"Ly-Lan and the New Class Mix-up" by Hà Dinh

About this book:

  “Sometimes things don’t turn out the way we plan! In this chapter book series about a daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, Ly-Lan navigates her life as a new third grader—complete with old and new friends, unexpected (and disappointing) changes at home and school, and finding a way to thrive.
   Third grade is not starting the way Ly-Lan pictured. First, her best friend Cece is put in another class--even after Ly-Lan prayed they would be in the same one. And then Ly-Lan is tasked with showing the new Vietnamese student around. Ly-Lan wants to hang out with Cece, not play translator to the new girl, and she doesn’t understand why her prayers aren’t being answered. If Ly-Lan is going to survive and thrive in third grade, she must learn to trust in God’s plans, especially when it means making some adjustments to her own.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Ly-Lan Finds a Way” series. 


Spiritual Content- A prayer (that Ly-Lan does with her parents); Ly-Lan shares with her best friend that whenever she needs something, her father has told her to get on her knees, which her friend thinks she means begging, but Ly-Lan explains she means praying and shows her how she prays under a cross in her room to Jesus (there is an illustration of Ly-Lan on her knees praying and a note that she prays with her parents before bed every night); Ly-Lan tells her best friend that her father told her to pray to Jesus whenever she needs help or has a special wish (her best friend says that “that’s cool” and she usually just yells out loud to her parents in hopes one of her parents can get her wish for her); Ly-Lan believes her prayers to be in the same classroom as her best friend has worked since kindergarten, but her mom says she’s not sure that’s how prayers work; When she finds out she’s not in the same class with her best friend, Ly-Lan wonders if she said the wrong name in her prayers; Ly-Lan’s parents tell her that God isn’t a genie to grant our wishes and that sometimes things don’t work out the way we want even when we pray about it (adding that “prayers are like wishes from our hearts, but sometimes our wishes aren’t always the best thing for us. Only God can decide that. We have to trust Him.” and encourage her about trusting God, but Ly-Lan decides that if praying is not going to help and God doesn’t grant wishes, she’s going to take her chances on someone at school who can grant her wish); Ly-Lan doesn’t think prayers will work after her disappointment and wonders what the point of praying is if it doesn’t come true; *Spoiler* At the very end, Ly-Lan realizes the good that can come from being in a new class and prays with her parents *End of Spoiler*; Talks about God, Jesus, trusting Him, & praying/prayers; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of praying & prayers; 
             *Note: A few mentions of magic (in the sense of Ly-Lan thinking her mother can work magic like creating a certain yummy food and could help her out with the classroom problem; Later, Ly-Lan thinks that moms are magical when her best friend tells her something that her mom said that was the same thing her mom said too); A mention of being lucky.
 

Negative Content- Ly-Lan is upset about her hopes and plans not being able to happen (such as being in the same classroom as her best friend or sitting with her at lunch) and thinks “Adults choose everything for kids—whose class we’re in, where we sit at lunch, and who we sit with!” and adds that “today is officially the worst first day ever.”, but she still follows the directions of her teacher; In a moment of being upset, Ly-Lan whines and says a hurtful thing to her best friend (which her friend says to take back her mean words, but Ly-Lan is still upset); *Spoilers* Towards the end, Ly-Lan realizes that she was wrong and writes an apology note to her best friend and plans to make a new friend or two in her new class; Her best friend forgives her *End of Spoilers*; A couple mentions of jealousy.
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Ly-Lan Tran, age 8
                                P.O.V. of Ly-Lan 
                                                        96 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

To get the technical stuf out of the way: I’m not the best judge for the writing quality of beginner chapter books, so I did think it was a bit simple at times, but I think that can be expected. I don’t know how realistic it was for Ly-Lan’s writing skills either. There were a few times of extra exclamation points in a sentence or amazing being said as “AMAZINGGG!!!” by our main character and her friend. 

 

I thought this story was very cute overall and how important it is for Ly-Lan has to learn that it’s okay and even possible to have more than one best friend. The illustrations were adorable and definitely added to a cute charm to the story. 

