"A Noble Rescuer" by K.R. Mattson

About this book:

  “Whitney McRether is a Deronian, a fierce warrior of the north mountains where pain and death are viewed as something to be embraced. But when a stranger is dragged into the village by her brother, Whitney sees no other choice but to defy tradition and stand in the way of the stranger and death. The longer he stays, the more trouble lands on their doorstep…and the harder it is to let him go.
    Serve the Queen at all costs.
    As a bounty hunter to the Queen, that’s exactly what Knox Schilling did. Until his hunt for two traitors lands him in Deron and the gaping jaws of death. He's viewed the uncivilized warriors as barbarians, until a young woman risks everything to rescue him from his plight. For the first time in years, someone stands up for him and he finds himself drawn to the welcoming soul.
    Enemies of the past and present begin close in, loyalties are tested, and lies and dark truths are drawn to the surface. Can they weather the storms together or will it ultimately break their growing bond of friendship?”


Series: Book #13 in the multi-author series, “Cornerstone”. It does not seem to be connected to any other books, however. A stand-alone novel. Click on the books to be taken to that review: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #9, Book #10, Book #11, and Book #12!


Spiritual Content- A few Prayers; God is called “the Maker” and “Give of Life”; Whitney notes that taking in people who need help is what the Maker commanded, but she “understood that not all were Believers”; Whitney believes in the Maker commanding life and death, while Knox does not after his father “believed in the unseen” and lost his life due to the Queen; Mentions of God (also called the Maker); A few mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food;
             *Note: A man tells Knox that he’ll see him in hell; The phrase “speak of the devil” is said once;   Knox has blades that are called his “Demon Blades”; Whitney recalls her grandmother saying that “violence against the innocent was a crime; but, against the evil, it was a mercy”; Whitney silently begs someone to listen to her, but because “she was not psychic” the person doesn’t hear her; There is a rumor that the Snow Queen is able to turn people in ice statues by looking at them.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘sucked’, two ‘gosh’s, two forms of ‘shut up’, two ‘wimp’s, three forms of ‘idiot’, and four ‘stupid’; A mention of a woman being called a ‘witch’ because it fits in more ways than one (not implied in a spells/potions way); A mention of a curse (said, not written); Name calling such as ‘bonehead’, ‘bozo’, ‘buzzard’, ‘double sided iceberg’, ‘jerk’, ‘loony’, and ‘nincompoop’;  Insults like “freeze in a lake” and “go sit in a lake” are said; Eye rolling; Whitney’s aunt is a harsh and brutal woman & Whitney is sent to live with her for a bit (Whitney also calls her a psychopath); Lots of fighting, injuring and harming others in fights, knocking others out, being tortured (almost drowning and being burned), being held at knife-point, being captured and tied-up, being hit and attacked, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Falling through a frozen lake (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Knox is captured, tied-up, and tortured by Whitney’s brother (almost drowning and being burned & thinks he may die, semi-detailed; Whitney catches this and stops it from going further); Whitney’s brother attacks and raids traders passing through their area to get supplies for their village (one attack is on-page and while they aren’t supposed to shoot anyone, he orders for her to shoot a man and she does when the man attacks her); Whitney feels a twinge of guilt for leaving an injured man when the wolves will probably get him; Knox uses a powder to blind a room & Whitney’s brother has a “tear gas” concoction; Knox lies to Whitney to protect himself; The Snow Queen has an underground ice pit where she keeps the frozen bodies of people who disappointed her; Many mentions of torture (including a different bounty Hunter being rumored to have stabbed a pregnant woman in her abdomen), people being shot, injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & passing out (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of killing, willing to kill others, & planning to kill (including comments about slitting throats and Whitney’s brother killing guards of the Queen’s, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths; Mentions of people being captured, injured, & threatened; Mentions of frostbite & people and animals dying or possibly dying in the harsh weather conditions (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of crimes & criminals; Mention of stealing & stolen items; Mentions of some breaking into a house; Mentions of someone almost being tarred and feathered; Mentions of tear gas & a blinding powder that causes pain; Mentions of a tavern; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of tattoos (which those under the Snow Queen’s rule have); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of hunting; A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of possible murders; A couple mentions of the possibility of a wife killing her husband (she did not); A couple mentions of whippings/beatings; A couple mentions of a person being stolen (but actually ran away); A couple mentions of nightmares; A mention of an execution; A mention of drugging another; A mention of manure;
             *Note: Whitney recalls hearing about women in other places being “cowards” by staying at home sewing and tending gardens & she almost wonders if she is a descendant of “one of those weaklings”; Whitney’s brother taunts/threatens her pet weasel with roasting him over a fire; Knox thinks that his mother would rise from her grave and smack him if he didn’t help someone.
 
