Category Archives: By Age Range

Review: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Book Review and Content, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFeversGrave Mercy
Robin LaFevers
HMH Books for Young Readers

A strange birthmark spares Ismae from an arranged marriage with a cruel man, but thrusts her into the power of the sisters at the convent of St. Mortain. There, Ismae discovers she’s been gifted with great power. To understand her potential, she must embrace the training offered by the mysterious sisters. If Ismae agrees, they will teach her the arts of murder and seduction, so that she can be sent out into the world to bring the justice of an old god: Mortain, the god of death. When an opportunity arrives for Ismae to serve the young duchess of Brittany who faces an arranged marriage of her own, Ismae can’t help but accept, remembering her own past.

Determined to prove herself through this important assignment, Ismae soon finds herself overwhelmed by a court steeped in plots and betrayal. Unexpected feelings for her prime suspect complicate matters further. But more than Ismae’s devotion to her god is at stake. If she chooses the wrong allies, her mission will fail, and the young duchess will die.

I read this book without really knowing much about it. Marissa Meyer recommended it, and I love her books (Cinder, Scarlet and Cress) so I decided to give it a go. I spent most of the first part of the story waiting for the shoe to drop and for the god of Death to turn out to be evil, since that’s usually the way things seem to go. Instead, and I’ll try not to give too much away, Ismae learns that her understanding of the god’s will is not always perfect, but that he does indeed have a just plan for humanity.

The romance thread was nicely done. I found it refreshing that Gavriel was not the bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold type that’s so prevalent in current fiction, but that he was a gentleman who resents the implications about his relationship with Ismae and doesn’t take advantage of her or attempt to seduce her himself. That respect for her totally won me over.

Packed with intrigue, the plot really takes some big twists and turns. I love that it’s based on historical events. LaFevers definitely stirred my curiosity about Brittany and the young duchess and the real story of how the events unfolded.

Because I’ve read a little bit about the other books in the series now, I can see how this first story set the stage for the second and third ones. I’m curious enough about Sybella’s (one of Ismae’s fellow assassins-in-training) story to consider continuing the series, but it’s not sitting at the top of my list. I think I expected to like it as much as I loved Cinder, which admittedly isn’t fair to the author, and while I enjoyed it, I just have a hard time really getting into the whole “god of death as a good guy” type of story. It may be that the topic of corruption within the religious organization simply hits too close to home for me as I wrestle with some of my own issues about my own recent church experiences.

Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Sexual Content
Ismae’s new husband treats her roughly and makes it clear that their marriage bed will be one in which he treats her like an object. His behavior is ugly, but he’s stopped before having sex with her.

The servants of the convent of St. Mortain are taught all the ways of seduction, but readers are left to fill in the blanks on all that entails. Ismae’s past experience with men leaves her mistrustful and loathe to give herself to a man, even in service of her god. She makes a couple of brief suggestive comments. She lies naked against a man at one point, but not in the interest of having sex with him.

Spiritual Content
During the time period of the story, the Christian church had replaced many of the older traditions and belief systems in Brittany and referred to the old gods as saints. (There is apparently a lot of historical truth to this – I’ve not researched it myself, but you can read the author’s notes on the topic here.) Mortain, one of the old gods (a fictional one), still maintains a following largely through a convent of servants, trained as assassins and sent out to do his will, i.e., kill those the god has marked for death.

Ismae struggles with the morality of her tasks. What if someone has committed some wrong that earns Mortain’s judgement, but repents of the evil and finds a way to atone for it? Is there an alternate path for her to take rather than simply being an assassin? Ultimately she earns the god’s blessing for her mercy.

Violence
Several people fall victim to assassins, through means like poison, falling from a height, small arrows, etc. Brief battle scenes are described. Ismae walks through a field of dead soldiers looking for survivors. Descriptions are not overly detailed.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol – mead, wine, etc – at parties and taverns.

