Books for Christian Girls: "Evan Miller Is Waking Down" by Jerel Law

About this book:

  “What if dreams were dangerous? What if your strongest abilities made you a fugitive? Tweens and middle grade readers who enjoy dystopian and fantasy fiction will be pulled into a world of secrets, control, and power in this novel from Jerel Law, the author of the Jonah Stone: Son of Angels series.
    In City 47, uniformity is celebrated, individuality is stamped out, and the Elders who run the government demand strict obedience to an ancient writing called the Primary Code. It's been like this ever since the Incident. Fifteen-year-old Evan Miller has an increasingly disruptive secret--a powerful ability that has attracted the attention of the Elders. When disguising himself as ordinary is no longer an option, he's forced to flee to the place he fears the most. What will he discover about the true past of City 47, the Elders, and himself in the forbidden Old City?”

Series: Possibly Book #1 in a series.

Spiritual Content- “The Second Code” is quoted from in the book and at the beginning (very similar to Joel 2:28); Evan has an ability to go into dreams, bend/manipulate them, & see what is happening elsewhere; Evan’s ability is said to be a gift by the Source along with visions and prophets (They are called “Gifteds”); Visionaries are able to see cloudy glimpses of the future & Prophets are able to receive a prophecy (one uses tattoos to keep tract of the visions he has been given); Evan asks a prophet who gives her the prophecies and someone responds that it’s in her brain “but from something or someone, on the outside. But we don’t know. It’s mysterious.” (Evan then thinks that the Elders would talk about people who saw things that weren’t there and how they believed that those people should be stamped out because they have “imperfections”); Evan goes to a meeting where people are “connecting with the Source” & also sees the Room of Prophecy (where prophets write down prophecies); Both the Source and the Voice are said to be a higher power, but someone says that the Primary Code (Voice) is made by men while the Second Code is “something different altogether”; Evan witnesses a visionary going “into a trance” and it being like she wasn’t “connected to this world anymore” (she’s receiving a vision); *Spoilers* When focusing on his abilities and getting away from evil intentions, Evan feels a peace come over him (also described as a rush of power) and it causes him to do unnatural things (like bend the laws of physics, make someone ignore him, and pause time); This makes others believe Evan is the one the prophecy talks about *End of Spoilers*; *Major Spoiler* At the end, Evan gives a speech to others saying that “There’s another code, one that’s older, ancient. It existed before [the war]. It says there are people with gifts, abilities that should be celebrated. Not destroyed. And that there’s Someone who created us that way.” And ends the speech with a shrug *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of the Source & the scared words that were given to his followers (the Second Code); A couple mentions of praying (but not mention to whom those prayers are towards);
             *Note: God’s name is taken in vain twice with the phrase ‘god-knows-who’; Evan is told that if he is killed in a dream, he’ll go to the in-between & mentions of those who are there and have never returned from the “deepest level of [their] mind” (*Spoiler* He does get shot and sent there, but quickly realizes that he can will himself out of that state and does *End of Spoiler*); Evan’s school-like government building is called the ‘temple’ and some of the head people are called ‘Elders’ who follow the “Primary Code” which was given to the Elders by a Voice (we also see a couple quotes from this Code and it is revered; Someone else says it was created by men while the Second Code is different); Evan goes to Morning Services which is taught by the Elders at an altar and a “hymn” is sung with devotion by others to their flag (most students raise their arms when singing the song); Evan and other students are expected to read the Code each morning and prepare their hearts and minds for the morning service; Evan recalls questioning his parents about the Voice and is told that it was “special” (but never given an answer about besides that the First Elder is the only one who heard it); The phrase “May the Source guide all of your steps” is said (somewhat sarcastically); A woman says her and her group are making it through “this hell we’d been born into”; A few mentions of believers of the Primary Code and having faith; A few mentions of the First Elder, him being revered, & that every home has to display his face somewhere; A couple mentions of luck; A mention of a man in a dream’s wicked smile; A mention of evil people; A mention of an Elder looking as if he is in a “trance of meditation”; A mention of a confessional group; A mention of Evan thinking something was magic until he learned the science behind it; A mention of Evan wondering if a woman can see visions in the tea in her cup.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blast *someone*’, a ‘half-wit’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘stupid’, a ‘suck it up’, an unfinished ‘what the—‘, two ‘blah, blah, blah’s, two ‘god-knows-who’s, and two ‘shut up’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Setting up bombs, Explosions, Fires, Fighting, Being chased, Being attacked/hit/beat-up, Being tied-up, Being drugged, Being shot at and shot, Pain, Injuries, Blood/bleeding, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Seeing others shot, possibly killed by gun-like weapons, & sent to the in-between (up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler but Important Content Note* Evan’s abilities are found out and the Elders plan to terminate him; Evan is held down and nearly killed before being rescued by someone who is later killed in the chase (he feels guilt about this but others tell him the person knew what he had to do, up to semi-detailed); His parents are sister are there to watch the execution *End of Spoiler*; Evan is tested in an exam-like setting about choosing to rescue his mother or his sister when both are in danger of falling off of a cliff (he feels guilt over having to choose one over the other); To wake himself up from dreams, Evan has to have a falling sensation like jumping off a building or out a window (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoilers* Even gets involved with a man who is bent on revenge on the Elders and even though Evan is unsure at times about the man’s plans, he continues to go with them, even planting a bombs at the temple; The man calls Evan the weapon he’s been looking for; Evan thinks that the Elders deserved it, that the plan would be worth it, and wants them to feel the same fear he felt; The man is willing to kill the Elders if they don’t confess to what they’ve done; *Major Spoilers* At the very end, though, Evan stops the bombs from going off when he realizes it was a bad plan and that the man lied about no one being in the building *End of Spoilers*; Evan lies to others about his dreams/abilities (including his parents and other authority figures & also to save his pride); Evan keeps his dreams a secret from his family & avoids telling them the truth; Evan snaps at his sister (*Spoiler* But after he is gone for a time and returns, he notices that she missed her and he her *End of Spoiler*); Evan is told by someone in a test that the Elders have been deceiving everyone and want to build a dictatorship (*Spoiler* Towards the end, Evan believes that those in the city have been “controlled, oppressed, and enslaved by people who don’t care about them.” *End of Spoiler*); In a dream, Evan relishes pulling a prank on a fellow student he doesn’t like (pouring water on him to wake him up); Evan is taken to a tattoo parlor & sees many tattoos, including ones that represent (Evan is intrigued and impressed by the tattoos that both do not have meaning and those that do; Looked at positively); Mentions of disobedient students being ordered to be exiled and/or terminated; Mentions of wars, bombings/explosions, fires, a group of people being exterminated, & deaths; Mentions of weapons (a type of gun), others being threatened with harm/death, seeing others being shot and injured (and possibly killed), & being shot yourself (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a man’s desire for revenge; Mentions of students being publicly disciplined in front of their peers; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of cigarettes & smoking; Mentions of squirrels and other rodents being used for food (Evan’s stomach turns at this); A few mentions of crimes, stealing, & thieves; A few mentions of drugs & others being drugged; A few mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of rumors; A mention of the possibility of someone being burned alive; A mention of possible torture;
             *Note: Evan recalls the Elders wanting to stamp out those who see things that aren’t there (Gifteds) because they have “imperfections”; Evan recalls a punishment given to him by the Elders where no one was allowed to use his name or look him in the eye until it was over (including his family; this caused him to feel like “some other life form. Below human, slightly above wallpaper.”).

