About this book:
“While her father is ready to embrace his job of refurbishing an abandoned lodge in a small Midwestern town, sixteen-year-old Emerson doesn't share his enthusiasm. Moving in the middle of January to such a cold, isolated location feels more like an exile rather than a fresh start.
Despite Emerson's determination to keep to herself, the cute teen boy whose family owns the lodge draws her out of her shell. When Reid reveals the lodge's hidden secrets, she's captivated by the century-old mystery. As she delves into the history of her new town, Emerson is forced to confront her own secrets.
Could the intrigue of the past be the spark needed to thaw her frozen heart and help her put her life back together?”
Series: Book #3 in the “Finding Faith” series. Book #1 is “Into the Spotlight” (first published as “An Unexpected Role”) and was reviewed Here! Book #2 was reviewed Here!
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is shared & quoted; Prayers & making the sign of the cross (including Emerson praying for God to be with her and a Guardian angel to help her); Church and Mass going & messages/homilies (including one on Saint Valentine); Talks about God & prayers/praying; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Emerson hasn’t been “fully invested” in her faith for a long time, but goes to Mass to make her Dad happy; Emerson doesn’t think God cares about her family’s circumstances and that He has ignored her prayers, so because she is tired of the “silent treatment” from Him, she’s done reaching out; *Spoilers* Towards the end, Emerson realizes she’s been shutting God out and that while logically she knew God wasn’t to blame for what happened to her family, she felt like her unanswered prayers seemed proof that her life didn’t matter; She realizes a friend is right, though, and God has been watching over her and her family the whole time and prays to God *End of Spoilers*; A quote from St. Ignatius is shared (“If God sends you many sufferings, it is a sign that He has great plans for you and certainly wants to make you a saint.”) and a side character shares it as it comforts her that God has plans for each of us; Mentions of God, Jesus, & the Holy Spirit; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, blessings over food, & characters making the sign of the cross; Mentions of churches, church and Mass going, church events, youth group, priests, sermons, & homilies; Mentions of saints (including St. Valentine, St. Ignatius, and Blessed Julia Rodzinska); A few mentions of a room with an altar & a cross; A few mentions of a “devoutly religious” family and then someone losing their faith; A couple mentions of those from the Bible; A couple mentions of blessings; A mention of Lent; A mention of a nun; A mention of praying the Rosary; A mention of a godsend;
*Note: Emerson thinks that Reid must have magical powers to be able to get her to spend time outside in the bitter cold; Emerson later calls Reid “psychic” for figuring something out; Reid says he’s never seen anything “paranormal” at the lodge, but his family did have the place blessed by a priest shortly after buying it; Mentions of ghosts, reported ghost sightings, & rumors of a place being haunted; A few mentions of evil & facing it (during wars); A mention of it seemed like the “demons of war” haunted a man; A mention of some saying a family was cursed; A mention of a devilish grin; A mention of Cupid.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crummy’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘geez’, an ‘idiot’, a form of ‘shut up’, a ‘suck it up’, a ‘what the heck’, and four ‘stupid’s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Eavesdropping (once); An explosion, Pain, Being shot at, Being held at gunpoint, Being attacked and chased, & Being threatened (up to semi-detailed); Grief & Guilt (including missing family members; Emerson for her mom and sisters); A dog is kicked, whimpers, & is threatened by someone with a gun (and seems to be hurt; *Spoiler* Zuri who was protecting Emerson and while she hates to leave her, she knows that her dog was risking her life to protect her; Zuri is okay at the end of the book *End of Spoiler*; up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths, car accidents, families being torn apart, & grief; Mentions of murders, possible murders, & foul play; Mentions of mobsters/mafia members & disposing of bodies; Mentions of World Wars I and II, fighting/battles, concentration camps, & the Great Depression; Mentions of slavery & runaway slaves in the mid-1800s; Mentions of crimes, criminals, drugs, drug dealers, corrupt politicians and police officers, arrests, & jail; Mentions of Prohibition, a speakeasy, alcohol, drinking, & gambling; Mentions of lies, lying, & deception; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of teens sneaking out at a sleepover (Emerson and her cousin, who later fess up to doing so); A few mentions of hunters; A couple mentions of a serial killer & imprisoning his victims; A couple mentions of a woman drowning & the possibility of another drowning; A couple mentions of divorced parents; A couple mentions of a teen girl having a rocky relationship with her father (from the book “Charting the Course”); A mention of money laundering; A mention of blackmail; A mention of a cigar;
*Note: Mentions of authors, books, & fictional characters (‘Persuasion’ by Jane Austen, ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’, ‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, & ‘Moby Dick’); Mentions of Alfred Hitchcock movies & characters and events from those books (Rear Window, Psycho, & 39 Steps); Mentions of a brand name (SPAM); A few mentions of other movies & quotes from it (The Princess Bride & The Sound of Music); A few mentions of horror movies (not named ones, but like comments about a place being a perfect setting for a horror movie due to it’s eerie surrounding and desolation); A few mentions of a place rumored to be an insane asylum; A couple mentions of bands/singers (The Beatles & Frank Sinatra).
Sexual Content- An almost kiss (barely-above-not-detailed) and a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Sparks, Warmth, Butterflies, Nearness, & Smelling (including muscles/biceps, barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); When Emerson first sees Reid, she thinks that in her “previous life—back when things like that seemed important—he would’ve been just my type”; Emerson and Reid hang out alone together and Emerson isn’t sure what her dad will say about it; Later when researching the mystery, Emerson and Reid sit on a bed together, but leave “a respectable distance” between them (a bit later, he hugs her to give comfort, but because it suddenly feels too intimate, she moves out of his embrace); Mentions of couples, boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, & dating; Mentions of handsome and cute guys; A couple mentions of kisses, kissing, & the possibility of a kiss; A mention of a guy teasingly flexing his bicep; A mention of a homecoming date; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.
-Emerson “Em”, age 16
1st person P.O.V. of Emerson
201 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’ve been enjoying books by this author for years now because Contemporary YA is a favorite genre of mine and because I always enjoy a mystery, I’m always interested in the mysteries found in each of her books. This story had a dual mystery—there’s the mystery at the lodge and its history, but also a mystery for the reader to find out about what happened in Emerson’s past. I was probably more invested in the latter, but I was curious about the lodge’s history too.
We also see characters from the author’s other books, “Charting the Course” and “An Unexpected Role”/“Into the Spotlight”, which was a fun surprise!
Not being Catholic, the saints and mentions of them/their stories were a little lost on me, but else wise there was some decent faith content and Emerson struggling with God not answering her prayers. The faith content seemed very natural and paced well for what she has gone through.
Reid was a sweet guy and an overall good love interest for Emerson. I do wish the epilogue would have been a little longer, personally, because I was waiting for that moment! All in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading what the author writes next. :)
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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