"The Life She Forgot" by Joanna Davidson Politano

About this book:

  “He promised to help her reclaim her forgotten past—no matter what they uncovered.
    Until she began remembering another man.
    As the memories return, her past life threatens to destroy her new marriage, the sweetest love she's ever found, and the life she thought she could have.
    Cornwall, 1913
    Merryn has lived three years without a single memory of the life she lost. With no past to guide her, she fears she may never know who she truly is. When AJ Winthrop—a kind, whimsical stranger—offers her a daring escape, she takes a chance, hoping to uncover the life that was stolen from her.
    As they follow the windswept Cornish coast, memories begin to surface:
    Another man.
    Another wedding.
    A life that may already belong to her.
    Then a hidden portrait reveals her face, and the truth threatens the rare, authentic bond she’s begun to form with AJ.
    Cornwall, 1947
     Haunted by war and estranged from the wife he still loves, William Crawford plans to save her family home by selling the mysterious portrait hidden in his cottage. But the woman captured on the canvas—Merryn Dunn—holds secrets that could unravel everything he thought he knew… or offer the redemption he never dared hope for.
    Step onto the windswept Cornish coast and uncover the secrets a single house can hold.”


Series: Book #1 in “The House on the Edge of the Cliff” series.


Spiritual Content- ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God or Jesus; William screams at God in pain over his actions in the war; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches/chapels & denominations (Methodist & Anglican); Mentions of hymns; A couple mentions of a mosaic of Jesus and His disciples; A mention of a miracle; 
             *Note: Merryn wonders what the “Almighty asks of people” in a marriage that was “wrong to begin with” or one “based on fabrications”; A cat is named “Persephone”; Mentions of places being described as “magical”, being under a “spell” by someone, & being “charmed” or “enchanted” by others or places (not actual magic); A couple mentions of mermaids and sirens; A couple mentions of visions (which someone corrects to be more like dreams); A mention of a seer (which someone corrects as being an observer instead).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘blimey’, a ‘bloody’, a ‘bugger’, a ‘drat’, a ‘dumb’, and two ‘blamed’s; A mention of a curse (said, not written); Some eavesdropping & eye rolling; Almost drowning, Amnesia, Pain, & Injuries (up to semi-detailed); Visiting someone in an asylum (who has military PTSD, up to semi-detailed); A nightmare of being in an asylum (up to semi-detailed); Rescuing a kitten that someone was going to drown (barely-above-not-detailed); Remembering explosions, seeing deaths, nightmares of both, & grief/guilt over it (up to semi-detailed); Remembering a carriage accident, near drowning, & grief (up to semi-detailed); *Spoilers* In the middle of the book, Merryn is told that AJ murdered his previous wife and finds out that it was her; *Major Spoilers* At the end, she learns that it was actually an accident that she was involved in which caused amnesia and he grieved her as he believed her to be dead *End of Spoilers*; *Spoilers* William was declared missing in action and presumed dead during the war; He did not go home because of past grief with his family (including the death of a son which he believes he caused) and hopes his wife will move on without him as he believes himself to be broken *End of Spoilers*; Many mentions of World War II, deaths and causing deaths, hearing screams, explosions/bombs, injuries and scars, PTSD, & nightmares of it all (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths & grief (including a man for his son, a man for his wife, & a man for his whole family including a baby daughter); Mentions of car and carriage accidents, someone being hit by a car, a carriage falling off a cliff, injuries, deaths, & a body (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of possible deaths, possible drownings, & possible murder; Mentions of Merryn’s amnesia; Mentions of asylums, people being committed to one (against their will or because of grief or PTSD), & threats of it happening; Mentions of smugglers; Mentions of injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of children being concerned they are going to be abandoned/left (by an adult); Mentions of a child being berated by adults; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & pubs/bars; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deception; A few mentions of fires; A few mentions of prisons & arrests; A few mentions of a young boy trying to runaway from school; A few mentions of manipulation; A few mentions of gossip & rumors; A couple mentions of possible robberies & thefts; A couple mentions of fights; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of a pipe & tobacco; A mention of revolts; A mention of a train collision; A mention of a pickpocket; A mention of a wife slapping her husband after he did something very wrong; 
             *Note: William has PTSD after his time serving in World War II & feels like he is broken because of it (seen on-page with nightmares and envisioning deaths through explosions he set, up to semi-detailed); Quotes from & mentions of authors, books, & fictional characters (Emily Barrett Browning, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, C.S. Lewis, & Ernest Hemingway); Mentions of a disease changing a person’s personality and mind (Alzheimer’s); Mentions of a strained mother-daughter relationship (*Spoiler* Merryn and her mother because of the mother’s gentlemen friends who would leer at Merryn; Merryn hated any man her mother brought home and her mother didn’t seem to catch onto why *End of Spoilers*); A few mentions of a woman who struggled with “deep, dark depression”; A couple mentions of a father disapproving of his son’s art career.
 