 

 

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 Publisher (Zonderkidz) for this honest review.

 

"The Unlikely Intrusion of Adams Klein" by John Greco

About this book:

  “Are some things in life worth taking a stand for, no matter the cost?
    Fourteen-year-old Adams Klein lives by one simple don’t do anything that might change the course of history. To protect him from a murderous tyrant, Adams was hidden away in the year 2015. A refugee from the distant future, his existence is a secret. But when he witnesses a tragedy unfolding, he can’t stand by and do nothing. Now history is being changed, and Adams and his new friends are being hunted by a villain who’ll stop at nothing to retain his iron grip on the world of the future, even if it means destroying the past.”


Series: Book #1 in “The TimeFall” trilogy. 


Spiritual Content- “Thank God” is exclaimed once; Emma thinks her parents are angry at God even though they never say anything about religion; Emma notes how she is one of the only children in town that doesn’t attend church (not even on Christmas or Easter); A couple mentions of Bibles; A couple mentions of fate & miracles; A mention of there not being words when asked why God would allow a child to be killed; A mention of someone telling another to “thank their Maker” about something; A mention of religion being removed from Adams’ world; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of being a good Samaritan to someone; A mention of someone reaching for forbidden fruit (that is illegal); 
             *Note: The Marshal (a dictator and the villain of this story) tells his underlings about the “Ones Out There” and says ““Far be it from me to invoke religion, but do you suppose we are so much more enlightened than those who lived long ago? ….They were called gods, spirits, muses, angels, demons…..The labels don’t really matter. What’s important is that everyone from the Egyptians to the Aztecs to the Babylonians to the Greeks and the Romans believed. From East to West and from North to South, every thriving civilization was spurred on by help from Out There. Could it really be that all of these mighty empires, in many cases separated from one another by great distances of time and space, just happened to hold the same basic belief? Let me ask you: Who is more likely to be wrong—billions of people around the world, across thousands of years, all testifying to the same basic truth that we are not alone, or we who, only recently in the cosmic scheme of things, have chosen to dissent from the tide of history in order to stick our fingers in our ears and ignore the helpful voices calling to us from Out There?””; The Marshal believes that the dreams he has been having are a warning from “the Ones Out There”; A scientist is said to have led humanity into a “new enlightenment” & this is partially because of an item that is said to come close to “bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth”; A conversation about Osiris (an ancient Egyptian god), people worshiping him, and others being “deathly jealous” of those peoples’ devotion to a single deity; Adams’ father tells him that “no matter how tight its grip”, no evil thing lasts forever; A thief is called a “Ghost” of a local lake because no one has seen him in person (Clay calls this “very cool” and a female classmate calls it “romantic”); A few mentions of evil people; A mention of a group acting “deliberate, serious, [and] silent” like they are responding to an alter call (when they’re actually going to steal something).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, two ‘dumb’s, and seven ‘stupid’s;  Clay is called a “spaz” three times by bullies; Some eye rolling; Killing human-like drones with it’s “blood” spraying everywhere (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Seeing human-like drones being shot and killed, their blood, & the drones melting into the ground (up to semi-detailed); An explosion & people being hurt/dying (*Major Spoilers* The book ends with Adams being killed by the blast and the others being sad or sobbing about it plus his dog resting his head on Adams; In the epilogue, however, he wakes back up after several hours *End of Spoilers*, up to semi-detailed); Falling through a frozen lake, Almost drowning, Saving another from drowning, Fighting, Being shot/shot at, Almost being kidnapped, Being choked, Being held at knife-point, Being held hostage, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, Passing out, & Major headaches (up to semi-detailed); Stealing an item (up to semi-detailed); Seeing dead bodies (of human-like drones, barely-above-not-detailed); Adams is expected to kill a drone in school (which because the drone mimics a human being and will show “crimson lubrication fluid” that looks like blood, he thinks it will look, sound, and feel like taking another person’s life); Adams has a school training that involves shooting in a jungle-like setting (he gets shot by a classmate, up to semi-detailed); Adams hates school because he sees it as the Marshal raising up a “programmed and devoted army”from his generation and feels sick at the thought of being chosen for military service; The Marshal (a dictator and the villain of this story) orders for