"Fugitive of Talionis" by C.J. Milacci

About this book:

  “They kidnapped her. Trained her. And now they’re hunting her.
    After narrowly escaping the clutches of Talionis, Bria Averton and her friends thought they were finally free. But the dangers they face are far from over.
    Hunted by Commander Ark and his forces, Bria and her companions must navigate treacherous terrain and evade capture at every turn, desperate to reach possible allies in Eryndale. As they struggle to survive on the run, they soon realize that their former captors will stop at nothing to apprehend them and bring them back to the city.
    With their lives constantly on the line, Bria fights to keep her friends safe while battling her own fears and doubts about who to trust in their fight for survival. The danger is palpable, and the stakes are higher than ever.
    One reality becomes clear: there’s a greater peril than being a recruit of Talionis. It’s being a fugitive.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Talionis” series. Review of Book #1, Here!


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are read, remembered, & thought over; Prayers & Thanking God; ’H’s are capital when referring to God and Jesus; Talks about God, trusting Him, & God loving us; Bria is “new to all this stuff about God” having “finally accepted” God’s forgiveness and salvation in Book #1, but thinks that it seems like “there’s always a cost when you stand up against evil in the way God says to” and Matthias agrees but says it’s worth it; Bria tries to hold on to Isaiah 41:10, but doesn’t know how to believe the Scripture about not being dismayed with everything falling apart; Bria isn’t sure how to trust God, but tries; Someone tells Bria that some demons they face of past events will war within them until the day they die and tells her that she had to rely on God for giving her strength; Bria prays and doesn’t feel an answer from God or feel like anything changes when she does, but keeps praying (at one point, she thinks “some kind of Christian I am” because she can’t find words to pray in a difficult situation and ask God for help); Mentions of God, Jesus, trusting Him, & having hope; Mentions of prayers & thanking God; Mentions of a Bible & Bible reading; A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of a church camp; A couple mentions of a chapel; A mention of blessings; A mention of the afterlife; 
             *Note: A villain says there is no god; Bria thinks “we all have the potential for great evil”; Mentions of evil, evil people, & fighting against it/them; Mentions of a ghost story (a rumor); A couple mentions of training week called “Hell Week”.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘idiot’, a ‘ticked’, seven forms of ‘dumb’, and eight ‘stupid’s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Bria lies once (because she needs what she said to be true); Lots of being chased/hunted down, being held at knife- and gun-point, being threatened, being tied-up, shooting and using knives, attacking/fighting, being hit, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & bad storms (up to semi-detailed); Grief & Guilt over those who have passed away (including for a sibling, up to semi-detailed); Saving someone from drowning (semi-detailed); A fire (up to semi-detailed); Seeing others be killed and nearly killed, shot, attacked, fighting, injured, bleeding, & in pain (including hearing someone being stabbed and losing a hand, up to semi-detailed); Seeing people die (on-page) and finding bodies (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Remembering deaths (including by drownings, up to semi-detailed); Remembering training exercises from Book #1 with destroying a building full of people, the explosion, & screams (Bria still feels as if seeing this is haunting her, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); While going through a place that has been destroyed, Bria steps on human bones (including a child’s skull, barely-above-not-detailed); Bria tells others about their loved ones’ deaths (and sees their grief, up to semi-detailed); Bria has nightmares & some PTSD and anxiety symptoms (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of deaths, how they happened (drownings and a gunshot), & grief (including Bria for her brother, someone else for a sibling, & parents for their teen; up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of towns being pillaged with bombs/fires, massacres, and a mass grave (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of all of the training that Bria and the others did in Book #1 (including fighting & going through Kill Zones where they could be shot, barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of children and teens being kidnapped to become soldiers (seen on-page); Many mentions of weapons, injuries, pain, blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of betrayal & hurt from betrayal; Mentions of people being killed by their superiors for failing a mission; Mentions of a planned war and assassination; Mentions of fights & fighting; Mentions of threats (including someone threatening to cut out another’s tongue and harming a child); Mentions of criminals & a bounty hunter; Mentions of bombs, fires, smoke, & places being destroyed; Mentions of a father abandoning his family & the daughter being unable to please her mother no matter how hard she tried; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of a tavern & alcohol; Mentions of tattoos; Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of a husband murdering his wife; A few mentions of possible torture; A few mentions of stealing & stolen items; A couple mentions of potential suicide; A couple mentions of a kid being abandoned by his family; A couple mentions of nearly being attacked by dogs (Book #1); A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of bullies; 
             *Note: Bria’s friend, Nika, has hints implying she is from an unhappy and possibly abusive family.
 
