the country for a year *End of Spoiler*; Libby feels dirty and shabby when she meets her new foster family at their impressive house; Shortly after arriving, Libby’s new foster parents asks if she will call them Mom and Dad, but when Libby shakes her head (though she wants to say yes), they both says she can call them by their first names (*Spoiler* At the very end, she is calling them Mom and Dad *End of Spoiler*); A teasing comment about keeping a friendly goose from “molesting” someone; Mentions of a brand name (Monopoly, Careers, & the game of Life); A mention of butting into a conversation.
 
 
Sexual Content- Seeing a married couple kiss (thrice); Libby notices twice that her new foster brother is “good to look at”and when he smiles at her, she quickly looks away; She thinks similarly about a boy in her Sunday School class & wants him to think she’s pretty; The mean girl hates Libby because she’s always with Ben (her older foster brother) and that he likes Libby more than her; When Libby blows out candles on a cake and one is left, her foster sister teases her about having one boyfriend; Mentions of crushes & liking someone. 
 
-Elizabeth Gail “Libby” Dobbs, age 11-12
                                       P.O.V. of Libby 
                                                       122 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{ Could be possibly triggering or even relatable for those in foster care or adoptees. }

First released back in the late 1970s, I think it would be fair to classify this series as vintage even though it was contemporary at it’s time. ;) 

Libby has a lot of conflicting emotions, bless her, and it gets worse when there’s a horrid neighbor girl causing a lot of trouble for her. I’m not sure why the adults weren’t told every time when the mean girl was being terrible? It got frustrating to me about that, but thankfully it’s a short book so justice would eventually happen soon.

I don’t have many thoughts on this book besides that mean girl being absolutely terrible, but I hope we’ll see her better in future books. 

 

 

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.

"The Chaos Grid" by Lyndsey Lewellen

About this book:

  “Cross the grid. Survive the storms. Let your destiny burn.
    When mankind’s attempts to control nature backfire, Texas descends into a wasteland. Storms rage and ravenous beasts roam the Outer Grid. The only safe havens rest inside the tech-obsessed domed cities. But when her parents are murdered inside the Plex City dome, seventeen-year-old Juniper Conway wants revenge.
    Ties to her extended family threaten to pull her back as she runs from city to city. The Plex is endangering its citizens by legalizing a deadly nano drug, and Juniper’s family needs her help to deliver the counteragent. Saving the city who orphaned her goes against everything she stands for. The only way out is to brave the wasteland.
    Juniper joins a shipping crew fearless enough to transport food across the Outer Grid. But when a string of bad luck turns lethal, she fears something, or someone, is dragging her back to the Plex. As her world sinks into chaos, Juniper must decide if revenge is worth the lives of the crew she has come to love.”


Series: Book #1 in a series. 