someone’s vocal cords to be removed & wants Adams to be crushed/destroyed; Emma panics and cries that a man is going to shoot someone; Adams, Clay, & Emma come up with a plan to steal an item they need for Adams to return home (this includes lying to others and breaking a display case); Clay is bullied (both on-page with physically being hit and threatened plus remembering past incidents, up to semi-detailed; After that, he decides he will never speak up or draw attention to himself again) & Emma deals with a mean girl and her snide comments; Adam feels grief about being alone with no family; Mentions of a child that was hit by a car and died & grief from the parents (Emma’s older brother); Mentions of drownings & almost drownings (including two kids that drowned and a news report of it); Mentions of deaths & killing drones that look human; Mentions of assassins & ordering murders (including an ordered murder on a teen by an evil dictator); Mentions of wars; Mentions of weapons, being shot/tased, & weapons being aimed at others; Mentions of attacks, rebels, & a possible plan to murder a dictator; Mentions of crimes & criminals; Mentions of thieves, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of boys stealing/robbing a store; Mentions of pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & passing out (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of being being tied-up & locked in a closet; Mentions of nightmares of dying and blood; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of bullies; Mentions of divorces & parents shouting; A few mentions of prisons & arrests; A few mentions of vomiting; A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of a mother who died from cancer; A couple mentions of being robbed & held at gunpoint; A couple mentions of graffiti; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of urine; A mention of enslavement; A mention of someone needing a “new pair of boxer-briefs” during a sports event; A mention of poker; A mention of hunting; 
             *Note: Adams’ father gives him an injection for bacteria and viruses his body will fight in the past timeline (adding that he wished he had a vaccine like this for Adams’ dog that is going with him); The Marshal keeps his grip on the people he rules over by having them to cranial injections to learn more, but also remove information that he deems “inconvenient truths”; A classmate of Clay’s used his name to cover for himself to his parents to have “some time for himself” when he doesn’t want his parents to know where he is (such as when he went to see an R-rated movie); The classmate wants Clay to meet his parents to prove that he is real and while Clay doesn’t want to lie, he does meet him (and there’s no punishment for the boy lying to his parents nor shown as wrong); Emma’s parents are divorced and often hears her parents shouting at each other and tries hard to keep them from being in the same room (she recalls her mother yelling at her father and blaming him for different things; Emma feels jealous of other kids that have parents in a happy or peaceful marriage; Her older brother died when she was little after being hit by a distracted driver and Emma’s parents tried to hold it together for several years, but were too angry and heartbroken; Emma thinks it’s weird that her parents have left his room the same way all of these years; Emma is upset to hear one of her parents is dating and feels heartbroken over the revelation that her dream that as a child of divorce, her parents getting back together won’t happen now; When she has to tell her parents something serious and they are able to be in the same room without fighting, she is stunned and angry that they are able to behave themselves around each other because she’s believed they were “in a sense, victims of their painful memories” and realized they could get along despite choosing not to and she’s been the one paying for their selfishness; A police chief tells the kids something about an open case, but then says he can’t talk about it (this happens a few times and has a sometimes doofus-like personality because of it); A scientist borrows skin calls from his lab rat to test on; A dog is shoved and whimpers; Mentions of a science/technology item that has nanobots which can spy on the person who ingested them, tell others what they are thinking, & can even attack and kill the person’s organs; Mentions of a group & song (‘Here Comes the Sun’ by the Beatles); Mentions of US Presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Grant); Mentions of books & authors (‘War of the Worlds’, ‘Island of the Blue Dolphins’, ‘A Wrinkle in Time’, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’, ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin’, ‘Watership Down’, ‘Animal Farm’, ‘Hamlet’, and ‘Crime and Punishment’); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of a woman’s athlete’s foot (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of vaccines; A few mentions of brand names (John Deere, Athena candy bar, & LEGO bricks); A couple mentions of superheroes (Superman & Captain America); A mention of the Marshal ordering for the capital to be “de-Americanize[d]”; A mention of Micky Mouse; A mention of lottery tickets.
 