 
Sexual Content- Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, Tingles, Nearness, & Smelling (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a couple embrace & share a kiss (not-detailed); Bria feels disappointed when she thinks Matthias is going to embrace her, but does not; Nika teases Bria often about staring at Matthias and Bria refusing to admit to liking him; Mentions of dating & boyfriends/girlfriends; A few mentions of blushes; A mention of flirting; Light possible falling in love & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of butts.
 
-Bria Averton, age 17
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Bria 
                                                        432 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I had to laugh that at the very end of the book, there’s a link from the author with a quiz titled “would you survive as a fugitive?” Eh, no. Probably not. Especially not if it’s anything like what Bria and the group go through in this book. 

 

The majority of this book is the characters trying to survive in the wilderness and stare at maps for 400+ pages, so I actually have very similar thoughts for this sequel that I had for the first book. It’s a lot of setting the stage for the action (which happens towards the very end of this book) and for the eventual take-down of the corrupt government later on in the series. 

 

If I could just nit-pick a few very minor things: 1- It seems a little far-fetch about Ari being better at tech than the entire Talionis government. 2- I’m also pretty sure that Nika doesn’t remember Bria’s name because she’s constantly saying “girl” instead. I think that’s supposed to be a nod to Nika being African-American, but it was said a ton so it started to grate on my nerves a bit. 3- “Y’all” is misspelled as “ya’ll” approximately 10+ times according to my Kindle search of this book. As a Texan, I’m pretty sure my eye twitched every single time I saw it spelled wrong. 

 

As far as content goes, it was similar to the first book and I have to appreciate that this series has—so far—been a lot cleaner than most dystopian series or books I’ve read. The fact there’s no sexual innuendos or sexual comments at all in 800+ pages so far has me quite pleased and wanting to show this series to other authors that think they have to include that kind of content. The bad guys in this series have no problem being bad enough guys that don’t have to threaten sexual assault on the main character to make the reader sweat in intense moments. There’s the normal fighting, killing, and self-defense that one would expect from this genre, but the details aren’t over-the-too and actually leave a good amount blank as far as bloody or fighting scenes—something that is making this series stand out in my eyes. 

 

 

 

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 Atlas of Untold Stories" by Sara Brunsvold

About this book:

  “Irrepressible dreamer Chloe Vance needs to tell her pragmatic mom, Edie, that she has accepted a low-paying, two-year art instructor role at a Christian international school in Prague. And her older sister, Lauren--the "responsible one"--is doing all she can to keep the family from finding out she has been fired for a stupid mistake, plus figure out her next career move. Meanwhile, Edie, estranged from her own sister following their mother's recent death, is frankly in no mood for anything else to change.
    The one thing they can all agree on? Life in books sure is easier to figure out than life in the real world. As the three women embark on a nine-day road trip to visit significant literary sites throughout America's heartland, they hope to find inspiration through the works and lives of literary greats. And as they experience firsthand the adventure and wonder of the classics, they'll have to come to terms with their own needs and desires, as well as those of the most important women in their lives--each other.”


Series: As of now, no. A stand-alone novel.