 
Sexual Content- Holding hands, a shiver, & a blush (all once); Knox calls Whitney pretty and she blushes; Know believes that true love is a myth and “one only married to further a legacy”; Mentions of a couple being in love; A few mentions of men in her village being interested in Whitney (but her brother threatening all of them);
             *Note: A mention of sore buttocks.
 
-Whitney McRether
-Knox Schilling
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        136 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This was very different than I was expecting! I’m pretty sure this is one of the shortest of this multi-authored series and while I would have liked more about Whitney and Knox’s friendship-leading-to-more that’s quickly thrown in at the very end, it was a fast paced plot. 

 

Whitney's family and village are called barbarians, but some of them (particularly Whitney’s brother) reminded me of the Vikings with their eagerness to ruin other people’s lives. Her brother was really rough and even tortures someone, which was unpleasant to read about. That was what didn’t really make sense to me because Whitney followed the Maker (God) and her mom mentioned Him as well, and though she noted that not every believed in the Maker, but her brother was off trapping traders and stealing their stuff. You could argue they needed it for their village/people to survive, but then he starts torturing someone that is connected to the Queen. It didn’t quite add up for me. 

 

I did like the setting, despite it being set in the freezing cold and I’m not a cold weather person. The author did well creating a new culture and while it wasn’t really my cup of tea, those who like cold weather (freezing, really) settings and Viking-like barbarians may enjoy it more than me.

 

 

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.

 

"Truth Cursed" by Angie Dickinson

About this book:

  “Cressida Hoth is alone in the world. Orphaned and unwanted, she is inflicted with a peculiar curse by her mischievous aunts and banished to a finishing school in the secluded kingdom of Dernmont. Students train in every accomplishment suitable for young ladies: music, dancing, etiquette…and strangely, poison-making, fencing, and lock-picking.
     The school is a front for a rebel spy ring, and when her training is complete, Cressida is selected to join a mission to infiltrate the kingdom’s royal court. She has been thrown unceremoniously into a world of ball gowns and espionage, but she is still under a curse, and it threatens to expose them all.
     Defending her teammates and her secret, Cressida discovers that the kingdom’s buried history and the truth behind her curse run far deeper than she imagined.”


Series: As of now, no. Seems to be a stand-alone novel.