Review: When Did You See Her Last by Lemony Snicket

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , ,

When Did You See Her Last?
Lemony Snicket
Little Brown

In an account of his second “wrong question,” detective’s apprentice Lemony Snicket investigates the disappearance of a young brilliant chemist. With the help of his wacky chaperone, an aspiring journalist and two boys who work together operating a taxi, Snicket uncovers a tangled plot stretching far beyond the simple disappearance of a girl. Far away, his sister faces her own trials, and Snicket laments not being able to help her. Could it all be connected to the vicious Hangfire and his evil plot?

Once again, author Lemony Snicket charms readers with tongue-in-cheek narrative and a hilarious cast of characters. Snicket challenges readers’ vocabulary by including complex words and often defining them within the narrative. It’s a nice way to introduce new words. My daughter and I read both the first and second books in this series together, and she can’t wait to read the next one. We started the Series of Unfortunate Events, and she really likes those books, too, but The Wrong Questions books are a little bit lighter and still have the same kind of humor and silliness. The series has a really unique feel that’s part detective noir and part quirky fantasy. This would make a great summer read, though I recommend starting with the first book.

Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Brief references to violence. A woman is said several times to be “very good with a knife.” In one slightly creepy scene, Snicket discovers a room with small beds that have manacles attached to them – as if someone is planning to imprison children and experiment on them. Later, Snicket sees a person-shaped hole in a window, which someone has been shoved through.

Drug Content
An apothecary uses laudanum to keep an adult couple in a stupefied state.

Review: Sold by Patricia McCormick

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Sold
Patricia McCormick
Disney-Hyperion

Beneath the oppressive rule of her stepfather, Lakshmi and her mother carve out a meager living in their remote village in the mountains of Nepal. They dream of a life of plenty: a tin roof, a jacket for the baby. Lakshmi dreams of the day she will marry the village boy to whom she is betrothed.

Monsoon rains and her stepfather’s gambling addiction destroy the family’s crops. Lakshmi learns of a job in the city. She can work as a maid and send money home to support her family. A beautiful woman comes to escort her to her new home. But something isn’t right. Money changes hands. More money than Lakshmi can imagine passes from the lovely woman to her stepfather. She is taken over the border and into Happiness House, where life for Lakshmi is anything but. It’s there she learns she’ll not earn money as a maid, but as a prostitute.

Lakshmi fights her slavery and continues to dream of her village and home. To dream of rescue. When the opportunity for rescue comes, she must choose between trusting the words a stranger and the word of the other girls who’ve become her friends.

Lakshmi’s village and her life there are so well-captured. Her experiences in the city at the brothel are appropriately more muted. Her emotional journey remains in crisp focus without overwhelming the reader with the horror of her daily experiences there. There are snippets of horror, to be sure. But it’s more muted.

This story is equal parts beautiful and tragic. McCormick introduces us to an innocent girl with whom we can’t help but fall in love. When the reality of Happiness House shatters Lakshmi’s dreams, the reader can’t help but be wounded with her, which is exactly why this is such an important tale. Thousands of young girls are sold into prostitution every year. McCormick’s novel teaches us to empathize with these innocent, trapped girls without judging them. The writing is powerful, moving and intense.

Language Content
No profanity.

Sexual Content
Because this is the tragic story of a girl sold into prostitution, there is some unavoidable sexual content. In one scene, Lakshmi is handed over to a man who tries to rape her. She describes him forcefully kissing her and attempting to position himself between her legs while she fights back. It’s intense but the narrative is not explicit beyond what I’ve already described here. Lakshmi is later drugged and receives visits from men while in this defenseless state. Again, there’s not a lot of explicit description of what goes on, though a few of the vague descriptions are still intense. Readers are left to fill in the blanks when Lakshmi says a man makes her do “dirty things,” etc. When men begin visiting her, she is left physically damaged, which she briefly describes.

Spiritual Content
Lakshmi and her family pray and make offerings to locally worshipped deities in her remote Nepalese village.