 
Sexual Content- Emma gives one of the boys a kiss on his cheek (as a goodbye); Adams gives CPR to Emma, but before he “could lock his lips around hers to create a seal”, she coughs up water; Clay has a crush on Emma, who he thinks is the prettiest girl in school and acts awkward around her at first (as he gets to know her, his crush grows and he blushes); Clay doesn’t think he could handle being a host to Adams if Emma has a crush on him; Mentions of dates & dating; A few mentions of crushes & having feelings for someone; 
             *Note: Adams thinks that “girls go nuts over a guy just because he’s from another country and has an accent. I’m from another century. That has to count for something.”; Unlike most of the girls her age, Emma rarely wears makeup and was in “no rush to force her way through adolescence into adulthood”); A girl comments that she would “never eat anything so fattening” when referring to a muffin.
 
-Adams Klein, age 14
-Clay Danvers, age 14 
-Emma Bloom, age 14
                                P.O.V. switches between them & a few others
                                        Set in 2196 & 2015
                                                        276 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book took me a bit to get into because of the different POVs, the head switching, and trying to figure out the world. I think the author did well enough explaining things and the advance technology in the future setting, though, which left me with little questions on that. 

 

There were a few parts that made me think this book would be better for boys than girls, but it truly depends on the girl. I didn’t personally care for some comments or having the mental image of urine in a urinal, but perhaps that’s just me. In that regard, it felt like what I would usually call a “boy book” meaning that there some comments and/or humor that would probably make a young boy laugh and not bother girls with brothers, but it wasn’t enjoyable to me. 

 

This book might not be the best choice for sensitive readers, mainly because of the villain. He orders for one underling to have his vocal cords removed and orders for our young main character to be killed. He also made some confusing comments on “the Ones Out There” when referring to a higher power, that were odd and I’m not sure what the author was going for. I’ve quoted the section above in the Spiritual Content part of this review because while it’s long, it’s kind of hard to shorten it to get the point across. 

 

There were a few parts I didn’t like seeing a conclusion about—not even referring to the plot that would have a conclusion in the next book, but more so the characters or side characters. Such as a classmate of Clay’s using his name to be able to be by himself when he doesn’t want his parents to know where he is (the classmate looks at this flippantly as he needs time for himself and there’s nothing about the parents finding it out; instead when they meet Clay and hear something heroic about him, they really like him being friends with their son; Perhaps it’s not Clay deceiving them, but he knows better and is helping his classmate lie to his parents and it’s not shown as wrong). Clay is also bullied by boys who steal from a store and because they’ve bullied him before, he decides not to tell anyone and covers what they stole with his own money. Maybe conclusions or justice didn’t happen in these situations because of the short amount of time and characters hurry for other things, but it could give the wrong idea or impression to young readers. 

 

Overall, this mainly wasn’t my kind of book, but I could see some other readers enjoying it.

 

 

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 Burning of Rosemont Abbey" by Naomi Stephens

About this book:

  “1956: In the quiet village of Wilbeth Green, the smoldering ruins of Rosemont Abbey set the residents' tongues wagging, and everyone is quick to accuse troublemaker Paul Everly of being the arsonist. Paul has vanished without a trace, leaving only his twin sister, Louisa, certain of his innocence. Fueling her conviction is an inexplicable connection--she felt her twin's death an hour before the abbey went up in flames. Knowing no one will believe her, Louisa embarks on her own investigation, challenging the skepticism of her neighbors and the disdain of her aunt and uncle. Even Inspector Malcolm Sinclair, once Paul's closest friend, is torn between his duty and a lingering loyalty to Paul and warns Louisa to abandon her pursuit. But Louisa is determined to solve a murder no one else believes was committed, even if it means unraveling secrets that could shake Wilbeth Green to its core.”


Series: No, seems to be a stand-alone novel.