Spiritual Content- The phrase “God willing” is said once by Cressida; A head monk gives the blessing to a group that includes “May the white mountain open your heart and close your wounds. May its stones bring you truth, and in truth, may you find the peace of its Creator and the courage He imparts.”; Someone says she has faith in Mt. Vindeca “and it’s Maker”; Going to a monastery; Mentions of a monastery (also called a holy site) & monks; A handful of mentions of Cressida praying (but never said towards Whom; including a mention of praying for forgiveness from an action); A few mentions of paintings and tapestries depicting religious scenes; A mention of someone not being a miracle worker;
             *Note: “Damming” evidence against someone is said twice in different forms; Phrases like “for heaven’s sake” and “heavens” are used twice and once; There is no magic in this book as the dusts and powders used and discussed are from mines (which are illegal substances), including the one Cressida thinks she was “cursed” by (see Negative Content section for more information); A monastery has a pool with healing minerals that are said to have healed and strengthen those who drink the water; *Major Spoilers* At the end, Cressida has the thought of mixing dust from the healing mountain and the poisonous drugs to create an antidote which works on her and others; As a side effect, Cressida is able to tell when someone is lying by a tingling sensation in her fingertips *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of monks taking a vow of silence which someone says “the personal sacrifice aids in his devotion”; A few mentions of alchemy with healing stones from a mountain; A mention of someone speaking reverently about the stones of a mountain (in terms of a promise/swearing upon them); A mention of people raising a glass to a mountain.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: A ‘dumb’, a ‘what the blazes’, a ‘wretch’, two ‘shut up’s, and three ‘stupid’s; Fictional phrases like “(bloody) stones of Vindeca” (two forms) and “by the stones (of Vindeca)” (two forms); A mention of curses (said, not written); Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Eavesdropping; Killing someone in self-defense, burying the body, drugging others, & guilt about it (plus continuing to think about the body and felling like a murderer, up to semi-detailed); Being attacked, Fighting/Self-defense, Being threatened (including with harming another) and held at knife-point, Holding others at knife-point, Being tied-up and locked in a room, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, Passing out, & Grief (up to semi-detailed); A bit of manipulating others; Remembering seeing the deaths of her parents (murdered by arrows) & being forced to drink a drugged tea (up to semi-detailed); Seeing fights & others knocked out (up to semi-detailed); *Spoilers* Cressida’s aunts are not her biological aunts and collected her to use as an experiment for the drug *End of Spoilers*; There are drugs for putting someone in a deep sleep, to only be able to tell the truth, and cause forgetfulness; Due to her aunts forcing her to drink a tea with a drug in it, Cressida considers herself “cursed” and unable to lie or not answer a question that is directed towards her (she recalls them forcing it down her throat, up to semi-detailed); Cressida is compelled by the “curse” to always answer the truth and quickly, if Cressida tries to prevent answering a question, she will be in pain, light headed, and eventually passing out and bleeding from her nose (said to cause her death if she tries to do it again; She tries to withhold answering a few times, up to semi-detailed); Cressida has no warm feelings for her aunts and how they abused her growing up by always forcing her to answer their questions; A girl at the school says insulting things to and about Cressida; Cressida has a glass of wine at a dinner (which she does not enjoy the sour taste) & side characters drink wine at dinners and parties; Many mentions of deaths/murders (including of parents and siblings plus Cressida’s own parents), grief, how they happened (arrows and slit throats), seeing it  happened, finding the bodies (Cressida saw her parents murdered), & the murderers (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of drugs, being drugged, & drugging others; Mentions of bodies (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of wars, battles, deaths, & someone wanting to start a war; Mentions of treason, traitors, prisons/dungeons, crimes, & arrests; Mentions of pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & passing out (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of alcohol, wine, drinking (including at dinners and socially at parties), & those who are tipsy or had too much; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, deception, & manipulation (including a teacher telling Cressida to lie on the mission if needed); Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of hunting; A few mentions of hatred & self-loathing; A few mentions of a pipe & smoking; A couple mentions of breaking into someone’s room; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of wolves digging up a dead human’s body; A mention of freezing to death; A mention of thieves; A mention of robbing a place; A mention of an ale houses; A mention of vomiting;
             *Note: Cressida has a panic attack (up to semi-detailed).
 