Violence
See above description of rape scene. Lakshmi and the other girls are beaten if they do not comply with Mumtaz. At one point, Mumtaz threatens to take a woman’s children. There are rumors that she would maim the child and sell it to a beggar.

Drug Content
Lakshmi’s step-father appears to have gambling and alcohol addictions.

Review: The Merit Birds by Kelley Powell

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

The Merit Birds
Kelley Powell
Dundurn Press

Furious. That’s how Cameron feels about leaving Canada during his senior year and missing his star spot on the basketball team. That’s how he feels about his dad being gone. And how he feels about living in Laos for a year with his mom.

Then Cam meets Somchai, who turns out to be a better friend than all of his friends at home combined. He meets Nok, the shy massage therapist who teaches him about doing good deeds for others. He begins to fall in love. With her gentle smile. With the slow, peaceful rhythm of life in Laos.

Nok’s brother Seng longs to do something useful. To save his sister from the knife’s edge of poverty. To go to America. But before he can follow through with his dreams, tragedy turns his world upside down.

Tragedy visits Cam, too. He is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. Justice moves slowly in Laos. Terrified, Cam waits in prison for the real perpetrator to come forward. Like so many of us, in the worst of circumstances, Cam finally begins to understand the selfless gift of friendship he’s been offered in Laos. He can only hope it’s not too late to return that gift.

I really enjoyed the setting and culture details. Laos is a country about which I know very little, so it was really cool to not only read about it as a setting, but experience some of the culture and traditions through the intriguing cast of characters. The theme about misled Western characters finding being saved by the superior Eastern ways is perhaps a little overdone. Powell balances it well by showing some of the issues within the government and in revealing the flaws in the Lao characters as well. The ending was a little abrupt. It’s almost a montage of wrap-up scenes, which made it very sharp, but very brief and left me feeling like I missed part of the conclusion. Is Cam really different now that he’s out of prison? What does Cam say to Somchai, now that he’s undergone this in-prison transformation? Does he meet Nok’s other family members? Does his mom rush him back to Canada?

Part of the beauty in a story can be its unanswered questions. I definitely wanted more from this one. Overall I really enjoyed it.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Sexual Content
Cam briefly mentions having had sex with a girl at a party. No details beyond that.

Spiritual Content
Nok teaches Cam about merit birds. One buys caged birds from a vendor and then releases them to build up karma.

Violence
A rival basketball player says some unkind things to Cam and he explodes, punching the boy repeatedly in the face. A massage customer attacks Nok and attempts to rape her. She fights him off, but is shaken up by the experience. Police beat witnesses in attempts to coerce testimony.

Drug Content
Seng drinks alcohol at a party and then causes a fatal accident. Cam references drinking at parties in Canada. He and his mother sip alcohol at a party the neighbors throw for them. Cam gets drunk in a tourist town nearby and later regrets his behavior.

Review: The Waterborn by Greg Keyes

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, New Adult 18up, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

The Waterborn
Greg Keyes
Open Road Media

Twelve year-old Hezhi longs to know the secret ways of her father’s kingdom. Something happens to her family members as they reach maturity, but no one can tell her what. She will brave dark tunnels through abandoned ruins and the savage dislike of the palace librarian to uncover the truth about her cousin’s disappearance. What she finds places her own life and the lives of the only people she loves in grave danger. Through a dream, she sends a call to a faraway hero.

Perkar’s only desire is to free the beautiful stream goddess from the terrible devourer. She advises him to forget her, but he will not be dissuaded. He sets out with companions on a journey he hopes will bring him the means to kill the powerful god who harms the goddess he loves. When a strange dream reaches him, he can’t be sure if answering the cry for help aids the god he wishes to destroy or harms him. Determined to find the answers, Perkar determines to follow his quest to whatever bitter end may wait for him.