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, read, & thought over; Prayers; Going to a chapel; Talks about God; ’H’s are not capital when referring to God or Jesus; Chloe reads a Bible study devotional with commentary on the book of John (on-page); Chloe listens to the podcast of a sermon (on-page); Lauren reads Philippians 4:12-13 and then swats the Bible closed because no one has told her about the secret it mentions; Edie thinks that pastors are “downright unhelpful sometimes” when one makes a comment she doesn’t like (not faith-based, but because of an incident); Edie thinks about the question “What would Jesus do?”, but adds the second part of it for her would be “and would [her mother] agree” with it; Edie wonders if her mother can see her now “through the veil between eternity and present”; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of missionaries; Mentions of churches, church going, church events, pastors, a sermon, & youth group; Mentions of crosses at churches; Mentions of praise music, hymns, Christian songs, & Christian artists (such as TobyMac & MercyMe); A few mentions of faiths; A few mentions of cross necklaces; A few mentions of blessings & being blessed; A few mentions of a Christian school; A mention of thanking God; A mention of “not even God [H]imself” would have been able to convince Edie to wear a certain outfit; A mention of morning meditations with God; A mention of sins; A mention of nuns; A mention of something being true being called “gospel solid”; A mention of the praying hands emoji; A mention of someone knowing that nature wasn’t “the god” and that nature was the testimony of the Creator; 
             *Note: Edie & Chloe both use the phrase “God bless” when needing help or in relief thrice; The phrase “TGIF” is said once in text; Edie calls pre-dawn an “ungodly hour” and a place as “hot as the devil”; An animal is called a “devil”; A couple mentions of luck; A mention of a place having a domed roof that looks like a demigod; A mention of someone being “lucky enough” to not have an older sibling beneath down his neck.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘heck’, a ‘stupid’, and a ‘sucker’; A mention of a curse (said by Lauren while in pain and not written out); Some eye rolling; Pain & Injuries (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Because of Edie’s father abandoning her family when she was young, she worries about others in her life not coming back for her (such as her husband who often reminded her that he would always be back for her); Lauren feels very uncomfortable with a man at a bus station staring at her; Mentions of orphan trains, families being split-up, & mothers choosing to keep some of their children over others (this visibly effects Edie to learn about in a museum); Mentions of pain & injuries; Mentions of beer, drinking, & drunk men; A few mentions of Edie thinking of the worst case scenarios (such as being in car wreck, trapped in a fire, & never seeing her husband again); A few mentions of the mafia & gangs; A few mentions of criminals & thieves; A few mentions of a fictional fire & gunshot (from a book/movie); A couple mentions of wars (the Civil War and World War I); A couple mentions of Edie’s father abandoning their family; A couple mentions of car accident/wrecks; A mention of a possible murder; A mention of war stories; A mention of the Great Depression; A mention of lies; A mention of cigarettes & smoking; A mention of bodily fluids; A mention of an injured duck from a beaver trap; 
             *Note: Edie had a strained relationship with her mother & has strained relationships with her daughters; Lauren and Chloe have a strained relationship with each other & their mother; Due to this, there are hurtful and snarky comments made towards each other at times throughout the book & all three trying to meet the other’s approval/expectations (such as Lauren thinking that Chloe is too naive and protected by others, Chloe thinking about her mother’s comments of expectations for her because of her age, Lauren trying to keep a secret from her mother so she doesn’t think that her daughter is foolish and thus earn her disapproval, Lauren thinking that Chloe never loses their mother’s support while she works hard to keep her parents from rebuffing her or needing to “find extra grace” for her, & Lauren wondering if other women have endured the “wake of their mother’s derision” (like she does)); All three of them recall comments and (negative) phrases from Edie’s mother (also Edie’s sister who has taken a long time to “unravel” from the experience of her mother’s reign); Edie resents her sister for leaving her to take care of their mother and her estate sale; *Spoilers* At the very end, Edie realizes that she’s let too much time pass to tell her daughters how they amaze her, that she thought that she had to validate the space she took up by doing things others deemed worthwhile, & how her sister drew a different boundary line with their mother; Edie starts to reconnect with her sister as well; Edie wants to take her rough beginning with her family and craft a better ending *End of Spoilers*; Edie was the caregiver for her mother with Alzheimer’s (this includes a few flashbacks of that difficult time and her thinking about the pain of being unable to reach her mother prior to having Alzheimer’s); When Chloe comments on a town having a “thrum of creativity”, Edie comments that it’s the “thrum of liberal policies” she feels (which makes Chloe comment that they agreed no politics on this trip); Edie makes a comment that a place has too many “American flag tank tops” for a place to be considered civilized; Lauren thinks a fictional character is the kind of women every girl should aspire to be “powerful, a leader, [and] immune to others’ opinions of her”; All about & many mentions of books (and the movie versions), poems, authors, & fictional characters and events (‘The Grapes of Wrath’, ‘O Pioneers’, ‘Catch-22’, ‘Invisible Man’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’, ‘The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes’, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘Charlotte’s Web’, ‘The Outsiders’, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘My Ántonia’, ‘One of Ours’, ‘The Bridges of Madison Country’, ’Shoeless Joe’, ‘The Imperfect Life of T. S. Eliot’ by Lyndall Gordon, ’The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, ‘The Glass Menagerie’, ‘Little House on the Prairie’, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Willa Cather, Mark Twain, Francis Ford Coppola, Joel C. Rosenberg, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, L. Frank Baum, Joan Lowery Nixon, The Brontë sisters, Robert James Waller, W. P. Kinsella, John Irving, Flannery O’Connor, Eugene Field, Maya Angelou, Kate Chopin, T. S. Eliot, William S. Burroughs, Tennessee Williams, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, Ayn Rand, Sinclair Lewis, Harold Bell Wright, & John Steinbeck); Many mentions of actors/actresses, singers, & other celebrities/well-known figures (Judy Garland, John Wayne, Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, John Cena, Taylor Swift and her songs/album, Bruce Springsteen, Hank Williams, Warren Buffett, Jimmy Carter, Oprah, Stan Musial, & George Brett); Mentions of movies & TV shows (The Sound of Music, Field of Dreams, Doogie Howser M.D., & Law & Order); Mentions of brand names & items (Pitt pen, Waterford vase, Dawn soap, Garmin watch, Jenga, Advil, Tylenol PM, Carter’s ink, Tums, & Amtrak); Mentions of social media sites & websites (Instagram, Google Maps, the Scout app, & Etsy); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of sports teams; A few mentions of stores and restaurants (Macy’s & General Tso’s); A few mentions of Willa Cather swearing to be “nothing like what she was expected to be” and showed that by cutting her hair to be like a boy’s, vowing to be a surgeon, and dressing like a boy while calling herself William Cather Jr. (because of her accomplishments, Lauren thinks that Cather is the kind of woman every girl should aspire to be); A couple mentions of Halloween; A mention of anime.
 