Sexual Content- A cheek kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Some touches, embraces, hand holding, & blushes; Evan thinks that he’ll go wherever a girl wants when she’s holding his hand; A bit of love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A man pulls off his t-shirt to show the tattoos on his chest.

-Evan Miller, age 15
1st person P.O.V. of Evan
                                                        320 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This was….interesting. It had a lot of elements that reminded me of many other fantasy/dystopian books. Particularly the “Swipe” series by the author Evan Angler (that name was actually a pen name and hasn’t been around in the book world for ten years).

I imagine that this has to have a book two coming because while that ending felt rushed, not everything was wrapped up.

The faith content wasn’t as clear as I’d like it to be. Especially with the strict government (which comes across like a cult at times) using terms like Elder, temple, and hymn with worshiping their Primary Code (a scared book) that the Voice gave to them. Those words typically imply Christianity, but because that strict government and those involved were obviously shady, it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth that those words were used. Particularly because on the other side with the Old City, there’s mentions of the “Source” and those who have received gifts like visions, prophecies and dreambending like Evan from this higher power. Not much it known or said about this Source, but readers are under the impression that it’s supposed to be God because most of those who mention this figure are seemed to be on the good side. But again, it’s not clear despite those in the Old City having parts of the Second Code (which is older than the Primary Code) and there being hope for a prophecy that Evan might just be involved in.

I’ll admit that this book started off a little rocky with the phrase “god-knows-who” being used twice and Evan lying to his dad. We quickly learn that not everything is as it seems with basically every adult in this book being suspicious, but I wasn’t a fan of that phrase being used.

I didn’t really care for this book, unfortunately, and would add that this book fell flat to me. I do think some young teen boy readers may really enjoy it, so it’s partially because it just wasn’t my cup of tea (despite being a big dystopian fan) and partially because I wasn’t impressed with how everything was explained or went throughout the book. That said, I would possibly read the next book (if there is one) to find out more about the Source that’s hinted to in this book.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!