Spiritual Content- Matthew 21:29 at the beginning/dedication; This book has nods to a Jonah allegory with Juniper being told to go to a city she doesn’t want to go to; Juniper prays to God (a few times) and says “Thank God” (twice); Juniper believes a reoccurring dream is a sign from God and wondering if doing something is God’s will; Juniper recalls a song her aunt would sing about “the One who will save her when her life is fainting away”; Juniper wonders if everything that’s going wrong is God’s doing; Juniper thinks that God knows that she wants to yell obscenities and throw things reach when she received news about the death of someone; Juniper thinks that her prays are being answered with a joke; *Spoilers*  With the dream, Juniper’s aunt believes that she’s supposed to save the city that killed her parents, which Juniper does not want to do; Towards the end, Juniper realizes that the chaos storm is an act of God and is Him telling her to go; At the very end, she speaks into the darkness that she’s go *End of Spoiler*; A side-character says “Thank God” after a concerning event; Another character says that the city/government have been playing God; Mentions of prayers & praying (Who the prayers are toward is not mentioned at first but as the book continues it’s implied to be God); A mention of some men being goliaths;
             *Note: “Heavens” is exclaimed once; Some characters roll stones that have letters on them to find out who is causing the problems of the group (a superstition; One person view it as ridiculous and want no part of it, but most take part in it including Juniper who wonders if the results is God’s will); Juniper starts to believe that she is bad luck; Mentions of superstitions, bed omens, & some believing in a superstition about a cosmic force being upset (Juniper is told not to tick “the big force” off and she’ll be fine); Mentions of luck & bad luck; A mention of a savior complex.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘crap’, a ‘crummy’, a cut-off ‘holy—', a ‘jacked up’, a ‘screwed up’, a ‘suckers’, an unfinished ‘what the…’, a ‘wimp’, two unfinished ‘what in the—‘s, two ‘wuss’s, four forms of ‘ticked off’, seven forms of ‘idiot’, nine forms of ‘shut up’, thirteen forms of ‘dumb’, and twenty-two forms of ‘stupid’; A couple other words are used as replacements for curse words (puke in “ain’t worth puke” for example); Mentions of curses (said, not written); Someone is called a “lily-livered piece of buzzard bait”; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Thinking she’s dead, Close-calls, Being swallowed by one creature and almost eaten by another, Fighting, Being hit, Injuries, Pain, Blood/Bleeding, Passing out, & Throwing up (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a passing & Finding dead bodies (including ones that were tortured and have been there for a while, border-line semi-detailed // detailed); Seeing a death, others stabbed, robbed, bullied, hit/pushed, knocked-out, bleeding, & threatened (up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone be told about a loved one’s death, her grief, & others’ grief for friends (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing and fighting wild mutant creatures that can be ugly, deadly, and dangerous (semi-detailed); Seeing others attacked by creatures (including someone dragged into the water by a wild beast & trying to save the person—the possibilities of both of them drowning and/or being eaten by the creature are present; semi-detailed in the creatures, the danger, & the panic); Hearing someone stabbed & an order for the man to be shot and killed (up to semi-detailed); Nightmares (barely-above-not-detailed); In a hallucination, Juniper recalls having a drug in her system as a child & trying to jump out a window of a tall building (thinking that she could fly, this is later referred to her near-death experience); Juniper recalls being chased as a child, seeing her parents’ murdered bodies, & being buried alive (between her parents’ bodies, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Juniper imagines a friend dying, being crushed, and being tortured (including blood and later thinking about it again, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Juniper wants to see the main city burn for murdering her parents; While she knows her aunt and uncle will worry about her, Juniper refuses to go to the main city & runs away (telling herself that she can contact them later; Juniper thinks once about how she doesn’t like taking orders from her aunt and uncle); Juniper’s aunt would have her hack into devices; Many mentions of deaths/murders (including Juniper’s parents’), bodies, torture, drugs, smuggling drugs and drug dealers, drug users and addicts, being hyped up on drugs, & people being killed by drugs (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of the possibility of dying & being shot; Mentions of bombs/bombings, weapons, attacks, rebels/thugs, violence, fights, & arrests; Mentions of thieves, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of criminals & population control (the government purges those who question their control); Mentions of someone being marooned in the Grid (a wild area) if they are believed to be the cause of trouble (a superstition); Mentions of fires & people possibly being burned alive; Mentions of fighting, beatings, injuries, screams, blood/bleeding, & pain (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of bullies; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of hatred (including Juniper’s hatred for the main city); Mentions of parties & partiers (including Juniper’s friend who frequently goes to parties until the crack of dawn); Mentions of cigarettes & smoking; Mentions of tattoos (many side characters have tattoos, both good guys and bad guys); Mentions of vomit/throwing up; Mentions of hunting & hunters; A few mentions of assassins & them killing people (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of murderous rebels who want to slaughter all things cyber (including those who have had technology alterations); A few mentions of an earthquake that caused people to be flung around in their cars or buried alive by it; A few mentions of nightmares (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of people experimenting on kids; A couple mentions of starting a war & gunfire in a war; A couple mentions of break-ins; A couple mentions of a bar; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of manure; A mention of a plague that killed thousands; A mention of someone wanting to kill someone for causing another’s death; A mention of a poisonous plant; A mention of the lottery; 
             *Note: Juniper has bathophobia (the fear of depths) & we see it on page a few times; The ancestors of Juniper’s world were trying to fix the dying climate of the world and ended up “pulling the collapse [of the world’s weather]”closer & the chemicals altered the weather outside the domes to be unhabitable and deadly; People can alter their bodies with technology & are called “synths” (Juniper feels like a freak because she has no technology upgrades like most people due to her family not trusting the “tech giants”; Those who have a lower status have less alteration options available to them; The police outside of the grid are bodies decked in wires and mental & Juniper thinks that “they’re nothing more than robotic war machines. No one can be that synthetic and still human”; We see some who are more machine than human on page (semi-detailed); In a flashback, Juniper feels worthless like synths who were bullying her call her; *Spoiler* Seeing someone who was bioengineered to be a human weapon and can stop time (semi-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of someone who was altered to be a weapon); Seeing mutated creatures, the dangers of them, being attacked and harmed by them, & being swallowed by them (semi-detailed); Mentions of mutated creatures outside the domes & most people avoiding them due to the dangers; A few mentions of anxiety (Juniper having anxiety at different points); A couple mentions of someone being entitled; A mention of someone saying that if he gets ahold of someone, they’re going to “wish their mama birthed them on the left side of never”; A mention of butting into a conversation; A mention of someone being vegan since they were five and found out what went into sausage links.
 