 
Sexual Content- Two hand kisses (flirty greetings and lingering too long), a not-detailed kiss, and a border line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Some touches, embraces, hand holding, being near another for their warmth, (barely-above-not-detailed); Some blushes & winks; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); A man touches Cressida’s cheek and her skin crawls because of it; Another man skims over Cressida’s body in a “clinical” way after an injury, but it still makes her blush; Cressida meets a (handsome and young) male spy in the middle of the night and when they are caught by a maid, he makes it look like they were having a tryst (by embracing her, making a show of rebuttoning his collar, & grinning “rakishly” at her; the maid insults Cressida by calling her “rough” and one of those girls who “play around”; Rumors about the two of them meeting at night go around the staff); One of the girls says she has no interest in becoming a spy via the way of becoming the king’s mistress or “anything vulgar like that”; When a note from a prince is said about the “great pleasure” of meeting one of the girls, she panics that she’s “going to have to, that he means—“ and Cressida says they wouldn’t have been put on this mission if they had to do “unseemly, compromising things”; Mentions of flirting, flirtation, & a class for flirting (that Cressida doesn’t do well in); A few mentions of rendezvous between couples; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of handsome men; A couple mentions of men ogling Cressida and the other girls; A couple mentions of a man getting too close to Cressida for her comfort; A bit of attraction, possibly love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: At age 15, Cressida is said to have “a woman’s shape already” & a few mentions about it (a roommate asks her if she likes it and Cressida responds “not really”; A couple years later, it’s mentioned by a teacher that the other girls were jealous of Cressida and the rude comments to her slower down when the other girls began to “mature”).
 
-Cressida Hoth, age 15-17
                                P.O.V. of Cressida 
                                                        336 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

One thing you can always count on me being interested in is boarding school or academy plots. Was it the Barbie Princess Charm School movie or Zoey 101 episodes I watched growing up? I’m honestly not sure, but it’s a trope/theme that makes me instantly interested in a book if it’s said to have that. (As a side note: I would personally compare this book more to Barbie and the Three Musketeers movie than the Princess Charm School movie.)

 

So, I was a bit bummed that we speed ran through half of the boarding school plot with two years quickly passing. Because of that, it felt a little like Cressida was a different character in some ways after the time has passed and I didn’t know her very well in the second part of this book. Now mind you, that’s not 100% accurate but perhaps more like 60%—which was enough for me to notice that difference. She did have a couple times where “you don’t think I can do it” and getting offended when someone told her about the mission being dangerous—which was a bit ironic because she had just done the same thing to one of the other girls.

 

The last half unfortunately fizzled a bit for me, which was a major bummer! I’m not sure if it was me or the book. I wasn’t expecting some events towards the end, though, which kept me on my toes. I do think this might have been better as a duology, however? It felt a little packed and then rushed towards the ending with the reveals. Because we only get Cressida’s POV and she’s not involved in every single thing or event, there’s a lot of telling by other characters and explaining their roles or what they found, which cut down on the action and excitement for me, personally. This is what ultimately dropped my rating a bit as my enjoyment of the plot lessened, unfortunately. That said, if there was ever a second book, I would definitely read it to see what happens next in this world!

 

I think avid YA readers and those in their teens might be willing to overlook the “flaws” I didn’t care for and I probably would have enjoyed this book more a handful of years ago. It was still interesting and entertaining, but I found the execution of some parts to be a little lackluster.

 

 

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.

"Lions to the Rescue!" by Amanda Cleary Eastep

About this book:

  “If getting tackled is the best way to make new friends, that’s okay with Jack. After all, starting fifth grade at a new school is even rougher than pee wee football. But how can he join the Lions and help Ellison build the Most Epic Bookmobile Bike Ever? Jack devises the perfect game plan–until he fumbles it with the most epic bike crash ever and a game day disaster.”


Series: Book #3 in the “Tree Street Kids” series. Review of Book #1, Here! and Book #2, Here!