One of the things I liked about this story was the way that seemingly insignificant characters emerged to play pivotal roles. Often I didn’t see it coming, but the unfolding story made so much sense. How often in real life do we not realize our true allies or the people who will come to play important roles in our lives until circumstances reveal them? I liked that this story has a larger stage. There were just enough details from various cultures to make them interesting and more-or-less believable. It definitely made the journey feel more epic to follow Perkar through these different territories and peoples. The scope of the story reminded me of the likes of Elizabeth Moon’s The Deed of Paksenarrion.

Though the characters are young (I think Perkar is 17 or 18) the tone of the story is more adult fiction than young adult fiction. Most of the other elements would appeal to readers of either genre. (See below for content information.)

Language Content
Infrequent use of profanity.

Sexual Content
Brief but explicit sexual scenes. Perkar has an experience early in the story and another later on in the tale. A suitor tries to take advantage of Hezhi, but she stops him.

As Hezhi reaches puberty, her power wakes. It’s strongest during her monthly period. There’s not a lot of description about this, but it’s an important note in the story, so if you’re squeamish, be warned.

Spiritual Content
For Hezhi, the River is the only god, and his blood runs through all members of her family. Priests perform mysterious rites which servants are unable to speak about. Some of it is a little dark. They perform a ritual over Hezhi that’s a bit creepy. As Hezhi comes to understand her power, she uses it against others who would try to harm her. She summons a creature to her aid at one point. Her castle is also home to a number of ghosts. Priests use special brooms to “sweep” the palace of any nefarious spirits.

Perkar’s people believe in and witness a multitude of other gods with varying degrees of power and complex relationships with one another. Perkar and his companions often sing songs and leave offerings to various gods along their journey. Part of his journey involves wanting to kill a god, though he does not know if such a thing is even possible.

Violence
Violence seems to plague Perkar on his quest. Some of his actions cause death not only to his enemies but his allies as well. Some battles contain brief but gory descriptions of warfare. Hezhi also causes some death and destruction. Descriptions are brief, but intense.

Drug Content
Perkar and his people sometimes drink a strong ale called woti.

Review: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Snow Like Ashes
Sara Raasch
Balzer + Bray

Meira has spent her entire life under the shadow of the Spring kingdom’s oppression. Her own kingdom, Winter, has been decimated by Spring armies and most of her people enslaved. Only a handful of refugees live free, protecting the future king, waiting to execute the plan that will restore Winter’s magic. Only then can the other Winterians be set free and the kingdom restored.

All Meira wants is to fight for her people. Yet every time she tries, it seems someone stands in her way. When she finally finds her own way to fight, she learns a truth that shatters everything she thought she knew about her life, her people, and how to free them.

Readers looking for a strong heroine will definitely find that in Meira. I liked that finding her strength wasn’t as simple as learning to handle a sword or having a chance to go into battle. Though she holds her own in more than one conflict, she learns that there’s more to serving her people than killing some bad guys for them.

I loved the way the romance developed. I kind of thought I knew what was going to happen, and Raasch switched things up, and I found I liked that even better. In other series’ I sometimes feel like the two boys that the heroine has to choose from are not very equally matched. One is really passive or weak and the other is really the strong one. In Snow Like Ashes I felt like Raasch did a great job bringing two strong lads to the table. I’m excited to see how the series progresses and if there are some more unexpected twists and turns in the romance waiting for Meira.

Fans of The Red Queen or the Graceling books will enjoy this one.

Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
In one scene, Meira’s enemy forces her down on a bed. It’s unclear whether he intends to rape her, but it’s definitely intense. There are a couple of brief kisses.

Spiritual Content
Each ruler has an item which serves as a source of magic for the kingdom. Some rulers use their magic to help promote success among all their people while others use magic to control the people. Magic used to harm increases the power of an evil magic Meira calls the Decay.

Violence
Most of Meira’s countrymen are imprisoned in work camps and terribly mistreated. There’s not a lot of description of this, though. She recalls a memory about a man who escaped from Spring soldiers only to die of his wounds. There are a few battle scenes with some brief but vivid descriptions of war wounds.

Drug Content
None.