 
Sexual Content- A border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Some staring, attraction, electricity, & touches/dancing; Seeing a couple dance, embrace, & kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); A married couple share a few kisses & embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); Lauren meets a guy she is attracted to on the road trip and keeps him and meeting him a secret from her mother and sister (later Edie thinks about how dangerous it was of Lauren to do this and sneak out to meet him); Lauren thinks about the old her would have been willing to “pour herself into any shape” for a guy’s attention; Edie comments on Lauren and Chloe’s lack of hurry about dating and getting married; A comment about a movie featuring a young woman chafing under her mom’s scrutiny about her prospects and that being “a tale that would endure for as long as mothers had daughters”; Mentions of dating, dates, cute/handsome guys, & boyfriends; Mentions of flirting & winks; A few mentions of kisses (between a couple who just met/started dating); A mention of a young woman running away to be with a man; 
             *Note: Lauren thinks about her weight & doesn’t eat well throughout the book (this includes Lauren checks her calorie levels after exercising and later not adding dressing to her salad because it adds too many calories, noticing the “pudge” of her lower abdomen starting to go down (but not enough for her liking), Chloe noticing Lauren’s ribs when hugging her and Lauren checking that they aren’t “that pronounced” (and planning to avoid her sister’s touch during the trip so she doesn’t catch on), exercising often while on the road trip, trying to mask the pain of her empty stomach with ab exercises); *Spoiler* In the epilogue, Lauren is noted to be eating fuller meals *End of Spoiler*; Edie is going through menopause & there’s a handful of mentions of it and side effects like sweating terribly at night; Edie rubs in lotion every night while “willing it to ward off the crepe and sag most women her age suffered”; Edie notices the “pudge” poking out of her blouse and thinks “Not too bad. Better than most women her age, anyway.”; Edie tells Chloe that she doesn’t wear shorts and that “no one needs to see the state” of her thighs; Edie thinks about her mother saying that men “detested” a woman’s hair above her ears & her be seething at her granddaughter’s current hairstyle.
 
