"Deliver" by Tricia Mingerink

About this book:

  “Can something broken ever heal?
    Martyn is broken. After torturing his best friend, he doesn't belong anywhere in Acktar. No matter how far he runs, he can't lose his guilt.
    Leith is broken. While healing from the torture he received at Nalgar Castle, he struggles to find his new role. But can a Blade ever run from his past?
    The country is broken. Bitterness divides town against town, neighbor against neighbor. What will it take to deliver Acktar from itself?
    They face their hardest battle yet.
    Peace.”


Series: Book #4 in the “Blades of Acktar” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, and Book #3.5 Here!


Spiritual Content- 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 at the beginning; A few Scriptures are remembered, thought over, & quoted; Bible reading; Witnessing & Being witnessed to; Martyn doesn’t believe in God and makes comments about believing in God to be “illogical trust in superstitions and myth”; Martyn believes most Christians are hypocrites based on what he has experienced (*Spoilers* His parents raised him in church, but after they abandoned him at a church and the minister kicked him out, he believed Christians to be hypocrites; When pressed, Martyn says that he never brought into God when he was a kid, but someone from his past disagrees with that being true and Martyn starts to wonder if he did believe it at one time; Martyn recalls Renna saying that “no child of God was ever lost. They might stray for a while, but God would always draw them back to Him”; Towards the end, Martyn realizes the truth and becomes a Christian *End of Spoilers*); Martyn remembers Renna saying that “relationships didn’t exist in Heaven like they did now, but they would be closer, deeper.”; Many talks about God, Jesus Christ, trusting Him, those in the Bible, faiths, & Christians; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Many mentions of God, trusting Him, faiths, & Christians; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, services, ministers, & a sermon; Mentions of persecutions of Christians; A few mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of being blessed; A mention of a cross necklace; 
             *Note: A couple mentions of luck & being lucky; A mention of a shrine.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘confounded’, a ‘dratted’, a ‘duh’, a ‘stupid’, an unfinished ‘what the…’, a ‘why in Acktar’, and two forms of ‘idiot’; Many mention of curses (said, not written; many by Martyn and *Spoilers* because someone makes him wash his mouth out with soap after cursing so much, he eventually stops swearing and starts saying “blistering soapsuds” instead *End of Spoilers*; Martyn also cuts off the phrase “bother and…”); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Many near death moments (including nearly being burned alive), killing, fighting, being attacked, knocking others out, being held at knife-point, holding others at knife-point and threatening death/harm, being slapped and punched, major pain, injuries/wounds, burns, having stitches, blood/bleeding, passing out, & throwing up (semi-detailed); Seeing others killed, dead bodies, & blood (including a beheaded body and the smell of decaying bodies, up to semi-detailed); Remembering seeing & hearing executions and torture (up to semi-detailed); Helping others badly injured and bleeding (including giving stitches, semi-detailed); Grief (up to semi-detailed); Eavesdropping; Both Leith and Martyn are former assassins & has killed or helped killed others before; Many, many mentions of deaths/murders (including of parents), executions, assassinations and attempts, planning to kill someone (including through beheadings, hangings, & burning someone alive), nearly killing someone, bodies, blood/bleeding, injuries, passing out, weapons, & grief (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of torture, beatings, being burned, being punched/slapped and whipped, & imprisonment (including as punishments); Many mentions of wars, battles, attacks, fighting, & mobs; Mentions of deaths/massacres of women and children; Mentions of screams, people being shot and stabbed, & attacks; Mentions of thieves/bandits, robberies, & stealing; Mentions of fires & burned villages; Mentions of a physically abusive man who killed his wife and beat his son & the son being concerned he could be violent like his father (*Spoilers for previous books* Leith’s father, who killed Leith’s mother; Leith becomes concerned that he could end up being like his father and hurting Renna; Someone questions Renna about her decision to be with Leith because of possible violence, but she is positive that he would never hurt her or a child *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of a child being abandoned by his parents (*Spoilers* Martyn, who believes that his parents abandoned him at a church and chose keeping his little brother over him; Halfway through, Martyn finds out that his parents did return for him, but were told that he died *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of an injured horse & the possibility of one having to be put down (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of nightmares (of battles, deaths, & killing; up to semi-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deception; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of trapping & hunting animals (for food); A couple mentions of kidnapping for ransom; A couple mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of alcohol (mostly for treating wounds); A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of gossip & eavesdropping; A mention of manure;
             *Note: A couple mentions of a woman dying in childbirth & a stillborn baby.
 
 
Sexual Content- Two fingers-to-lips touches, ten forehead/hair kisses, two cheek/jaw kisses, an almost kiss, a not-detailed kiss, and three border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses; Wanting to kiss & touch (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Cuddling, Hand holding, Warmth, Flutters, Smelling, & Nearness (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); A man ogles Renna, makes a suggestive comment, & tries to grab her, but is scared off before it goes further; Martyn wakes up without clothing a couple of times (due to his injuries & he teases a young woman about it); Renna tries not to notice when Leith is shirtless; A thought from a man about spending the “first night…as man and wife” with his wife after their wedding; Mentions of a woman being kidnapped by a man (implied that it could have been worse, but she was saved in time) & another woman grabbed and nearly kissed (forced); Mentions of “temptations” that couples face; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & seeing couples kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a competition with kisses being a prize; Mentions of chaperones & couples having to be careful about being “proper” with each other; A few mentions of mushy expressions between couples; A couple mentions of a flirt; Love, falling in love, being in love, & the emotions (x2).
 
-Martyn Hamish
-Leith Torren
- Renna Faythe
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        454 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

THIS was the happiness I needed for the near-final book of this series! 

 

Whenever I’ve read a book with war, deaths, and violence, there’s usually a bittersweet ending. This series has been no different. And maybe it’s a little silly or unrealistic for me to expect happiness after a major war and lots of deaths, but I wanted to see these character catch a break and be able to breathe. Unfortunately, there’s still those who were on the evil king’s side making my wishes difficult—so our characters had to take care of that problem in this book despite the actual war being over, so there’s still another battle for everyone. I will say I was quite satisfied at the ending and would honestly call this my favorite of the series—while still some killing and bloodshed—it was more about Leith becoming a protector instead of the assassin he has been for years. The growth in him and Martyn was particularly great to see.  

 

Unlike the other books in this series, I actually laughed quite a few times while reading because of different characters teasing the other—the Found Family trope was in full play in this book and I loved seeing it. 🥹 They’re not frolicking in a field of flowers with the butterflies by the end of the book (which is the happiness I usually want for my main characters), but I don’t think these characters would do that anyway, so the happiness they have is perfect. How it ends for everyone was honestly better than I dared to hope for them after everything they have been through.

 

While there is still a novella/short story collection to read next that I look forward to reading, this was a great end to an albeit very violent and bloody series 😅, but also one that had strong faith content and character developments. I still wouldn’t recommend it for everyone (again, lots of deaths and blood), but I can get the hype for this series.

 

 

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.