Category Archives: Paranormal

Review: Warfare by Julie Hall

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Warfare by Julie HallWarfare
Julie Hall
Published on June 13, 2017

Amazon | Goodreads

About Warfare
The battle is far from over.

When the lives of her loved ones are put in peril, who will Audrey turn to for help? On the surface, Audrey’s existence in the afterlife is coming together. Her quirky new mentor guides her on the path to becoming the demon hunter she always hoped. She has great friends and even a kinda-sorta-maybe new boyfriend. But if things are so wonderful, why is Logan never far from her thoughts?

After learning that her family is the target of an unprecedented demonic siege Audrey puts all she’s gained in jeopardy by defying heavenly authorities and returning to Earth. Stranded at the place she once called home with the one person she’s been desperate to forget, she’ll face vicious monsters, betrayers, and a legion of demons with an insidious weapon that even her celestial sword can’t defeat.

Will Audrey’s mistakes in the afterlife be what destroys the lives of the ones she loves the most?

My Review
From a plot perspective, this book is so much stronger than the first book in the series. Audrey has a goal right from the first moment, and she’s not giving up, no matter how high the stakes get. She’s still that same adorably awkward girl we fell in love with in Huntress, but her training definitely shows. Now she’s a powerful warrior. I’m so loving that!

Most of the spunky, fun characters from the first book reappear in this one, with a few notable additions. I loved Audrey’s mysterious mentor, Hugo. He’s wise and both fierce and gentle. And funny! Total win. We also meet a surprise guest from Logan’s past, who turned out to be one of the most intriguing characters in the whole book! (No spoilers… but I’m really hoping we get to see more of this in book three!)

My enthusiasm for this book came to a screeching halt toward the end, though. I’ve stepped onto my soap box below in the romance notes section, so you can read the whole tirade there. But readers with any history of sexual trauma should be aware of a potential trigger.

I’m so torn about this book. I liked so much of it, and I feel guilty for liking it so much because of the consent issue. I’m going to read the third book in the series, and see how it resolves.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity. Audrey uses faux swears like “shoot” and “gosh.”

Romance/Sexual Content
Kiss between boy and girl without her consent.

Okay, to be honest, it’s a brief kiss, but the way it happens and the way other characters react really bothers me. Basically, in the story world, a kiss creates a bond between two people, a strong spiritual tie that’s supposed to lead to marriage. It can be broken, but that’s a painful process.

So taking a kiss without someone’s consent is a big deal, because even without consent, the bond is apparently created.

It goes down like this: he kisses her without permission, and at first she’s like whoa, wait! And then she’s into it. So he’s pretty cocky because, hey, by the end, she liked it.

I think this is a really dangerous message. It’s NOT cool to kiss a girl who doesn’t express permission because she might consent after a minute or two. No, no, NO.

Also, when she tells her friends and family about the incident, they basically roll their eyes and laugh it off, like, hey, we all know you’re into that guy anyway, so just chill out.

Wow. Not okay.

Seriously. Not a single character says, wait, he didn’t have your permission? That’s not cool. You have every right to be upset, girl!

No one.

She’s just supposed to ignore her own feelings about it.

Again, not cool. At all.

Spiritual Content
Most of the story takes place in Heaven. Audrey briefly meets Jesus (though she doesn’t recognize him and he calls himself Joe) and angels. It’s based in Christian doctrine, but there are some big departures. For instance, Audrey and others are assigned to a strict physical training regimen for service on a team called Hunters. These Hunters go to earth to battle demons who attack living humans.

The story also shows prayer offering protection from demonic forces (which fits with Christian doctrine.). It also shows that sometimes God chooses to let demons harass people as part of a larger plan or purpose. Audrey specifically learns some hard lessons about how disobeying God’s plan to do what seems to make more sense in the moment can be a huge mistake and cause big problems. Obeying even when it doesn’t make sense yields much better results.

Violent Content
Battles between Hunters (human) and demons. Some brief gore.

Drug Content
None.