-Edie Vance
-Lauren Vance, age 32
-Chloe Vance, age 26
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        352 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I figured that this book would be a bit of a wild card for me for a few different reasons, but mainly because I’m not super familiar with a lot of classic books. That definitely proved to be true as I read this book and recognize very little of the literary references. I think those that know the areas these characters go to or love classics like the ones mentioned would probably enjoy this book much more than me. 

 

As far as the characters: I felt bad for Edie because you could completely see how the lack of her mother’s approval—or even the lack of positive attention from her mother—has shaped her and also made her do a very similar thing to her own daughters with pushing her expectations on them. That said, even while knowing this, I had a hard time relating to or honestly even liking Edie. At one point, Edie thinks about the phrase “What would Jesus do?” but considers that only half the question for her as it would be followed by “and would [her mother] agree?” I think that can really give a reader the knowledge of how much she has—her entire life—been struggling to earn and keep her mother’s approval—plus how it’s affected her relationship with her own daughters. 

 

As the older daughter, Lauren has taken most of the brunt of her mother and grandmother’s influence to always seem presentable and prepared, not willing to have a disapproving glance from either of them for anything. Lauren has often protected Chloe from her potential mistakes and her poor planning, but yet Lauren often feels like she has to earn her mother’s approval while she’s disapproving something Chloe is doing, which puts her at odds with her sister at times. It wasn’t a healthy relationship between the sisters because of the comparison that they ultimately face of the other and the small amount of approval and positive attention from their mother. 

 

Chloe is definitely what you would call a “free-spirit” and while I do think she needed to plan just a wee bit more for the sake of her safety and pocket book, I did like her. She wanted the best for her mother and sister and loved them no matter how they treated her or expected her to act. 

 

I think it would make sense when I say I found this book to be sad despite it not actually having a sad plot. These three women have missed out on so much—particularly Edie and Lauren—and missed out on the joy of family because of unreasonable expectations and then complaining or just not living life to the fullest. There was a major lack of God’s goodness and grace being shown by the two of them to others (mainly to Chloe) and even to themselves. Thankfully, there’s some good realizations for them all by the end of the book, but I would have loved to see it happen sooner so there could have been more happiness and healing on-page. 

 

I liked that there was very little romance for this story and I liked Chloe’s faith for sure. I think it was a good story, but just not my favorite by this author. Clean overall though, which was a nice bonus.

 

 

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 (Revell) for this honest review.

"Liabetes" by Shanna M. Heath

About this book:

  “She’s got a dream school, a nightmare budget, and she’s headed for a doozy of a rude awakening...
    Olivia’s goal is within reach. She’s been accepted to her dream school, Vanderbilt University, alma mater of famed comic illustrator Paige O’Donnell. Despite gaining multiple scholarships and grants, Olivia’s just shy of tuition. Desperate, she applies for a $15,000 scholarship offered by the Wonderbrink Foundation, to be awarded to a high-achieving and athletic senior with diabetes. One little problem… Olivia doesn’t have diabetes.
    In her quest to pull off a whopper of a lie, Olivia attends a diabetes support group meeting, where she meets and befriends Paul Roberts, a smug yet handsome member of the Sugar Shatterers. Her best friends Xavier and Amber aren’t thrilled about Olivia’s new mysterious, one-sided friendship with superstitious, entitled Paul. Xavier may secretly be a *little* jealous, and the scholarship application deadline rapidly approaches.”


Series: As of now, no. A stand-alone novel. 


Spiritual Content- A handful of Scriptures are quoted & read; A few Prayers & Thanking God; Church going & parts of sermons; A few talks about God; Some ’H’s are capital when referring to God and Jesus; A teacher reads a quote from ‘Counter Culture’ by Pastor Platt in class (which the teacher says he isn’t grading his students on agreeing with him or not and that he can’t think of a better reason to get fired when a student asks him about that); Mentions of God, Jesus, & grace; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, church going, youth group, pastors, service, & sermons; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of Christian-based entertainment (such as Veggie Tales and Berenstain Bears, but also a fictional one); A couple mentions of a missionary & mission trips; A mention of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of thinking a person is an angel (because of her kind actions); 
             *Note: A Scripture is mentioned in a flippant way (a pastor comments on keeping a DVD in pristine condition “for such as time as this [when meeting the actors to sign it]”; A side character is very superstitious and shares many of his superstitions (which Olivia is at first taken back about, but later finds it sad; Olivia doesn’t believe in luck as it undermines her hard work; In class, superstitious people are discussed and the teacher says it’s about control or the person having certainty in their lives; *Spoiler* At the end, she reads a Scripture to the person about overcoming the fear that is fueling his superstitions which seems to speak to him and make him try to be less superstitious *End of Spoiler*); Olivia calls her friend group her “rock”; Olivia feels her cheeks heat from the “sin of omission”; Olivia’s brothers tease her that she treats a hoodie as if it is sacred (she says she does not); Many mentions of superstitions & luck; A mention of a child being a holy terror.
 