Spiritual Content- A hymn is quoted at the beginning; A Scripture is quoted; Prayers; Church going & part of a sermon; Talks about God, those and events in the Bible, sin/sinners; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Louisa says her brother is “as devout as a man in his circumstances is able to be”; Louisa’s brother has a necklace of St. Jude (noted to be the patron saint of lost and desperate causes) that a Catholic priest gave to him at their father’s funeral; Many mentions of churches/abbeys, church going, services, sermons, worshiping, clergymen, & church events; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of sins/sinners, confessing sins, & absolution; Mentions of stained glass depicting scenes from the Bible; Mentions of Catholics and a saint; A couple mentions of benedictions & blessings from a chaplain; A couple mentions of homilies; A couple mentions of the liturgy; A mention of the Lord’s Supper at church; A mention of eternity; 
             *Note: ‘Damning’ is used once as an adjective for being condemned; The phrase “come hell or high water” is used once; Religious phrases/exclamations are said: a ‘heavens’, a ‘heaven knows’, a ‘merciful heaven’, a ‘old devil’, three ‘devilishly’, three forms of ‘thank heaven/heavens’, three ‘what/where/why the devil’, and eight ‘Good Heavens’; Someone says a place is cursed; A mention of Louisa telling her brother that despite his name being of apostolic origin, he had grown up into a “crass, disagreeable young man”; A woman mentions her Catholic grandson throughout the book, originally commenting that he “went and became a Catholic when none of us were looking” (and tells Louisa that if she’s interested in him, she would have to convert); A couple people are called saints for their helpfulness & someone wants to nominate another for sainthood; A man sneers about going to confess his sins (of being with another woman) to a vicar before proposing to a woman; A few mentions of luck; A couple mentions of a statue of a Greek goddess; A mention of a woman saying that it’s “unchristian” to have more than six courses for a dinner party after learning to have less during the war; A mention of someone looking like an avenging angel; A mention of someone doing an evil thing (of setting a church on fire); A mention of there being “the devil to pay”; A mention of being hell-bent to get away from a place; A mention of death possibly being swift like a pair of scissors snipping the body from the soul; A mention of Louisa not believing in omens (but if she did, one would be a bad one); A mention of something perhaps being fate’s influence; A mention of someone’s ghost; A mention of someone being called a vampire as an insult; A mention of a dog being called a “devil dog”; A mention of Greek mythology (Odysseus).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bastard’ (used in the literal illegitimate child meaning), a ‘blimey’, a ‘hurt like the dickens’, an unfinished ‘pain in the—‘, two ‘balderdash’, two ‘drat’, two ‘hang it all’, four forms of ‘blasted’, three forms of ‘idiot’, three forms of ‘shut up’, and six ‘stupid’s; Curses are said, not written (including by Louisa and others) & mentions of curses said as well; Lies & Lying (Louisa to others including the police officer friend and her aunt; Also including lying to others to get information about the case); Eavesdropping; Harsh and hurtful words are said to Louisa and she also says them to others in moments of anger; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Louisa says ‘drat’ and argues with an elderly woman that it isn’t swearing and she doesn’t need to tell the vicar on her because the vicar would agree with her; Almost dying, Being drugged/poisoned, Being grabbed/attacked, Being held at gunpoint, Breaking and entering into a crime scene, Being chased, & Shaking in fear (semi-detailed); Going to a pub & a fight club (up to semi-detailed); Grief & Stuffing her emotions aside (for a sibling and parents, up to semi-detailed); Seeing a dead body (and being very affected by it, up to semi-detailed); Imagining possible accidental murders (up to semi-detailed); At the very beginning, Louisa physically feels as if her twin brother has died (she recalls hearing stories about twins sensing when their twin is suffering or dying without being right there with them; up to semi-detailed); A man comments on sometimes wishing he had died in the war when he was still handsome instead of praying for the day to come when he can join the rest of his men from the war; *Major Spoilers* The culprit of burning down the abbey has also killed three people by the end of the book by poison, including Louisa’s father and brother *End of Spoilers*; Many mentions of murders, murderers, deaths, grief, & dead bodies (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Many mentions of attackers and attacks, fainting, injuries, stitches, pain, & blood/bleeding; Many mentions of crimes, crime scenes, criminals, a fire, arson, & the culprit (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of blackmail & threats (including some blackmail “for the greater good” to solve a case); Many of the side characters drink alcohol (including at a party on-page) & smoke pipes, cigars, and/or cigarettes; Many mentions of smoking, cigarettes, cigars, & pipes; Many mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, & pubs (including vicars drinking); Mentions of World War II, deaths, bombings, & injuries; Mentions of weapons, being shot, bullets, poisons, & being drugged/poisoned; Mentions of stealing, stolen items and money, & thieves; Mentions of break-ins; Mentions of prisons & arrests; Mentions of gambling & cheating; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars (including when Paul told Louisa that she was a terrible liar and said it like it was “the most pulverizing kind of insult”); Mentions of eavesdropping; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A couple mentions of vandalism; A couple mentions of vomit/throwing up; A mention of novels where people are thrown into bodies of water for knowing too much about a crime; A mention of a con-man; A mention of a nightmare about being trapped in a fire; 
             *Note: Mentions of car brands; Mentions of singers & songs (The Andrew Sisters, Bing Crosby, Fat’s Domino, & ‘Rum and Coca-Cola’); A few mentions of brand names (Dansette, Brown Betty, & Lenthéric); A couple mentions of prejudice towards those with German names after the war (and a family changing their name because of it); A couple mentions of gypsies; A mention of Grace Kelly; A mention of BBC; A mention of Louisa thinking her uncle would send for a different doctor if she told him her concerns about feeling as if her brother died (implied because he would think she’s crazy).
 