 
Sexual Content- Touches, Embraces, Nearness, Butterflies, Noticing, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; A man grabs Juniper and says he wants her in his bed & her future will depend on her “performance” (he is later mentioned again as the man “who tried to force [Juniper] into his bed” and later again as the man who offered for Juniper to take her to his bed; He says that Juniper is his type and licks her cheek); Juniper later sees a young woman with him and is concerned for her; When it looks like Juniper will have to share a bedroom with a guy, she asks if there’s a second room (he teases her about it, but there is); A guy teased Juniper about if she finds him handsome; When a guy looks at her, Juniper wishes she was wearing something more feminine; Mentions of cute guys, crushes, & types; A few mentions of blushes & winks; A few mentions of a guy’s girlfriend; A mention of a date; A bit of attraction & the emotions; 
             *Note: When Juniper finds out a girl has nineteen siblings, the topic of birth overages comes up (in the cities, births are limited for each family, but outside of the cities in the farm areas, there’s no birth limit, particularly because they need more hands on the farms); Juniper feels embarrassed to give a guy her clothing size for work; A couple mentions of ripped guys & their muscles; A mention of a synth having feminine curves; A mention of a creature’s breeding ground.
 
-Juniper Conway, age 17
                                    1^st person P.O.V. of Juniper
                                         Set in 2224 (Sci-fi)
                                                        320 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{ Add 1-2 stars for Older girls who enjoy sci-fi books. }

That was…interesting. 

Hmm. 

I don’t know where to begin with these thoughts. They feel scattered all over the place, but I’ll try my best. 

 

This was interesting. If the book stayed the same as the first half of the book, I would say confusing. Because I was very confused on what was happening. It’s a pet peeve of mine to be left out on the main character’s backstory and that was very apparent in this book.

 

With Juniper, I didn’t really like her at first because of the chip on her shoulder the size of Texas. But as the book continued she either got better or I got used to her, and she wasn’t bothering me as much anymore. I didn’t care for the love interest either, which didn’t help. I’ll admit that I found Juniper and the ending of this book to be very typical for a sci-fi/fantasy book with how it went and what was revealed. I’m sure some readers will enjoy it, but it wasn’t my thing. 

 

For the large part of the beginning, I was pretty confused on what exactly was going on because we are very much thrown into this world and not a lot is explained. It worked at times, and then it also made me frustrated at times because somethings are just randomly happened or appear and I felt like I had to scramble to pick up on what was being said or happening. This was particularly the case with her family background which was not told to the readers until around 75% into the book. I always go back through a book after I finish it to either grab my highlights of content notes (e-books) and/or re-confirm things before I share my review, so I did that for this book as well. The parts that confused me greatly at the beginning made much more sense after finishing the book, but when I was reading them for the first time again and again? I didn’t understand what was happening at all. 

 

There really wasn’t much faith content besides some mentions of praying and God here and there throughout the book. I would definitely consider this to be more Clean Sci-fi than Christian Sci-fi, at least at this point in the series, but you could see some nods to a Jonah-inspired allegory if you paid attention. 

 

I will say that I wasn’t a fan of a creepy man wanting to take Juniper to his bed. The book could have been squeakier on the sexual content side without him. Not sure why he was added in for those comments? It could have been okay for a bit younger (say 14/15, depending on the girl) if those parts had been left out. That said, this book did have more weird mutant creatures and the dangers of them that while wasn’t gory, was a bit much for me at times and caused my stomach to turn. Nearly eating people, the ick and grossness that they are, and being trapped/swallowed by them, etc. It just was gross at times. Add in finding a couple tortured bodies and I was struggling with those scenes. Those who are major fans of sci-fi books may not even be bothered by those parts, but I’m not a major fan and apparently have a weaker stomach for those scenes.

 

It’s so strange to read a fantasy/dystopian book set in Texas. but I ended up liking that element. I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with the series, but this book was a different kind of read for myself. Some may really enjoy it, but it will depend on the girl. 

 

 

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.