Review: Huntress by Julie Hall

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Huntress
Julie Hall
Published on May 16, 2017

Amazon | Goodreads

About Huntress
No one’s afterlife is as dispiriting as Audrey’s―at least that’s what she believes after waking up dead without her memories and being promptly assigned to hunt demons for the rest of eternity. She’s convinced God’s made a cosmic mistake; after all, she’d rather discuss the color of her nails than break them on angelic weapons.

It doesn’t help that her trainer, Logan, is as infuriating as he is attractive. And just when Audrey and Logan appear close to developing an amicable relationship, a decision made under duress pushes their hearts in a direction neither of them saw coming.

Despite her sub-par fighting abilities, an ancient weapon of unparalleled power chooses Audrey as its wielder, attracting the cautious gazes of her fellow hunters and the attention of Satan himself. With Satan’s eyes now fixed on Audrey, a battle for the safety of the living looms in the shadows.

My Review
Huntress is one of those unexpected, adventurous books that make for ideal weekend or poolside reading. Audrey is a fun character—sometimes clumsy, both physically and in her words—and yet she’s clearly a strong force to be reckoned with and a creative strategist. Her mentor, Logan, has that dark, unapproachable, aloof and handsome thing going on, which makes the perfect foil for Audrey’s big emotions. The other characters in the book are just as colorful, too—from Alrik, the Viking, to the more reserved Romona, who knows Audrey better than she’ll admit.

My biggest struggle with the book was in the plot. For most of the story, Audrey has no idea what’s going on or what her purpose or goal is. She remains a passive character until the last fifty pages or so, when she finally finds something to fight for. At that moment, I really invested in the book. I’m not sorry to have read it, but I wish I’d seen that side of Audrey much earlier in Huntress.

While the story itself is off the map in terms of Christian understanding of Heaven and the afterlife, it’s pretty solidly framed within an Evangelical understanding of scripture. Demons attack humans and whisper lies in an attempt to destroy them, but humans make the choices themselves. God sends angels (and in this case, Hunters) to intervene, but their response and power depend on God’s will and the faith of the people under attack.

I’ve heard the book compared to Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness, and in the sense that it has angel and demon characters, yes, it does have a connection there. Whereas Peretti’s book focuses on the human characters and uncovering a huge, focused plot against humans on earth, Huntress is more about Audrey and her role in the Hunter team as well as her angsty relationship with her mentor, Logan. It reminded me a bit of I Woke Up Dead at the Mall by Judy Sheehan because it has some of the same lighthearted voice and connection with family.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity. Audrey uses faux swears like “shoot” and “gosh.”

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Later Audrey learns that kissing in Heaven is more significant than it is on earth in that it creates a bond between two parties and is meant to lead to marriage.

Spiritual Content
Most of the story takes place in Heaven. Audrey briefly meets Jesus (though she doesn’t recognize him and he calls himself Joe) and angels. It’s based in Christian doctrine, but there are some big departures. For instance, Audrey and others are assigned to a strict physical training regimen for service on a team called Hunters. These Hunters go to earth to battle demons.

When Audrey wakes up in Heaven, she knows she’s dead, but has no memories of her life or her relationship with God. She rediscovers God’s existence and begins to learn about him through experiences with other characters and a face-to-face encounter.

There’s some discussion about how demons prey on the minds of humans, feeding them ideas or leading them away from truths about God. At one point, Audrey and her team intervene in a high school where one student has a gun.

Violent Content
Audrey spars with a training partner and battles demons using a sword. Some of the descriptions are graphic in terms of fighting and injuries/gore. One sequence of scenes shows Audrey and her team intervening in a school shooting situation. The story doesn’t show students being injured, but does show a student with a gun firing shots.

Drug Content
None.

Review: I Do Not Trust You by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz

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

I Do Not Trust You
Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Wednesday Books
Published on September 11, 2018

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About I Do Not Trust You
Memphis “M” Engle is stubborn to a fault, graced with an almost absurd knowledge of long lost languages and cultures, and a heck of an opponent in a fight. In short: she’s awesome.