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are quoted, read, & mentioned; A few Prayers; A few talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Jack and his sister are starting the year at their new, Christian school; Jack hasn’t prayed about joining the football team because he “figured God was like [his] dad—a Chicago Bears football fan. So why wouldn’t He root for the Lions too?”; Jack can talk to God in his head, but when he has to say a prayer out loud, it makes him feel itchy (but prays out loud for an event anyway); One of Jack’s friends doesn’t know a lot about praying and says “over and out” instead of “Amen”; Jack knows that his dad saying “The Lord will provide” is what parents say when they don’t want a kid to worry, but knows his dad trusts God, so he will too; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches & church going; A few mentions of a colportage (someone who sold religious books door-to-door); A mention of a missionary; A mention of God using a book of poetry to change someone’s life; A mention of morning chapel at a Christian school; A mention of God shining a ray of sunshine on the bookmobile bike (which Jack thinks it’s like God had chosen it for a great mission); A mention of a picture (of a great idea) having a light on it like it was shone down from Heaven & an angel maybe singing then too;
             *Note: A boy calls his mother “Mothership” as her code name over walk-talkies (thrice); A couple mentions of a book about dinosaurs.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: A ‘buzzkill’ (Midge to Jack), a ‘crummy’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘holy moly’, a ‘sheesh’, and an unfinished ‘what—the—?’; A bit of eye rolling; Jack tries to give his parents warning when he walks into a room so he doesn’t eavesdrop (though he still hears some of their conversation and it worries him); Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Jack is taunted and chased by the neighborhood bully who tries to run him off the road (Jack is injured by this); Jack and the others try to make a deal with the bully, but the bully implies he wants Jack’s dog (which Jack is firm about not doing after seeing the bully yell at his own dog); Jack doesn’t want to disobey a referee in a game who tells him to stay back, but he is concerned about a friend; Mentions of pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of a bully (including Ellison saying that their neighborhood bully just needs to read the right book because books can change people, but Ruthie says the bully would need a library full of books to change him); A couple mentions of a bomb shelter; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of pig bladders used as a football a long time ago; A mention of an accident that killed a young girl’s parents; A mention of World War I; A mention of war; A mention of skull and crossbones on a map (representing a bully);
             *Note: Jack is embarrassed by his mom licking her hand and putting it to his hair in front of the school bus; Jack has a couple of moments of missing his old home and friends; Jack yells at Midge to stay out of his room and stop touching his stuff (once); Jack later teases Midge about her being like a barnacle stuck to a whale when she wants to tag along with him wherever he goes; Jack is disappointed by not having a new friend to himself, but his mom says that you “make friends by being a good friend”; When playing touch football, Midge asks if they are all going to “bust some heads”; Ellison thinks a neighbor doesn’t like him because he’s black & the woman yells at him to stay off of her property (which Jack says is wrong of her to do, but Ellison says it happens a lot and it’s a lot harder when people “look at you like you did something wrong. Or don’t even look at you at all”; The woman yelling at Ellison hurts him and he isn’t the same for a week); *Spoiler* At the end, the woman comes up to Jack and Ellison and says about borrowing books from them *End of Spoiler*; Ellison shares about a book (‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’) and how the main character’s family goes through racism (explaining to Midge that racism is “when one person treats another person badly or unfairly because they’re a different color or race”); Ellison wants to share books with others for them to understand him and others; Ellison plans to talk about why it’s important to read books by black authors as well in a speech; Jack doesn’t know how all moms “no matter their name, color, or hairdo” are able to give a kid the same look); There are book recommendations throughout the book & mentioned (‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’ by Mildred D. Taylor, ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’ by Frederick Douglass, ‘The Watsons Go to Birmingham’ by Christopher Paul Curtis, ‘The Jungle Book’ by Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Friendship’ by Mildred D. Taylor, ‘My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me’ by Maya Angelou, ‘A Light in the Attic’ by Shel Silverstein, ‘Charlotte’s Web’ by E.B. White, ‘The Narrative of Truth’ by Sojourner Truth, and a few more (there is the note that not all of the books are for children and to talk with a parent about reading them); Other books that are mentioned and quoted from, but not given as a recommended are Shakespeare, ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Matilda’, ‘The Joy of Cooking’, ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ by John Bunyan, ‘Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun’, ‘White Fang’, and ‘Selected Poems’ by Gwendolyn Brooks; Mentions of brand names & pop culture references (Nickelodeon Time Blaster clock, Chutes and Ladders, Nerf, Beanie Baby, Big Wheels, & Gatorade); Mentions of movies, TV shows, & fictional characters (101 Dalmatians, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, Superman, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz characters, & Robin Hood); Mentions of sport teams & a player (Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls, & William Perry); A few mentions of Arthuro Schomburg and how he was told there were “no history, no heroes” of people of his race, so he set out to read all about them; A couple mentions of the Newberry Medal; A mention of Narnia; A mention of Disney World; A mention of Dunkin’ Donuts; A mention of Blockbuster video store; A mention of Wishbone the dog; A mention of a shark named Jaws; A mention of Midge telling Jack that because he uses “fancy man deodorant now” he doesn’t stink.
 