 
Sexual Content- a fingers-to-lips touch, four hands/fingers kisses, three head/hair/forehead kisses, six jaw/ear/cheek kisses, two neck kisses, a not-detailed kiss, four barely-above-not-detailed kisses, two border-line barely-above-not-detailed / semi-detailed kisses, and four semi-detailed kisses; Remembering kisses & embraces (between married couples, including in bed, up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces & Sitting in someone’s lap, Dancing, Hand holding, Warmth, Tingles, Butterflies, Nearness (including a married couple when sleeping), & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); A married couple sleeps in the same area and cuddle, but not in a bed (a couple times); Blushes, Flirting, & Winks; Mentions of men leering at a young Merryn; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of touches & embraces; Mentions of flirting, winks, & blushes; A few mentions of possible bigamy & bigamy in a book; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Mentions of curves; A mention of a woman having a “passionate dislike” for all men.
 
-Merryn Forsythe (1^st person)
-William Crawford, age 43 (3^rd person)
                                P.O.V. switches between them & a couple others
                                              Set in 1913 & 1947 (Epilogue in 1948)
                                                        358 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating- 

I feel like Joanna Davidson Politano books need to come with a warning: “This book will keep you on your toes. Brace for impact and whiplash over plot twists and reveals.”

 

Because yep, this book was completely that! I honestly feel a bit in a daze over everything that happened in these pages and enjoyed find clues and hints when I went back through the book to grab my content notes. 

 

I started this book not knowing who to trust—not the main character (Merryn) or her potential love interest. Merryn is a very complicated character. I wouldn’t call her an unreliable narrator as she believes parts of her life she does remember, but she’s definitely missing a lot of pieces to her past which makes her seem a bit like one at times. Because of this, however, it added a mystery to the plot and I eagerly read and tried to connect all the dots—but then more and more was revealed and I was off on some guesses. Some events and plot twists felt a little far-fetched, but then again, it added to the suspense of the story. 

 

I’m usually not one for dual-time period books, but because these two were set in two time periods I like, I actually didn’t notice the typical annoyances I have with dual-time period books. 

 

We do follow two married couples in this book, so I was a little hesitant about reading it because one married couple in a book often adds more sexual tension (let alone two married couples). While there were some kisses and longing to embrace or mentions of curves, it was kept on the cleaner side for a married couple romance book, which I really appreciated.

 

There were some conversations or mentions of wanting an anchor or a warning someone not to build a house on sand, which can both be connected to Biblical thoughts and Scriptures, but the conversations didn’t quite go that way. I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed in that because there was a major message of marriage being hard or painful in some seasons of life and how a spouse will let you down because they are also an imperfect human. I kept waiting for the comments that Jesus wouldn’t and to trust your future to Him, but there wasn’t any besides a few mentions here and there. Overall, the faith content was pretty light in both time-periods. 

 

This is a very different “romance” book. It’s not the typical formula of a couple meeting and then falling in love—though, to be fair, I don’t think any of this author’s books can be summed up in such a simple way—but a deeper book that shares about the struggles of marriage, what loving someone really entails rather than just butterflies and sparkles, and even shows characters dealing with amnesia and PTSD. Because it’s a bit more serious than a usual fluffy historical fiction book I might review, it’s a bit more difficult for me to put an age suggestion on it. For the age groups I review for, I think older teen girls (17+) and young women thinking about marriage would enjoy this book and get the most out of it. It could work for ages 15/16, but the focus on marriage and loving your spouse through hard times makes me suggest it for older ages.

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.

"The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House" by Joanna Davidson Politano

About this book:

  “A clever young woman, a contested will, and an estate that does not easily give up its secrets.
    It is 1901 when clockmaker and tinker Sydney Forrester receives a most unusual inheritance. Blakely House, the island estate of an estranged uncle she's never met, seems almost alive, revealing and hiding its secrets at will. It is filled with remarkable inventions, including an intriguing unfinished automaton Sydney is itching to get her skilled hands on.
    The estate is also home to a number of peculiar people--including two men intent on removing this interloper from the island. Convinced that Sydney has something to do with their uncle's death, the late master's nephews contest the will and work against their cousin at every turn.
    Sydney finds a sometimes-ally in the estate's butler, an ex-adventurer who ran aground on the island years ago. But when a mysterious man washes ashore with a stunning surprise that upsets everything, Sydney must prove she has inherited the late master's brilliance as well as his property--or someone else will.”