Negative Content- Three implications or cut-off moments implying curses such as an ‘an as—‘ and two ‘shi—’s; Minor cussing including: a ‘crud’, a ‘doggone’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘gah’, a ‘flipping’, a ‘Holy Moly’, a ‘oh em gee’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘what the heck’, two ‘crap’s, two forms of ‘dang it’, two ‘duh’s, two ‘gosh’s, two ‘sucker’s, two ‘wuss’s, three ‘dang’s, three ‘good grief’s, three forms of ‘idiot’, four ‘geez’s, six ‘heck’s, eight ‘stupid’s, and ten ‘oh my gosh’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Olivia finds out about a scholarship for athletes with Type 1 diabetes (which she is not one) and while she feels unsettled about it and has guilt for her actions, she is concerned with the price of college and looks into it (*Spoiler* She starts going to a diabetes support group and asks questions to a guy she meets there; She is horrified by some of her own actions about possibly filling out the paperwork for the scholarship; Towards the middle, she applies for the application and doesn’t sleep for days because of the guilt; She later tells Xavier and he is very hurt that she didn’t tell him about it; Her parents find out in the next chapter and she is incredibly relieved when the application was returned incomplete; Olivia tells everyone about it and is grounded by her parents *End of Spoilers*); While Olivia doesn’t lie, she does keep things to herself and omit certain details when telling her family or friends about anything related to the diabetes scholarship (knowing her deception); Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; Mentions of parents divorce, their kid struggling with it, and the teen making a couple negative comments towards his stepmother; A few mentions of a car accident; A few mentions of injuries & pain; A few mentions of a father not being physically abusive, but having intense expectations for his son; A couple mentions of (good natured) betting (between siblings); A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of rumors & gossip; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of vomit/throwing up; A mention of hiding a body; A slang mention of going to the bathroom (“take a whiz”); A mention of farts.
             *Note: Going to Comic-Con (twice); Olivia and one of her best friends have a conversation about being very superstitious often means having a lot of “serious anxiety issues” and some people with anxiety dealing with their anxiety in healthier ways; A side character has a diabetic emergency (hypoglycemic, up to semi-detailed); A line from a song by Stevie Wonder is shared at the beginning of a chapter; Many mentions of movies, fictional characters, & quotes (mainly from Shrek, but also Mamma Mia, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Mean Girls, Cutting Edge, Legally Blonde, Teen Wolf, 10 Things I Hate About You, Princess Bride, The Goonies, The Parent Trap, Top Gun: Maverick, Inside Out, Schindler’s List, Princess Diaries, Wonder Woman, Hobbits, Weasley twins, Goot, Avengers, Paw Patrol figures, X-Men characters, Mario and Luigi, Klingon, & the minions); Mentions of stores, brand names, & brand name items (Blockbuster, Goodwill, Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A, Target, Prisma colored pencils, MacBook, Chrombook, Omnicom, Jolly Rancher candy, Sour Patch Kids, Hershey, Nutella, Almond Joys, Swedish Fish, Tic-Tacs, Gatorade, Red Bull, Ale8s, PlayStation, Lululemon, Hanes, Vaseline, NyQuil, & Mod Podge); Mentions of celebrities (Nick Jones, Eddie Murphy, Beckham, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, & Mary Kate & Ashley); Mentions of social media platforms & websites (TikTok, Instagram, Google Classroom, & Merriam-Webster); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of colleges; A few mentions of artists (Michelangelo, Sam Cox, & Rembrandt); A few mentions of books and authors (‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell & a poem by Edgar Allen Poe); A few mentions of FaceTime; A mention of Olivia’s friend dressing up as Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she has to dress up as a superhero; A mention of TED Talk; A mention of the Discovery Channel; A mention of Bigfoot.
 