 
Sexual Content- An almost (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed) kiss, a throat/neck kisses (barely-above-not-detailed), and two semi-detailed kisses (one going from one’s neck to ear); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Louisa goes into a male friend’s apartment and his shirt is untucked and half unbuttoned which makes her feel nervous and embarrassed; A ‘bastard’ (used in the illegitimate child meaning); Mentions of an illegitimate child; Mentions of affairs (one is also called “illicit affair”); Mentions of a woman being in love with someone else when she got married; Mentions of unmarried couple being in a “compromising position” and while one half is in a “modern” engagement with someone else, the other promises to stop their relationship when he gets engaged; Mentions of dancing & touches; Mentions of romantic feelings for others, dates, & dating; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of kisses & a first kiss; A few mentions of flirting; A mention of a trip with two unmarried couples keeping “everything proper” by having a set of parents come; A mention of “worldly” women; A mention of girls going “a bit mad” for a handsome young man; Some love, possibly falling in love, & the emotions.
 
-Louisa Everly, age 26
                                P.O.V. of Lousia 
                                      Set in 1956
                                                    336 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Oh, I have mixed feelings on this book. I liked so many parts about it, but I didn’t like the ending. 

 

This book had a charm about it that could only come from a book set in 1950s England; there were many humorous parts and lots of British phrases that added a delightful charm to the story. At times, it reminded me of a Murder She Wrote episode, just without the cringy 80s hairstyles. 

 

On that note, though, there was mentions of affairs and family skeletons which aren’t my personal favorite thing to be included in a Christian Fiction book. Another thing is that there was a lot of casual drinking and smoking by side characters. Perhaps accurate to the time, but it was nearly every time a side character appeared they were doing one or the other, which felt a little much. 

 

I liked Louisa and Malcom—we don’t get his POV, but because he is apart of her mystery solving parts, I mention him with her—but it was really the vicar and Mrs. Watson that stole the show for me. The vicar has to be one of the best members of the cloth I’ve seen in a book. And Mrs. Watson needs her own book series. Both of them were fantastic and added wisdom and humor to the plot. 

 

With the ending, let’s be honest. I cried with the epilogue. I was nervous about this book because of the sibling grief and that being something I’m all too familiar with. Prior to the epilogue, I actually didn’t see the villain coming and when I had an inkling it could be that person, I pushed it away because I didn’t want it to be that person. That’s what has dropped my rating half a star, because it felt a little far fetched, even if the motivation made sense. 