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


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, & quoted; Prayers; Talks about God, His creations; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Sydney was raised in Christian households, but when God didn’t answer her prayer about her mother returning, she grew bitter towards God and thinks of praying as one-way conversations; Sydney bristles at Andrè saying that she has been blessed by God with her intelligence and complains about why “everything [has to] be attributed to some unseen divinity—or a man?” and says that her intellect came from her own head; Sydney comments that she can’t understand God and is too “practical to stand on a ledge [she] cannot see”; Sydney and her aunt have a conversation about Sydney believing in God when she was little and Sydney says that she pleaded with God for her mother and is still waiting ten years later for that prayer to be answered; Sydney thinks that she cannot accept a perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful being like God because a perfect God could not have made a broken clock like her; *Spoilers* Towards the end, Sydney starts to feel God’s presence and notices that everything is balanced in a way that could only be by a holy Creator; There is later a moment where she has to trust God and Andrè and focus on them and not the water she fears, which makes her able to walk on the water/raft on the water until she loses her focus and panics; She wishes for a glimpse of God on a mission, but has more than that and experienced Him which leaves her starving for more; She still questions why God didn’t answer her prayer, but realizes at the very end that God answered it by sending her to her aunt that loves and cares for her *End of Spoilers*; A man says that he is willing to break the sixth commandment by murdering someone if he has to because he has no choice and will not delight in it; Mentions of God, His creations, & trusting Him; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of someone singing hymns & the Psalms (written out); Mentions of a painting of a shipwreck that shows a woman looking like an “avenging angel”; A few mentions of a ceiling having plastered angels; A few mentions of providence (which Sydney comments about and her aunt says she doesn’t believe in that); A few mentions of monks; A couple mentions of those from the Bible; A couple mentions of a theologian; A mention of a rectory; A mention of a man’s parish; 
             *Note: Religious phrases/exclamations are said: ‘heavens’, ‘heaven’s sake’, ‘by heavens’, and ‘who in God’s green earth are you’ are all said once, two ‘thank heavens’, three forms of ‘for all that was holy/for the love of all that’s holy’, and six forms of ‘what/why/how in heaven’s name’; Sydney wonders if she’s died after a trying event and thinks that where she must be in heaven (but is confused on why a pirate would be there); Inventions are described as “magic” but all have science-related reasons for their workings and are not actually magic; A side character has an alchemy shop and is known as a wizard (in his POV, he comments about having a tonic “like a potion” for everyone’s deepest need including remedies for abusive husbands and as a wizard wasn’t “subject to the laws of nature”, but his son found out he was “in some ways, a murderer” and hasn’t spoken to him since; Another person calls him a “killer for hire”); When some men try to scare her away from Blakely House, Sydney says doesn’t believe in ghosts; Sydney wonders if it’s possible to feel someone’s presence in his house after the man has passed away; Sydney thinks a couple women look like angels; Andrè thinks Sydney looks like a saint; Sydney thinks a man has the “look of the devil about him” (referring to Andrè); Mentions of ghosts & haunted places; A few mentions of a man having a “magical” effect on everything he touched and was viewed as a “magician” to others; A few mentions of evil & sin; A mention of wizards casting spells; A mention of Andromeda and Hercules (Greek mythology); A mention of a superstitious group of people.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blamed’, a ‘blazes’, a ‘confounded’, a ‘dash it all’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘stars’, and four ‘drat’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Being chased, shot at, & Pain (up to semi-detailed); Helping injured shipwreck victims & Seeing injuries and blood/bleeding (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Thinking someone is dead & grief (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple hints of a side character drinking (including in his POV); Sydney is very afraid of water & tries to avoid it (at one point, she feels tremendous panic over going near water); Many mentions of deaths (including of parents), grief, possible deaths (including drownings), & a possible murder and murderers; Many mentions of criminals, crimes, thieves, stealing, & stolen items; Many mentions of shipwrecks, people dying or being injured, wreckers, and others planning to get rid of the survivors to take control of the goods; Mentions of pain, injuries, blood/bleeding; Mentions of prisons & arrests; Mentions of a snuff shop & smoking; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deceit; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of rumors (including one about a man beating other men senseless and shooting anyone who comes near his house); Mentions of a mother leaving her child and husband (Sydney’s mother, who she is not in contact with); A few mentions of a man being hired to kill others & committing murders (see Spiritual Content Note section for more information); A few mentions of threats; A few mentions of pubs, implied alcohol, & drinking; A couple mentions of poisons; A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of a woman who had six husbands (unsaid or it was due to deaths or divorce); A mention of a war; A mention of abusive husbands; A mention of blackmail; A mention of jealousy; A mention of throwing up; 
             *Note: *Spoiler, but mention of infant deaths/infertility* In the final chapter, Sydney recalls God still not answering all of her prayers, including a gentle no about "several wee babies" and later He said yes to her prayers and she now has a son *End of Spoiler*; Sydney feels like a broken clock compared to everyone else; Sydney faces some comments about her gender that she bristles at (such as a customer only wanting to talk to a man, a man saying a place isn’t safe for women, being warned that a town is “rather unaccepting of forward thinking women”, feeling like a man is looking at her in a patronizing way, thinking a household is against her because of her gender, and receiving a speech from her aunt about “a woman can pave her own path. She can do anything—especially what men tell her she cannot do”which doesn’t always empower Sydney and instead makes her feel the opposite); A mention of a book (Alice through the Looking Glass).
 
