“NO ONE LEAVES SHILOH AND RETURNS.
Ever since her mother's disappearance, Neriah Rosewood has feared losing anyone she loves. Shiloh, her home, separates them from the ancient land of Betzaria. No one leaves or visits Shiloh without falling victim to the shadows in the darkness. Still, Neriah secretly wonders what freedom awaits her beyond the borders of her little haven.
When her grandmother reveals that the ancient tales of the fallen hero and the precious stones are true, Neriah can't bring herself to believe any of them. Until Neriah gradually discovers the dangers and secrets Shiloh has had all along.
Disaster strikes, and Neriah loses her brother to her mother's same fate. The heartbreaking incident devastates her and finally pushes Neriah to break the one rule she's been warned to keep– all her life.”
Series: Book #1 in the “Pure Gems of Betzaria” series.
Spiritual Content- Psalm 119:105 at the beginning; A few Scriptures are references (but not called Scriptures); Prayers & Blessings over food; God is called the Almighty and the Creator in this book (someone also says “Thank God” once); A few talks about the Creator; Mentions of the Creator & having faith; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of hope & having faith (which will defeat the darkness); A few mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of thanking God/the Creator;
*Note: Neriah’s tribe lives away from others and stay in the boundaries of their village because of the darkness surrounding their area; When near the darkness or in it, it whispers negative things to the person (mainly of their failures; which is both seen and experienced on-page; *Spoilers* Including with Neriah’s brother sacrificing himself to the dark mist to protect her and their sister *End of Spoilers*; up to semi-detailed); Some believe that the darkness is growing but one day the “light will return with a powerful force to end the darkness once and for all”; Neriah is told that faith is the key to overcoming the darkness; There are stones that were “imbued with a divine majesty” that have the “power to alter history” and when brought together, have the “power to banish the darkness” which Neriah is told about and an important part of the book; These stones represent “joyfulness, gentleness, faithfulness, kindness, peacefulness, endurance, discipline, and goodness” (similar to the Fruits of the Spirit); *Spoilers* Neriah leaves her village and goes through the darkness; She says that she won’t lose faith and that she will “let the light out” which makes her necklace react and cut through the darkness with a light; Neriah’s necklace and another girl’s necklace float in the air when used, can light a path for them, open impossible paths, also make the girls float in the air as well, causes a beam of light to transport them to another place, creates “divine armour” on them when in a battle against the darkness, & blasts light from it to fight off the villains; When in a river, the water turns dark and tries to grab Neriah’s necklace *End of Spoilers*; The phrase “Have faith. Seek truth. Keep peace. Give mercy. Show love.” is said throughout the book and helpful to Neriah and others; A couple people call Neriah a “bad omen” and she is shaken by it (she also calls herself a “wicked charm”); Neriah has an illusion of a loved one touching and encouraging her in a dream; The villains are able to jump over Neriah and the others in a battle scene & also use a dark crystal to disappear; Many mentions of the light, the darkness, the pure gemstones, & sacred pendants; Mentions of dark crystals that villains use from the “Realm of the Lost” to transport them to other places; A mention of a cursed land.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘heck’, two ‘dumb’s, and four ‘stupid’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Some sibling bickering; Fighting/Attacking someone, Being held at arrow-point and threatened, Being held hostage, Pain, & Injuries (up to semi-detailed); An earthquake (up to semi-detailed); A nightmares (of a loved one saying harsh words, barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing fighting, someone held at knife-point, & knocked unconscious (barely-above-not-detailed); Neriah feels grief over missing family members & recalls the day her mother disappeared (she has anxiety-like symptoms when thinking about that day; up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of missing family members, assumed deaths, deaths, & grief (including Neriah’s family for her mother and how their father has distant himself from her and siblings, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of sicknesses, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of thieves/bandits & stealing; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of hunting; A few mentions of ambushes & someone being beaten; A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of poison & a poison that will paralyze someone; A couple mentions of hatred;
*Note: Neriah’s father has become emotionally distant from her and her siblings after their mother’s disappearance (which Neriah believes is his way to keep from further heartbreak); Neriah’s father also says a few harsh things to Neriah and blames her for something she didn’t do; A side character’s mother is controlling towards her (teenager) children & the character searches her mother’s room for answers when she thinks her mother is lying; Tribes/groups of people do not want others to speak out against their group or leave their designated boundaries (leading to an almost cult-like setting); A comment about a group of children draining “the life right out of people” sometimes.
Sexual Content- Some touches, embraces, nearness, & blushes (barely-above-not-detailed); Some noticing & staring (not detailed).
-Neriah
P.O.V. of Neriah & a few others
300 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’ll admit I’ve had my eye on this book for a while because of two reasons 1. it’s Christian YA Fantasy and 2. the very pretty cover. It ended up not being my exact cup of tea, but I appreciate the clean content and think other fantasy readers would enjoy it more.
It took me a while to warm up to our main character, Neriah, because of her prickly personality and her lack of love for being around kids (something I didn’t understand, but tried to for her sake). We instantly jump into this world as soon as the book starts with a cool map, but also very little explanations of what is going on. It worked at times to just follow along, but it would have been nice to have more backstory (such as why and when did Neriah’s family/tribe come to their area? was there a reason for separating themselves from other people? where did the gems come from? how do they work? what happened to Neriah’s mother really? who are the villains and what do they want?). Hopefully these questions and others will be answered in the next book of the series.
I will say there were a few times the story dragged a bit or characters seemed out of character, but it was overall a clean and interesting book. I was able to follow along pretty easily and I enjoyed the author’s writing style which made events and places easy to picture when reading. On that note, I did find a couple name typos, though, that were in the wrong place and confused me when reading along with some parts that didn’t fully feel explained. I enjoyed the first half of the story more because towards the end there was some silly teen arguments/drama that dropped my personal rating.
There’s some “magic”, I suppose you could say, but it’s not the typical type of magic with wands or special powers; it’s more of a belief system and special items that can shine a light or make paths visible that are supposed to be from the Creator. When the characters use the special pendant necklaces and believe in their mission, they can float in the air or go through impossible paths. A villain is also able to jump high in the air (unnaturally) and has dark crystals for their purpose of deceiving our heroes.
Because of the fantasy setting, it had a mix of different elements that I usually wouldn’t think would work together, but mostly did. It might be strange to say, but it reminded me of the Moana movie at times because of the adventure outside of one’s tribe and being the chosen one to save her people. Not really an island setting, but similar in the broad details.
I was very shocked when the book ended because it felt very abrupt. There’s no cliffhanger (yay for that!) but it ends very suddenly and there’s still a lot more for our main character and her new friends to do. I would be curious to read the next book whenever it releases. Because of this book being clean and the main characters feeling on the younger side, I think this book could work for ages 14/15+ as a suggestion for fantasy book with very light romance and lots of adventure.
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.
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