 

I suppose we can say I overall enjoyed it and would recommend for ages 16+. I will definitely try another book by this author in the feature.

 

 

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.

 

"Recruit of Talionis" by C.J. Milacci

About this book:

  “Her abduction was just the beginning. Her survival will change everything.
    Seventeen-year-old Bria Averton grew up in a small town of survivors near the ruins of Portland, Maine. It’s all she’s ever known — until she’s kidnapped along with hundreds of other teens and brought to the city of Talionis. A city no one knew existed.
    The soldiers tell them the intense trainings are for the good of the survivors, and Bria resists being forced into a new life as a recruited soldier. But she soon finds the dangers in the city are greater than she imagined.
    Escape is impossible, and Bria is drowning in the evil of the city…and the guilt from her own past. But can she find hope, even here?”


Series: Book #1 in the “Talionis” series. 


Spiritual Content- Prayers; Going to a church (plus a mention of the stained glass and a Scripture being partially available to read); Being witnessed to; Talks about God, Jesus, believing in Him, honoring Him, & His plans; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God and Jesus; Bria’s parents never cared for “religious things”, but after her brother’s death, they changed and clung to God while she ignored and tuned out whenever they talk about Him; Bria believes that God does not want anything to do with her because of a past event, so despite wanting to a few times to ask God why all of this is happening to her, she does not; Bria prays a couple times in a “if you’re there, God…” sort of way; Bria notices the peace that others have and yearns for it; *Major Spoilers* At the end, a side character dies to protect the innocent and those who aren’t ready to face death or what comes after it yet, which confuses Bria; She cries out to God asking why she is still alive and her friend tells her about having the freedom of Heaven; Bria thinks it’s too late for her and that God won’t want her, but her friend encourages her to reach out to God for forgiveness and Bria realizes she can’t go on by herself anymore and prays then feels peace *End of Spoilers*; A side character has a tattoo that says “Honor God” with a cross underneath; Mentions of God, Jesus, believing in Him, trusting Him, peace, & forgiveness; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of a church; A mention of sin; 
             *Note: Bria thinks that maybe the “evil of Talionis is the Hell” she deserves for a past event she blames herself for; Bria thinks of some others as evil; Bria thinks she deserves to be locked away from experiencing anything good because of demons of her past (because of her brother’s death); A woman comments on Bria’s cleaned-up appearance being “miraculous almost”.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘gah’, a ‘ticked’, two forms of ‘crap’, three ‘shut up’s, and eight forms of ‘stupid’; Eye rolling & Sarcasm (including both teasingly and disrespectfully; Bria gets called out by her mom for one of her disrespectful attitudes); Bria lies (mostly due to trying to not be caught by the enemy); Lots of attacking/fighting, being shot/being shot at, being hit/beaten/slapped, being drugged and kidnapped, setting and hearing explosions, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, passing out, & throwing up (semi-detailed); Seeing others be killed and nearly killed, drowned and nearly drowned, shot, shocked/tased, hit/beaten, attacked, fighting, in pain, injured, bleeding, & unconscious (and recalling most of it all, up to semi-detailed); Bria feels guilt and responsible for her brother’s death; *Spoilers* Bria feels to blame for her brother’s death because he followed her out swimming when they weren’t supposed to; She feels heavy guilt over this and tells someone about the day and her father trying to revive him (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Towards the end, Bria feels like she is responsible for another person drowning to their death (barely-above-not-detailed) *End of Spoilers*; Bria and the others go through training exercises that seem very realistic and includes shooting and killing those in their way, seeing others shot and killed, kidnapping someone, and setting explosions (including of a building with people in it; Bria struggles with how realistic it all is and has nightmares of it; all up to semi-detailed); Bria and many others around her age are abducted and drugged to become soldiers (also a younger child who witnessed the kidnappings); Bria wishes she could strangle someone; A side character tells Bria that he doesn’t enjoy taking lives or harming people, but will do it to stop evil people from hurting the innocent; Many mentions of deaths, murders, bodies, guilt, & grief (Bria for her brother and her seeing her parents’ grief over the death as well); Many mentions of explosives and explosions, weapons/guns, being shot, being shot at, being held at gunpoint, & shooting others; Many mentions of beatings, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a war (including a video of a young girl disappearing in an explosion, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of child soldiers; Mentions of possible deaths & a leader not caring if others die while doing his plans; Mentions of kidnappings & being drugged; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of being betrayed & traitors; A few mentions of executions; A few mentions of a drug; A few mentions of bullies; A few mentions of a tattoo (that has a Christian meaning); A few mentions of rumors; 
             *Note: Groups cheer for others to be executed or drowned (which Bria and her friends are not apart of); Bria’s new friend, Nika, has hints implying she is from an unhappy and possibly abusive family; Bria stuffs down her emotions when thinking about her family or her brother’s death; Mentions of propaganda and brainwashing; A couple mentions of a father not loving his son.
 