 
Sexual Content- Two head/forehead kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and two semi-detailed kisses; Remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Flutters, Tingles, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to be touched & kissed (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Sydney was born out of wedlock, but raised by her stepfather after her mother left them; Sydney used to think it was a punishment to not be able to woo men like other girls, but realizes it was to protect her from “being wooed, tried on for size, then discarded several times before finding that perfect fit”; Sydney thinks about waking up to a man’s affectionate smile every morning; A man teases another man about a woman writing to him about a “surprise” happening upon her that will look like him (pregnancy, implied they are not married); Mentions of kisses, kissing, & almost kisses; A couple mentions of a woman blackmailing her married lovers (affairs); A couple mentions of matchmaking; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of a mother dying in childbirth.
 
-Sydney Forrester, age 23
-Andrè Montagne
    P.O.V. switches between Sydney (1^st person), Andrè (3^rd person), and a few others (3^rd person)
                               Set in 1901 (Final chapter in 1910)
                                                        400 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This was one of my highly anticipated releases for this year and I have to say that it definitely measured up to my hopes. At first, the steampunk elements were a little strange to me because it felt so different from this author’s normal historical fiction style, but it quickly fascinated me the more I read. It definitely had a whimsical, quirky feeling, but almost a gothic springy one as well. I can't think of another book like it, but “A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure” by Angela Bell came to mind with some of my favorite elements. Not a similar plot-line at all with these two books, but perhaps a similar font? Whichever it is, I've truly enjoyed both books tremendously. 

 

Unlike many of her other books, this new one from Joanna Davidson Politano doesn’t start with a chapter from the middle of the book. But as normal with this author’s books, at the beginning, I’m a bit lost and questioning my IQ, but as the book continues and more details are explained and revealed, things start to make more sense. 

 

I flew through this book much faster than I anticipated, but the story grabbed me and I consumed it within a few hours. I really adored Sydney and her curious mind; she was awkward but sincere and I loved her mission to find out more about this mysterious Emmett. Andrè was a mysterious man as well and the romance was sweet overall. I’m never sure how to feel about the opposites attract trope, but these two were good together. Sydney was a homebody and as a homebody, I loved how that wasn’t just told to us, but shown as well through her thoughts and actions. I think I highlighted many parts about her loving books with adventures and being just fine to read about them rather to go on them herself. 

 

I think there might have been one tiny plot hole towards the end, but perhaps I just didn’t pick up on the prior hints? (*Spoiler* Regarding to Sydney knowing Hedda’s name before the girl told her? *End of Spoiler*) Other than that, this book kept me in suspense to see what would happen next. If you’re one that enjoys listening to music while reading, I highly suggest some of the Nancy Drew game soundtracks available on YouTube.

 

The ending and everything that happened then was so good—but I’ll admit to wishing there was a bit more at the final chapter though! I needed more information on what had happened in the last ten years. It felt somewhat like a sudden jump and I was left out and wondering. It didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the book, but I would have liked more even if it was wrapped up well enough because I wanted to see more of our main couple together. Because of this it wasn't quite a five-star book for me, but I did really enjoy it and I think many readers (especially historical mystery fans!) will truly enjoy it! No major content concerns either which was very refreshing, I would suggest ages 15/16+.