 
Sexual Content- A forehead kiss, a not-detailed kiss, and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Flutters/Goosebumps, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a couple snuggle, hold hands, & kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing hot and attractive guys (including muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); Flirting; Winks & Blushes; Four ‘babe’s and four forms of ‘hot’, A guy also comments on his “smokin’, rock-hard body”; Olivia wishes that Xavier would give some indication that he feels the same way she does about him (more than platonic best friends); A friend teases Olivia and Xavier about “getting a room” when she hugs him; A boyfriend teases his girlfriend about having a foot fetish after she takes a picture of his foot with the nails she painted when he was asleep (which she tells him to stop making things weird); Olivia teases that she ate so much she has a “food baby” which makes Xavier blush; Mentions of touches & nearness; Mentions of a couple being a “giant mushfest”, snuggling, & holding hands; Mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, break-ups, & exes; Mentions of crushes; Mentions of winks & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of a guy getting distracted by a group of girls showing their mid-drifts/bellybuttons; A couple mentions of one of Olivia’s brothers being a ladies’ man and her teasing him choosing his college based on the female-to-male ratio; A couple mentions of a guy’s charms and all the girls at school noticing them; A couple mentions of heartthrobs; A mention of appreciating a guy’s looks; A mention of a mating ritual on the Discovery Channel; Some love, being in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Mentions of butts/bums/tushes (mostly in humor); A couple mentions of pregnancy hormones; A mention of panties getting in a wad; A mention of estrogen.
 
-Olivia James
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Olivia 
                                                        177 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Ratings are for Public or Private School girls; Remove a star for those not in those settings or preferring to avoid implications of curses}

Last year, my mom was diagnosed as Type 1.5 diabetic—not Type 2, but Type 1.5 which is closer to Type 1 and is proved by even more blood tests—and though I knew the general idea of diabetes, it was a crash course in learning all about it, giving insulin, managing prescriptions, meal prepping, and carb counting as I managed all of it for her (because of other side effects she was facing that came from having high blood sugar for so long without us knowing, my mom has been unable to handle it herself). Like Olivia experiences at the beginning of this book, I’ve also had the Frequency Illusion Principle (when you hear something new to you and all of the sudden you hear about it again and again) since that beginning diagnosis with the topic of diabetes seeming like it’s everywhere. 

 

You could say it was exactly that when after reading “Salvaged” by this author a couple months ago, I learned about this new release about, you guessed it, diabetes. Or rather, a teen girl finding out about a scholarship for those with diabetes. The problem? She doesn’t actually have diabetes. 

 

I was concerned about this book mainly because of the idea of the main character lying that she has diabetes to get the scholarship. She actually doesn’t technically lie, though, it’s assumptions others make and her not correcting them. Still not right by any means and she questions herself many times, but I appreciated the author was able to do this book without a heavy amount of lying. Olivia needed to do a ridiculous amount of research on diabetes, but didn’t, so that lead to some awkward moments for her. There’s a lot of guilt on her part where a reader can tell that Olivia knows what she is doing isn’t right. 

 

As far as the romance element, I found Paul to be a superstitious weirdo and I didn’t see why Olivia was interested in him. Thankfully—for my sanity and Xavier’s—she’s not really interested in Paul that way, but gets put into his life to be a good influence. Olivia frustrated me a bit about her friendship with Xavier and he frustrated me at times too because of their lack of guts about confessing their feelings for each other. I was definitely Amber in their friend group, waiting for them to admit their feelings while holding popcorn. 

 

I do have to note that I didn’t care for the two implications to one of Olivia’s classmates cursing. Later, Xavier also gets cut-off when fixing to call someone a rude (but appropriate for the character’s actions) name. They are all cut-off and missing a letter to complete the word, but it still got the words stuck in my head. Those in public school settings probably hear all of these and worse during the day, but it’s something I try to actively avoid to keep those words from falling out of my mouth. Hence the lower rating than “Salvaged” and a heads-up on that detail. 