 
Sexual Content- Touches, Flutters, Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hand kisses (greeting/thanks, not romantic leaning); Mentions of blushes & winks; Mentions of handsome/cute guys; A couple mentions of an illegitimate son & him being ignored by his biological father like he didn’t exist; A couple mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of crushes; Light possible falling in love & the emotions;
             *Note: A couple mentions of butts (butting into a conversation and someone ordering another to get their butt down).
 
-Bria Averton, age 17
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Bria 
                                                        450 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This series has intimidated me for a while because of the length of the books. It’s a commitment and one I’ve been hesitant about, despite usually enjoying this genre. 

 

As an avid dystopian fan, I did find quite a few parts predictable and other scenes/events a little too easy. That said, Bria needed some easy wins because there’s a lot of brutal training and fighting she has to go through. On that note, though, towards the end, Bria and the group have to trust a lot of different people and I kept waiting for it to completely blow up and the plans not to work out because it seemed so sudden (and slightly out of character) for her to trust so many others.

 

I have to appreciate and comment on the fact that this book wasn’t super gruesome or violent. Sure, there’s life or death situations—many of them, actually—but we aren’t given a lot of the details of all the fighting or killing. There’s enough to know what’s going on and some reactions from Bria, but the author didn’t add in unnecessary details or go over-the-top explaining all the blood or injuries. It actually felt cleaner than some other Christian YA Dystopian books I’ve read in the past and this review isn’t super long with content details because of that. 

 

Bria does act like the teenager girl she is at times in the way of a near death situation is happening—but she’s noticing a cute guy and trying to convince herself she doesn’t like him like that. I honestly figured out my thoughts and predictions on him early on, but I can’t say I really like him as a love interest at this point. Perhaps he’ll get better as the series continues. She let her emotions control her at times and started frustrating me around the middle all the way to the end. There were poor decisions made that, thankfully, didn’t come back to bite her. I’ll admit that obviously I don’t know how I would handle the things she faces, but her lack of control bothered me. 

 

This book did what every dystopian book makes me feel: the need to work out and exercise more just in case I need to fight against a corrupt government. Hey, you never know! 

 

It did feel kind of slow to me at times despite all the events and action. I think this was because I wanted certain people and their evil agenda to be taken down already and we were nowhere near that—and aren’t going to be for a couple more books it sounds like. There’s a lot of explaining and setting the stage in this first book (which makes sense because it’s the first book in a series), but it dragged at times because I wanted justice to prevail and am instead having to go through the beginning motions of an uprising. 

 

There stronger faith content than I was expecting and just as a random note, I appreciated that the names for God and Jesus in the discussions in this book we’re just that—God and Jesus. No made-up fantasy code names. This really shone because a couple different people witness to Bria and talk to her seriously about God and Jesus dying for her in a slightly heavy-handed way. I don’t think these moments would have been as impactful if the actual names weren’t used so I’m glad the author decided to do that. 

 

Overall, I suppose I liked this book well enough. It’s definitely not a new favorite of mine for the genre, but I will definitely be continuing with the rest of the series and looking for good to win and evil to be destroyed.

 

 

 

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.