 

 

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.

"The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple" by Joanna Davidson Politano

About this book:

  “Peter Driscoll, an underground investigator to the wealthy, has never met anyone like Lily Temple. The beautiful silent-film actress spins fairy tales and plays frivolous roles in front of the cine-camera, but beneath the costumes and stage makeup is a woman with a quick wit--and a murky past.
   Peter has been tasked with locating the legendary Briarwood Teardrop, an exquisite sapphire, which Lily wears beneath her gown. In order to stay close to her and hopefully unravel the mystery of her story--and the sapphire--Peter employs Lily's help on a case, which leads to a useful partnership. But as they are investigating together, Peter is also investigating Lily. The closer he gets to the truth, the more danger they face. And the closer he gets to Lily, the clearer it is that he needs her even more than she needs him.”


Series: Does not seem to currently be connected to any other book. 


Spiritual Content- Prayers; Bible reading; A couple Scriptures are mentioned; Witnessing & Being witnessed to (Peter to Lily); Talks about God, restoration, trusting Him, & His stories; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Peter feels God impress upon him to do something & later impresses on him to trust Him; Lily doesn’t see that God is real after He didn’t answer her prayers (Peter says she’s missing out on the greatest narrative in history and it’s because an authority figure let her down that she’s paralleled it to God); Lily’s grandfather was a cleric & she used to attend church when it suited her, but feels no qualms about not going anymore; Someone used to tell Lily stories that could have symbolism to God (which she didn’t realize until much later); Lily tells Peter that she cannot convince herself that God is an active part in anyone’s story because “obeying [H]im, praying to [H]im…none of it seems to shift reality in any way” & says that God belongs to people like him who have an easy and straightforward life (Peter tells her to not mistake people’s betrayals for God’s); Lily had an old man in her childhood that she fashioned into a symbol of God which made her think of a deity that was kind (compared to her grandfather making her to read Proverbs and live them out) & thinks that she learned more from him than in a church (*Spoiler* When the man disappeared, Lily recalls it feeling like God also disappeared and she longs for them both again *End of Spoiler*); Lily feels like she can do a better job with her life story than God could, but Peter says that he knows that she’s looking for God despite what she says; *Spoilers* Lily feels towards the end that God is the only hope she has left & feels a “fathomless peace” after crying out to Him; Lily craves that peace she sees in others and reads the Bible *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of God, trusting Him, & His stories; Mentions of prayers, answered prayers, & praying; Mentions of those & places in the Bible; Mentions of miracles; A few mentions of spiritual food in a religious order; A couple mentions of God’s creation; A couple mentions of a priests giving last rites and hearing confessions; A mention of thanking God; A mention of a clergyman; 
             *Note: All about many mentions of the legend of a gem that has healing or magic powers (said to bring “strength and life to the person holding it”), came from the heavens, feeling like it is otherworldly, and could be cursed along with many mentions of fairytales, fairies, sprites, elves, enchantresses, and a miracle water that heals; *Spoiler* At the end, we’ve seen a few times where the gem has helped those who have it; Peter wonders if it’s true that the sapphire has a healing quality & Lily thinks it’s true that the gem has “something powerful” about it *End of Spoiler*; Lily plays a fairy in a series of films about a fairy wanting to go to another world; A short play/story about a springs’ water being healing after a tragedy; A side character is a fortune teller and for about a third of the book, Lily believes the woman to be correct with her predictions (there are a few mentions of times the fortune teller was correct and gained attention for it; Peter thinks she just listens to others and then sets it up where it looks like she’s predicting what she’s learned to someone else); Lily says that the “beauty of magic is that every trick has an explanation”; Things and places are described and magic and magical; A story about a sheep and a cauldron being married and having a child (a child says that would never happen); Mentions of people who can see the future (a fortune teller & Peter, but Peter says it’s just listening and asking the right questions for him and thinks it’s the same for the fortune teller); Mentions of ghosts (also called specters, spooks, and spirits); Mentions of a legend of a haunted cave; A few mentions of cherubs; A couple mentions of seeing someone again in another life; A couple mentions of superstitions; A mention of luck; A mention of speaking to a spirit.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘biddy’, a ‘heavens!’, a ‘how in blazes’, a ‘stupid’, a ‘sucker’, a form of ‘what in heaven’s name’, a ‘who the dickens’, a ‘witch’, two forms of ‘care a fig’, two ‘dratted’s, and two forms of ‘heaven sakes’; A mention of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Being abducted/kidnapped, Being locked up, Breaking into a place, Pain, & Injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing the grief of others & feeling it (empathy, up to semi-detailed); Saving someone from almost drowning (up to semi-detailed); Shooting birds at a hunting party (Peter, barely-above-not-detailed); Lily believes that truth can be relative and can be bent and twisted to fit one’s purposes (also could be wrapped in stories & that the truth come in layers and those layers can be manipulated; This including, that as an actress, the parts she plays were truth for a fortnight or so which has caused her to not know who she truly is because she’s become a mix of all the characters she’s played); All about many mentions of arrests, prisons, criminals, thieves, thefts, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of wars, battles, captives, deaths, major injuries, & grief (including two women for their fiancés, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of shipwrecks, deaths, & grief (including a husband for his wife and daughter); Mentions of murders, a rumored murder, & murderers; Mentions of missing people; Mentions of a corrupt government official, him taking bribes, & being a conman; Mentions of lies, lying, manipulation, & deceit; Mentions of young women running away from home (*Spoiler* including Lily *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of step-brothers taunting and picking on their step-sister because of her burns (the child says “I don’t know why I’m even here at times” and Lily tells her a story to encourage her); Mentions of hunting, hunters, & shooting birds for sport (barely-above-not-detailed); A handful of mentions of beheadings & executions; A few mentions of the possibility of a criminal being hung; A few mentions of a film with a trick illusion about men being headless; A few mentions of threats; A few mentions of poisons; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of a death in a drunken brawl; A couple mentions of the death of a mother and father (Lily, Peter); A couple mentions of alcohol; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of skinning animals; A mention of the possibility of being shot; A mention of a starving child; A mention of embezzlement; A mention of nightmares; 
             *Note: Every chapter starts with a quote from a classic fairytale or author; Many mentions of fairytales, books, authors, & fictional characters (including the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Thomas Hardy, J.M. Barrie, Charles Perrault, George MacDonald, & Carlo Collodi); Lily comments on it sometimes feeling like it doesn’t pay to live a moral and upright life; A mention of a man’s “very dark” temper.
 