 
Sexual Content-N/A.
 
-Jack Finch, age 10
                                1st person P.O.V. of Jack
                                          Set in 1995 
                                                        192 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again more this series is over, but this book (like the prior two books) had such a childhood nostalgic feeling to it! Between the bike riding, friend groups, and doing a parade in their neighborhood, it felt like a very suburbs vibe and was so much fun! 

 

It should be noted that I can’t stand football, but I even enjoyed those parts of this book, which should tell you a lot!  

 

Midge steals the show in each one of these books and I just love her 😂 She reminds me of a cross between Constance from “The Mysterious Benedict Society” and D.W. from the TV show, Arthur, but way less sassy and much more well-mannered than those two.

 

This book had a little about facing racism and Jack’s best friend being black, but I thought it was done well and sincerely. We, unfortunately, see the bully Buzz again who I frankly don’t care for, but we have Jack learning some important lessons and learning to be a good friend—and a team player.

 

 

See y’all on Wednesday 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.

"A Noble Comfort" by Katja H. Labonté

About this book:

  “As lady-in-waiting to the crown princess, Thalassa d’Acton is used to hectic palace life. The bustle is a good excuse to avoid thinking of the insecurities that plague her. But when a usurper takes over the throne, Thalassa finds herself and her princess imprisoned in a lonely tower—and with all the time in the world to worry.
     Outlawed Azaziah has roamed the land for years with his band of Inseparables. Playing knight errant was a God-given task, and helps him bear the knowledge that evil is spreading over his land unopposed. But now he alone knows the secret plans of the usurpers… and he isn’t enough to overturn the peril himself.
     As personal and political turmoil heightens, despair floods over the hearts of Thalassa and Azaziah. What can comfort them even in the face of defeat? And can their inadequacy and loneliness possibly be the very opening the Eternal needs to change the course of their country’s destiny?”


Series: Book #16 in the multi-author series, “Cornerstone”. It does not seem to be connected to any other books, however. A stand-alone novel. Click on the books to be taken to that review: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #9, Book #10, Book #11, and Book #12! The rest will be reviewed in the upcoming weeks. 