"The Gentleman Spy" by Erica Vetsch

About this book:

  “When Marcus Haverly's father and older brother unexpectedly pass away, the new Duke of Haverly is saddled with a title he never expected to bear—and more eyes suddenly turned toward his life than a secret agent for the Crown can afford.
    To thwart the plans of the rest of his scheming family, the duke impulsively marries one of the Season's young debutantes. After all, a properly raised noblewoman is meek and mild. Sequestering Lady Charlotte in the country and getting on with his work as a spy should be easy.
    His new bride has other ideas. No shrinking violet, she's determined to take her place as his wife, front and center—no hiding in rustication. As a duchess, she can use her position to follow her call from God and help the lowest of society: the women forced into prostitution because they have no skills or hope. But these philanthropic, reforming endeavors are not met favorably in society, nor by her husband who wishes she'd remain in the background as he ordered.
    Can the duke succeed in relegating her to the sidelines of his life? When his secrets are threatened with exposure, will his new wife be an asset or a liability?”


Series: Book #2 in the “Serendipity & Secrets” trilogy. Review of Book #1, Here! (Connected to the “Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery” series.)


Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Marcus tries to keep God in a box for only Sundays and would prefer God not encroaching on his carefully laid plans (someone tells him that he can’t do that as God deserves more from him; *Spoiler* Towards the end, Marcus realizes that he needs God in both is personal and professional lives *End of Spoiler*); Charlotte makes many comments (in her head) about God such as finding it hard to believe that He gives good gifts because she’s never received any, wondering if God even cares about her or if she was forgotten, wondering if she’s asking for too much from Him to be happy, doesn’t think her happiness will last because God will snatch it away from her, & thinks that if God was good to her then something she wants would happen; Charlotte asks God if something is a sick joke to her prayer; Marcus feels guilt over not going to church in a while; Charlotte recalls her school teacher teaching the difference between religion and a relationship with God; *Spoilers* Charlotte feels comfort when someone calls her an answer to prayer; Charlotte tries to cling to the fact that God loves her; Pippa makes a sarcastic comment about praying not working for someone if they’re not in church, but changes her mind in a dire situation; At the very end, there is a paragraph about Charlotte realizing about the good gifts God has given her throughout her life *End of Spoilers*; Marcus’ mother says that God has been cruel to her because of the deaths of her husband and oldest son & has abandoned their family; Charlotte thinks her father is “a man of “religion”, but only when others were looking. It had nothing to do his heart.” and suggests him doing a homily on fidelity at church (she says he’s been despicable because of this and still acting righteous in the church which causes her father to punish her); Mentions of God, His plans, & faiths; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, services (including for Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday), sermons, a rector, & homilies; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; Mentions of sins, sinners, sinful nature; Mentions of a former prostitute being thankful that God saved her & trying to share the Good News with every woman who are prostitutes as well; A few mentions of Jesus Christ; A few mentions of reading Scriptures; A few mentions of those & events from the Bible; A few mentions of Christians & their duty to others; A few mentions of Puritans (in regard to Charlotte’s parents almost being like this with their rules for her clothing, which Charlotte finds hard to believe that a God who created colors would refuse to allow His people to wear them); A couple mentions of a woman saying that she doesn’t know why God allows women to be at the mercy of men but thinks He has His reasons or perhaps it’s the consequences of living in a fallen world; A couple mentions of nuns & priests (in regard to how Charlotte dresses); A mention of praising and thanking God; A mention of a woman acting like a martyred monk over something; A mention of Catholic emancipation; A mention of ‘The Book of Common Prayer’ (at a wedding); A mention of guardian angels; 
             *Note: Mentions of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses; A man is called a “devil” due to his actions (Charlotte towards her father); A mention of idolatrous imagines (the Elgin marbles).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blimey’, a ‘cor’, two ‘stupid’s, and five forms of ‘idiot’; A woman is called an “ugly cow” by a man; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Some lies by both Charlotte and Marcus (for society acceptability reasons & spy duties, though Marcus withholds information more so than actually lying which hurts Charlotte regardless); Being held at gun-point, physically threatened, kidnapped, tied-up, stepping on and kicked, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & seeing someone shot, stabbed, and killed (up to semi-detailed); Seeing women after being beaten, their injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & helping them (up to semi-detailed); An explosion (up to semi-detailed); Charlotte does sneak out without her parents knowing to go to a shady area of town; Marcus breaks into places & keeps secrets for his job as a spy; Marcus is given champagne at a party but doesn’t drink it due to not liking champagne; Charlotte’s respect for her father disappears after hearing about his mistress; Many mentions of an assassination attempt, potential murders, death (Book #1), & wars and deaths related to wars; Mentions of a man threatening to kill others & beating others (mainly prostitutes); Mentions of deaths, a carriage accident, & grief (a woman for her husband and son); Mentions of women being abused and beaten by men (both their husbands and male clients of prostitutes, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of beatings, violence, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of kidnappings & being tied-up; Mentions of break-ins; Mentions of robberies, thieves, & pick-pockets; Mentions of prions; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deception; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of alcohol (including one called “Dutch courage”), drinking, drunks, alcoholics, taverns/pubs, & drinking socially at parties/dinner; Mentions of smoking, cigars, pipes, & tobacco; A few mentions of opium; A few mentions of blackmail; A few mentions of gambling & gamblers; A couple mentions of slavery; A couple mentions of brawls/fights; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of hatred; A mention of a child possibly drowning; A mention of the possibility of a young woman disappearing forever (if she’s in the wrong part of town);
             *Note: Charlotte’s father is very controlling & unloving towards her and her mother; Marcus and his mother have a unique relationship due to him being the second son (he tries not to let it rankle him and realizes that it is also on him for not getting to know her); Marcus is disappointed over his brother’s child being a girl (and not a boy who can inherit everything instead of him); Marcus has some self-doubt which causes him to try to prove himself to others; Charlotte faces comments from men about woman not needing to read or be educated (she fights against this thinking & voices her thoughts) & mentions of this throughout the book (including a man making a comment that she’s good at something “for a woman”); Mentions of women saying that men do not keep their word/promises; A mention of prostitutes possibly having “unwanted children” to care for.
 