 
Sexual Content- Three head/forehead kisses, two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, and two semi-detailed kisses; Remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss, touch, & embrace (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Dancing, Embraces, Warmth, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Butterflies & Winks; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Both Lily & Peter sneak (or have others) sneak into the other’s house to leave surprises (it’s not said how they did it); Mentions of a child conceived out-of-wedlock (the parents planned to get married *Spoiler* and do which saves the woman from being ruined *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of a couple kissing & embracing (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of chaperones; A mention of illegitimate heirs; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A few mentions of a woman running away with a man & not being in contact with her family since; A few mentions of someone being left at the alter (*Spoiler* Peter *End of Spoiler*).
 
-Lily Temple, around age 24 (?)
-Peter Driscoll, age 28
                P.O.V. switches between Lily (1^st person), Peter (3^rd person) & a couple others 
                                          Set in 1903
                                                        400 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Like many books by this author, the opening chapter is actually set towards the end of the book, and we get a slight recapping of things that have led everything to be. I feel like if it was anyone else, I would be annoyed at that with spoilers basically given for the rest of the book, but this author does it so well that it entices me to read fast so I can find out what happened myself—and enjoy the hints until I get there. 

 

I feel like when I typically read books by this author, my brain is scrambling to figure out how everything is connected with the little hints and suggestions we get throughout the story. This book was no different and kept me intrigued the entire time about Lily’s past. I did guess Lily’s past pretty early in, but wasn’t sure I was correct until the end. 

 

Our main characters were very unique. She’s very fanciful and sly, but has a child-like love for stories. He’s spectacled, smart, rule-follower and has a love for finding out the truth. A pair you wouldn’t think would work, but somehow does. He’s the calm to her storm, in a way. I do question the idea of a gem having some kind of powers (which it’s implied and said that way even at the end of the book), but I will chalk it up to part of the fairytale elements in this book.

 

The faith content was a different take on our female lead not trusting in God in the sense that she once did but due to events stopped trusting Him. Now, that’s not a rare character in Christian Fiction, but the discussions and Peter’s witnessing and conversations were uniquely done and had a lot of thought-provoking parts. I loved the symbolism of the Gardener especially. 