Spiritual Content- Every chapter starts with a Scripture (or more); Many Scriptures are quoted, read, remembered, & thought over; Many Prayers & Thanking God; God is often called ‘the Eternal’ throughout this book; Talks about God, His will, & trusting Him; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; *Spoilers* Around halfway, Azaziah realizes that the Eternal cannot be defeated and is always in control; He takes comfort and confidence in this; Later, he thinks that the Eternal has equipped him to fight a battle against evil, but towards the end, realizes that it is God who will decide the outcome, not Azaziah *End of Spoilers*; *Spoilers about Thalassa’s depression and anxiety* When imprisoned, Thalassa wonders what her faith really means if she could abandon it so quickly in hard times; When Constanza asks if she’s prayed about it, Thalassa thinks that it never occurred to her to seek help for her struggles with inferiority and depression as she thought it was a flaw she shouldn’t have and shouldn’t have to bother God with; She realizes how senseless that is and starts to pray and read the Bible more, trying to hold onto the truths she reads even when the darkness tries to come back; This is a major part of the book with her recognizing the fact of the Eternal creating her and receiving His love *End of Spoilers*; Many mentions of God/the Eternal, Jesus Christ, His will, & trusting Him; Many mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of miracles; A few mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A mention of someone being persecuted for their religious beliefs; A mention of meditating (implied on Scripture); 
             *Note: Someone says that the deity ‘Ekklesia’ herself is behind his plans (Alexios thinks that this deity may have“sincere, God-seeking souls in her ranks”, but for the most part is assembled by “religious yet unconverted beings, and her upper layers were little more than a political organization”; No other information about this deity is given after this comment); Thalassa realizes that if she was perfect, she would be a god (realizing that perfection is unrealistic and unattainable); Mentions of defeating evil; A mention of the unholy hours of an early morning; A mention of Cupid; A mention of something not being a talisman.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: 2 ‘balderdash!’s are exclaimed; Being imprisoned & potentially facing a death penalty; A bit of jealousy (from Thalassa to Constanza); Azaziah believes that everyone he has loved is lost to him (either by death or the person walking away); Mentions of potential wars; Mentions of possible assassins & assassination attempts (including being mauled by a tiger); Mentions of possible executions, beheadings, & deaths for treason; Mentions of grief & a man being cruel to his daughter for being the cause of his wife’s death following childbirth; Mentions of prisons, prisoners, & being imprisoned; Mentions of injuries & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of hunting; A mention of a death (due to a duel); A mention of a rumor of a woman doing cruel acts in fits of anger; A mention of possible murderers or robbers; 
             *Note: Thalassa struggles with feeling inferior & due to circumstances, she also battles depression and anxiety (*Spoiler, but notes about the depression and anxiety parts* Once held in a prison with Constanza, Thalassa struggles with having nothing to live for and difficultly waking up in the morning; Her depression is also said to be her “falling into the darkness” and halfway, she reads the Bible and prays about it, which helps though she still feels that the darkness is not easily vanquished *End of Spoilers*); A man catches a moth to burn it in a candle’s flame; A mention of others slandering a princess, saying she is a “bundle of defects”.
 
 
Sexual Content- A bit of jealousy (from Thalassa to Constanza and being on the end of a smitten smile from someone); Azaziah says another man is blessed because he doesn’t know what it is to love someone and be rejected; Thalassa craves affection and longs to be the most important person to someone, such as being chosen as a man’s lifelong partner; Mentions of jealousy/envy; A mention of flirtation; 
             *Note: Thalassa thinks negatively about her appearance and figure a couple of times (*Spoiler* but realizes that the Eternal had “fashioned [made] her [H]imself”; Towards the end, she makes a comment of self-depreciation *End of Spoiler*).
 
-Thalassa, 
-Azaziah
                                P.O.V. switches between them & Alexios (x1)
                                                        197 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Whenever I have the opportunity to read a book that was written by a dear book friend, I’m always excited but also a bit nervous! Yay, I get to read their book! But what if I don’t enjoy the plot or the characters? It can put a reader in an awkward position, but I’m a firm believer that kind honesty in the best policy in many ways.

 

I’m happy to say that I did enjoy many elements of this story! I’ll admit that there was a lot of characters and they all had very unique names, so I did have a bit of a challenge with that at times and used the search feature on my Kindle then. Because of this and all the unfamiliar names of the fictional places and characters, the book definitely felt longer than it’s 190 pages so I did struggle throughout reading the book and it keeping my interest because of this and trying to keep everyone straight. 

 

I was curious about Azaziah and we get hints about his past throughout the book, but once it all came to light, I got a little excited to see what would happen next. The last 30% of this book is where it really picked up for me and I got invested into the plot. I really liked the writing style and was able to visualize a lot of different parts while reading because of the descriptive writing style, which was neat. 

 

Out of the 13 (of 16 total) books I’ve read from this series, I would say this one has the most faith content by far! I really liked how personal it became to Thalassa and how we see her try to trust God while struggling with depression over the circumstances she’s in. It was beautifully done and obviously a topic neat to the author’s heart, which she shared in the author’s note at the end of the book. 

 

Personally, I would have loved pictures of everyone’s outfits and the items described, but I snooped on the author’s Instagram and Pinterest, which helped quite a bit with that. ;) 

 

There’s really not a romance in this book, but the message of trusting God no matter what (including through anxiety and depression) took center stage, which I thought was carefully done with sincere encouragement. I would put this book in my top five for the series so far!

 

 

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.