 

All of that said, I enjoyed different parts of this book and will be looking out for what this author writes next as a major Christian Contemporary YA fan.

 

 

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.

"Snake in the Grass" by Elizabeth Penney

About this book:

  “When Harriet Bailey’s young cousins discover an unusual lizard wandering around Cobble Hill Farm, she is stunned to learn that the reptile is not only endangered, but originates from the Caribbean. So how did it end up in White Church Bay? Exotic-animal veterinarian Dr. Jason Peel and private Zoo owner Victoria Langford tells her that animal smuggling is a big problem in Britain and that their new lizard friend, Mango, may be the latest case. When more non-native creatures begin to pop up left and right, Harriet has to wonder if someone in White Church Bay is behind it all.
    Meanwhile, Victoria’s long-lost brother, Nick, arrives at Moorland Zoo. Twenty years ago, Nick vanished in a boating accident and was presumed dead. Now he claims he wants to explain his absence and reconnect with his family, but the timing is certainly suspicious. Is there an ulterior motive behind Nick’s reappearance?”


Series: Book #10 in the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series. Review of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, Book #4 Here, Book #5 Here, Book #6 Here, Book #7 Here, Book #8 Here, and Book #9 Here!


Spiritual Content- Luke 8:17 at the beginning & later quoted in the book twice; A couple prayers; Church going & part of a sermon; “Thank God” is said once; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Harriet finds comfort by the “idea of eternity” as it “meant that people weren’t truly lost, that she’d see them again someday”; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, services, & sermons; A mention of a Bible study; A mention of a miracle; 
             *Note: Mentions of luck & being lucky.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: Some eye rolling; Unintentional eavesdropping; A man grabs Harriet’s arm in a “distinctly unfriendly way”; Harriet treats an injured zebra (which required a tranquilizer gun and dart, up to semi-detailed); All about & many mentions of smuggling animals, smugglers, the possible mistreatment of the animals, crimes/criminals, thieves, stealing, stolen items, & arrests; Many mentions of deaths and assumed deaths (drownings), a boating accident/shipwreck, the remains of a body being found, trauma, & grief (including shown on-page with someone sobbing over the death of a family member, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of an attack & injuries; Mentions of injured animals, mistreated animals, & Harriet’s veterinary clinic treatments (including vaccines, barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a possible murder (or accidental murder); A few mentions of a possibly robbery; A couple mentions of possible violence; A mention of World War I; A mention of kids setting fires & causing mischief; 
             *Note: Mentions of protestors being against zoos and calling them cruel (some characters refute this as most of the animals at the zoo in this book no longer have the ability to take care of themselves in the wild and wouldn’t make it in the wild); Mentions of a possibly corrupt law enforcement officer; Mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of books in the bonus content at the end (Wuthering Heights and All Creatures Great and Small).
 
 
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss; It’s noted that Harriet and Will are dating on a “casual basis” adding that “It was too soon to think about the future. [Harriet] was having too much fun enjoying the present”; The romance content in this book is light with Harriet thinking Will is handsome, her pulse rate rising when talking to him, and he kisses her cheek once; Mentions of relationships, dates, dating, couples, & break-ups; A mention of Harriet knowing “too many people who had been swept away by romance, married too soon, and regretted it”; A mention of jealousy.
 
-Harriet Bailey, age 33/34
                                P.O.V. of Harriet 
                                                        261 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I’m not a snake person, so I’ll admit to slightly dreading this book. Just the cover alone gives me heebie-jeebies! 

 

It did bother me that at the beginning of this book, Harriet and Will’s new relationship is described as “casual”. The prior book implied it being more slow or cautious, but to say a relationship is casual usually implies being unserious about it or flippant, neither which I got from the prior book. 

 

The faith content was super light and if I could nit-pick one thing, it would be that there were more mentions of luck and being lucky than mentions of God. Some were said by side characters, but also quite a few were said by Harriet as well, which was disappointing. 

 

I feel like Harriet was more of a therapist to a new character in this book compared to her usually vet job. The mystery wasn’t very exciting as it felt 105% obvious to who the culprit was which really hindered my enjoyment of the book. I would say it was okay compared to the rest of the series, but I’m giving it a three star rating personally because it was overall fine, I suppose.

 

 

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.