 

I don’t know if I would say this was my very favorite by this author, but I did really enjoy it and get sucked into the plot. Joanna Davidson Politano‘s writing style is unlike most and always has me questioning everything I read because things are never as they seem, especially in this book.

 

 

 

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.

"The Lost Melody" by Joanna Davidson Politano

About this book:

  “When concert pianist Vivienne Mourdant's father dies, he leaves to her the care of an adult ward she knew nothing about. The woman is supposedly a patient at Hurstwell Asylum. The woman's portrait is shockingly familiar to Vivienne, so when the asylum claims she was never a patient there, Vivienne is compelled to discover what happened to the figure she remembers from childhood dreams.
    The longer she lingers in the deep shadows and forgotten towers at Hurstwell, the fuzzier the line between sanity and madness becomes. She hears music no one else does, receives strange missives with rose petals between the pages, and untangles far more than is safe for her to know. But can she uncover the truth about the mysterious woman she seeks? And is there anyone at Hurstwell she can trust with her suspicions?
    Fan-favorite Joanna Davidson Politano casts a delightful spell with this lyrical look into the nature of women's independence and artistic expression during the Victorian era--and now.”


Series: Mentions and features characters from “A Midnight Dance”, review Here!  

Spiritual Content- John 1:5 at the beginning; Isaiah 60:1 at the end; A couple Scriptures are remembered & quoted; Many Prayers & Talking to God; Hymns are sung & played; Talks about God, being a light for Him, God fixing us, & apostle Paul; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Vivienne found comfort in talking to God when she was younger, not thinking of Him as a Father but as an imaginary friend who was with her when she was locked in the larder; Vivienne wonders at one point why would God create these people (patients) and weave madness into their lives (her firm thought of God as being ultimately good slips and wonders if she imagined Him in her childhood, but shakes the thought as she can’t bear the possibility of God not being real); God tells Vivienne to wash someone’s feet; Mentions of God; Mentions of those & events in the Bible (quite a bit about Paul); Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, & having a relationship with God; Mentions of hymns; Mentions of a priest’s hole; A few mentions of the Creator & His creation; A few mentions of Bible reading; A couple mentions of clergymen/parishes; A couple mentions of blessings & curses; A mention of a psalmist; A mention of an outspoken vicar’s wife being committed to the asylum because her ideas didn’t align with his; A mention of a funeral mass; 
             *Note: Many, many mentions of ghosts/specters (including rumors of a ghost at the asylum and things being ghostly); A few mentions of evil; A couple mentions of magic and a magician; A couple mentions of bad luck; A mention of someone describing melancholia as a wave and it “doesn’t matter what you believe about the Almighty or anything else. You can’t climb out.”; A mention of a man seeming otherworldly as if he has one foot on earth and one in Heaven; A mention of a patient having a fit of panic as if “someone tried to pull her soul right out of her body”; A mention of a patient clutching Vivienne’s gown like a demon; A mention of Thornhill thinking that God is blessing his (evil) plan. 
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘hush up’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘thank the stars’, two ‘leave off’s (used as a replacement for shut up/hush up); Set at an asylum and being around patients there (they can be admitted there for a number of reasons like: having delusions, hearing music or voices in their head, a great-grandmother not remembering the names of her children, post-partum depression, stroke victims, people born with epilepsy or mental illnesses, children born deaf or mute, etc.) & the some of the people in charge believing that they can’t be fixed and should be locked up so they don’t harm others; Pain, Being shoved, Being drugged, Being locked up/chained, Being pulled by her hair, Fighting back, Being held underwater, & Having a “spell” (similarly described as a panic attack or seizure, all up to semi-detailed); Seeing patients having seizure-like events, fighting the aids, being yanked and slapped by the aids, their screaming and crying, & overall mistreatment (semi-detailed to detailed); Hearing melancholia described (semi-detailed); Throwing up (barely-above-not-detailed); Possible social drinking (Vivienne has a glass of something at an event—the first glass is not said what is it, the second glass is said to be water); At the beginning, Vivienne has the opinion that those who are mad (insane) is a disease without a cure and are broken in a way no one can fix; Vivienne feels anger towards the laws that say that men own their wives; Vivienne lies to cooperate with the aids; Vivienne is told to write “I’m not a concert pianist” multiple times which starts messing with her sense of reality; Vivienne says that she grieves her father’s death, but is not unhappy about it; Mitchell is grieving the death of a loved one & recalls seeing their body (semi-detailed); Many mentions of patients being yanked and slapped by aids & their screaming, crying, and distress (semi-detailed); Many mentions of Vivienne’s father physical punishments of lashings and her being locked in a larder (and her being scared of the dark now because of this); Mentions of fires, a “mad” man killing people then setting a fire, & deaths (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of barbaric ways people punish others with (referring to an isolation ward where a patient is locked up and/or held underwater for long amounts of time); Mentions of patients that are deemed a “lost cause” and are locked up; Mentions of patients who are said to be violent & near savagery; Mentions of prisons & prisoners; Mentions of wounds, injuries, & pain (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of the deaths of infants/children & a patient being uncontrollable when she learns of her child’s death (including a couple that lost five of their six children, semi-detailed); Mentions of adults smacking children (boxing their ears) & one becoming deaf because of it; Mentions of drugs, being drugged, injections, & a death because of a “bad injection” (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of throwing up, vomit, chamber pots, & emptying them (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of a possible plan to drown those deemed “lost causes” (borderline barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A few mentions of a possible murder or suicide; A few mentions of a rumor of a skeleton being found at a place; A few mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of kidnappings; A couple mentions of fights & gunshots; A couple mentions of a man hitting another man; A couple mentions of thieves; A couple mentions of drinking & social drinking; A mention of a missing girl; A mention of a possible scam.
 