 
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, two not-detailed kisses, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, two semi-detailed kisses, two border-line semi-detailed // detailed kisses, and a detailed kiss; Remembering kisses & touches/embraces (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss & touch (up to semi-detailed); Many Touches, Embraces, Cuddling in bed, Dancing, Sitting in his lap, Hand holding, Electricity/Shivers, Warmth/Heat, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing & Staring (including muscles and curves & Charlotte seeing Marcus shirtless when working out, up to semi-detailed); Charlotte and Marcus enter into a marriage of convenience & there many hints to their nighttime actives and consummating their marriage with fade-to-black scenes as well (such as her nightgown on their wedding night being “bridal and virginal”, him undoing her hair and then thinking of “important things” that were to come, him coming to her room often and the “physical side” of their marriage happening at that point and her feeling loved by him then, wondering if she’s carrying his child, when he doesn’t come to her bed room she wonders he she displeased him, Charlotte accuses Marcus for only needing her for one thing (implied intimacy), that neither of them slept much when together at night, and waking up the next morning cuddling); After a first kiss with Charlotte, Marcus wonders how someone “so untouched and virginal” could “stir his pulses” like she did (also adding later that he needs to wait to kiss her again until they are married because of his feelings); Charlotte recalls her mother tell her that for her wedding night, her husband will “know what he was about” and that she will “survive her husband’s attentions as all married women did” (which Charlotte hopes that it will matter to both of them and not just him); Marcus visits a prostitute for information & the woman shows her shoulder to him which makes him tell her to cover up (*Spoiler* This causes problems later when Charlotte finds out he paid the prostitute for something, but he promises he has been faithful to his vows and nothing sexual happened between them *End of Spoiler*); At the beginning of the book, Charlotte learns that her father had a mistress and a child out-of-wedlock, she is hurt by her father doing this (especially as a man active in the church), & she is determined to help her half-sister who has become a prostitute; Charlotte goes into a sketchy tavern and is accosted by some men there (who make comments on her appearance, thinking she’s a prostitute, making suggestive comments, and grab at her, up to semi-detailed); Charlotte’s mother tells her that all men are unfaithful and that ladies aren’t comment on their husband’s “peccadilloes” (which Charlotte comments that adultery will continue to happen unless someone says it’s wrong); Charlotte’s half-sister is a well-known courtesan & brags about the fact that she’s sought after the richest men in the city (*Spoiler* A man acts as if she’s his possession, beats her when she disobeys, kidnaps her when she tries to disappear on him, & suggests selling Charlotte to another man *End of Spoiler*); Charlotte is uncomfortably cornered by men (including a man making suggestive comments about her character which makes Charlotte slap him); Charlotte is offered marriage by a man old enough to be her grandfather (he comments that he doesn’t want a “child bride” but someone more “mature”); Seeing a married man with another woman (flirting/luring her into an alcove; *Spoiler* Charlotte’s father which she puts a stop to *End of Spoiler*); Many mentions of prostitutes/courtesans/doxies, mistresses, brothels/bordellos, infidelity/adultery, men not keeping their marriage vows, & out-of-wedlock children (nothing is truly detailed, but there are many mentions of the women satisfying men, selling their “favors” and the only commodity they had, women being badly beaten by their “clients”, entertaining “callers” all night, men going to brothels, catalogs of prostitutes for men to browse, men “owning” the women at a brothel, & the women being abused in many ways including sexual; Mentions of wedding nights, consummating a marriage, married couples sharing a bed or not, & them not sleeping when together; Mentions of some believing that prostitutes are in that career due to “some fatal flaw in her character that she couldn’t overcome” which “made her behave so poorly” (neither Charlotte nor Marcus believe this); Mentions of kisses & kissing, & kissing skills (Charlotte thinks that she can improve her kiss skills if given a bit of practice with Marcus); Mentions of flirting & flirts; Mentions of curves & figures (including a married woman comments on her figure getting somewhat better-endowed after having a baby); A few mentions of a reformed prostitute who tries to help other girls leave that life; A few mentions of husky voices (after kisses); A couple mentions of a woman who was seducing and “disgraced” by a man (and got pregnant from it, Book #1); A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of women being assaulted in war-torn areas; A mention of prostitutes having possibly having a disease later in life; A mention of Charlotte knowing about “relations between a man and woman” due to her science and medical books; A mention of a man not being censured about parading a courtesan around but receiving approving humor from another man about it; A mention of a man kissing his wife; A mention of Marcus staring at Charlotte like a “starving man”; A mention of a goal to impose an “age of consent”; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Charlotte thinks negatively about her appearance, picking out her flaws; 
Mentions of families needing an heir and a spare, wives being a vessel for that, & disappointment over a baby being a female and not a male heir; A few mentions of bosoms & buxom women (including Charlotte); A couple mentions of low-cut gowns; A couple mentions of two women who died in childbirth; A mention of the Elgin marbles being too “scandalous” for women to view; A hint to a woman’s cycle.
 