 
Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, an almost cheek kiss (barely-above-not-detailed), two semi-detailed kisses, a border-line semi-detailed //detailed kiss, and a detailed kiss (told in both point of views); Wanting to be kissed & kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Nearness, & Flutters (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of married couples kissing; Mentions of the moral dilemma of a doctor being attracted to one of his patients & a teacher attracted to one of his students (ages or age gaps are not brought up expect for the teacher being much older, a man tells the doctor that he’s putting others in boxes and that a woman should be more important to him than rules); A few mentions of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy & the couple getting married; A few mentions of a man leaving his betrothed for another woman; A few mentions of woman being committed into the asylum for either being caught kissing the master’s son or kissed by him (the person sharing this story isn’t sure which); A couple mentions of a couple mothers who were not married and having a baby; A couple mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a bawdy house; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Mentions of a woman at the asylum having post-partum depression (never exactly said, but described in the same way with also details about the woman’s melancholia); A few mentions of a doctor ordering for a woman to have a surgery that means “she won’t be having no more babies” & an aid not seeing how the woman deserved that; A few mentions of a story (rumors) about a woman who went mad after her baby died; A mention of a baby that didn’t open it’s eyes; A mention of a dress hugging a woman’s curves (in her point of view); A mention of women entering menopause could be committed to an asylum; A mention of a man not wanting to raise another man’s child.
 
-Vivienne Mourdant
                P.O.V. switches between Vivienne (1^st), Mitchell (3^rd, x7), 
                         Someone else (1^st, x1), & Thornhill (3^rd, x1) 
                                          Set in 1886-1887
                                               384 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Minus a full star for those sensitive to asylums, people being treated differently, & mistreatment}

I have very mixed feelings on this novel. 

I enjoyed all the faith content (it was well done and I liked the correlations to Paul) and the musical therapy sections were interesting, but it did take about half of the book for me to not feel stressed about things that were happening or were to come. 

Like other books by this author, there’s a lot of twists which keeps you on your toes when reading, and there’s also a lot of hints, but those hints are worded in a way that teases you and probably won’t make sense until the reveal of whatever happens. I like that, but at the same time, I feel left out. Because of that, I ended up rereading many different parts to make sure I was understanding what was going on.

I think the hardest part of this story for me was the asylum, it was good to see some kind workers to the patients, but, goodness, I had the hardest time trusting anyone. It’s still a really hard topic to read about, though, and I don’t feel like the back-cover blurb doesn’t give the heads up that Vivienne is in the asylum herself for the large major of the story, which I think should be an important thing to note. In that way, this book was heavier than I was expecting, but thankfully the faith content helped balance it out some. 

It was interesting to see characters from “A Midnight Dance”, I wasn’t expecting that at all with this novel due to the gap in time, but even with those parts, it wasn’t necessarily a happy element or even being-happy-to-see-those-characters-again element to me.

All of that said? Hmm, I’m just not sure. Mixed feelings fits well and the biggest factor into my personal rating is that I did not feel happy when I finished this story—yes, it’s a good ending, but I think I was mentally exhausted by the time I got there. 

 

 

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.