-Charlotte Tiptree, age 21
-Marcus Haverly
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                            Set in 1814
                                                        305 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

After reading the first book in this series recently, I was expecting to give this book low ratings. Which turns out to be correct because of the marital intimacies hints I fully expected in this book, unfortunately. 

 

Like the first book, there were many things I did like about this book that makes me wish I could recommend this book for older teen girls, but I can’t because of the content. 

 

I really liked Charlotte and seeing her bloom once away from her controlling father. Marcus was a sweetheart to her, and they were really good together. I did like that we got to see the actual wedding because so many books skip over that (and lead into suggestions, which I could do without thankyouverymuch). There was even a masquerade ball scene, and if you know me at all you know I love a good masquerade ball scene. 

 

I’ve been excited to read Marcus’ story for the past three or so years after first seeing him in the “Thorndike and Swann Regency Mysteries” trilogy and while it was great to actually see his story, there was content that I didn’t like seeing.

 

There was a lot of politics not only in the fictional world but also in the current world of this book’s historical setting, both which I struggled at times to keep up with. Some of it was interesting, but some of it made me yawn at times, to be quite frank. 

 

Now, the romance parts. Being a marriage of convenience, I knew there would be mentions and suggestions to marital intimacy. This book—while hinting and never straight-up giving the details of what’s going on—does heavy allude to their bedroom activities. It felt very sensual (for lack of a better word) and it is why I don’t recommend this book for those in BFCG’s target ages. Which I honestly expected when I started this book after reading the first one. 

 

Like the first book in the series, the main girl of this one had a lot of negative comments about God despite believing in Him and often is thinking that He never gave anything good to her (or if He did, it was taken away quickly). But at the very, very, very end she realizes in a paragraph but that is not true. I wish since those thoughts lasted over 90% of the book we would’ve seen that discussed or thought on a little bit more than just a paragraph towards the end, particularly because of all the comments prior. I like to see more of a conclusion or development when a character has those untrue thoughts. 

 

Overall, I’m not shocked to give this book a low rating. I fully expected it, actually. Some might think me mean or heartless for that and yet still reading it, but I plan to fully review this trilogy regardless and share the content warnings for those who may want to know.

 

 

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.