Ashwin Sood is a little too posh for her tastes, a member of an ancient cult (which she’s pretty sure counts for more than one strike against him), and has just informed Memphis that her father who she thought was dead isn’t and needs her help.

From the catacombs of Paris to lost temples in the sacred forests, together they crisscross the globe, searching for the pieces of the one thing that might save her father. But the closer they come to saving him—and the more they fall for one another—the closer they get to destroying the world.

My Review
Reading I Do Not Trust You was like reading an updated Indiana Jones style adventure. Archaeology and spirituality collide in the unlikely team of M and Ash. I loved the way they drew out the best parts of each other, and the way their relationship developed felt so organic to me. It had all these fits and starts and super funny moments but also super awkward moments. All the stuff a deep friendship is built from.

In addition, the tension between the two of them has a slow, steady burn. I loved that the story didn’t go down the impulsive-crazy-sex path, because so often those scenes feel really artificial and unnecessary. Instead, I felt like they had this natural attraction that grew out of their shared experiences, and I desperately wanted them to have that “I have to know if you like me” conversation to get things out in the open.

It reminded me a little bit of Protector by Jennifer Tubbiolo, which is also about hunting down ancient artifacts. I liked it a lot. Content information below.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Ashwin is described as having very dark hair and brown skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Infrequent use of extreme profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some romantic tension/attraction between a boy and girl.
At one point, Ash and M meet a girl who clearly has some sexual intentions toward Ash. Later, she performs a spiritual ritual naked. (We only see her because Ash tries to stop her.)

Spiritual Content
Ash is a member of a group who worship the ancient Egyptian god Horus. Ash himself possesses a power he refers to as being a god channeler. This means he can use some supernatural power to move objects or manipulate energy.
Another cult has kidnapped M’s father, believing he knows where pieces of their god, Set, are hidden. They believe if they find all the pieces of an idol of their god and bring them together, the god will resurrect. Horus followers believe if the god Set rises, he will destroy the world.

Other religious sites seem to impact the pieces of the idol. M wonders if this has a sort of “many paths to the divine” kind of explanation—maybe different religions are a sort of reimagining of each other. Her friend, a Catholic nun, says she recognizes that other spiritual things are happening which she doesn’t fully understand because they’re outside her own beliefs. She doesn’t offer further explanation, even when M asks whether her friend thinks this means the other gods are evil.

Violent Content
Some situations of peril. (Poison darts and snakes protect one piece of the idol, for instance.) M learns Ash was abused by his parents after seeing terrible scars on his back. Once scene shows a fierce battle between Ash and a spiritual creature in which he’s injured.

Drug Content
A guide tells M that Ash has a history of drug and alcohol use. To earn the guide’s trust, M drinks from a flask filled with alcohol possibly mixed with another drug. Later, M ingests a hallucinogenic powder as part of a spiritual ritual in pursuit of a piece of the idol.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage

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

Ghosts of Tupelo Landing (Mo and Dale Mysteries #2)
Sheila Turnage
Kathy Dawson Books
Published on February 4, 2014

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About Ghosts of Tupelo Landing
Small towns have rules. One is, you got to stay who you are – no matter how many murders you solve.

When Miss Lana makes an Accidental Bid at the Tupelo auction and winds up the mortified owner of an old inn, she doesn’t realize there’s a ghost in the fine print. Naturally, Desperado Detective Agency (aka Mo and Dale) opens a paranormal division to solve the mystery of the ghost’s identity. They’ve got to figure out who the ghost is so they can interview it for their history assignment (extra credit). But Mo and Dale start to realize that the Inn isn’t the only haunted place in Tupelo Landing. People can also be haunted by their own past. As Mo and Dale handily track down the truth about the ghost (with some help from the new kid in town), they discover the truth about a great many other people, too.

My Review
Three Times Lucky was one of my favorite books from my reading list last year, so as soon as I started listening to audiobooks (after my daughter was born at the end of the year), I knew I needed to get the sequel. While it’s packed with the same great characters as Three Times Lucky, I felt like the story didn’t have the same oomph. Maybe because I was already familiar with the town and people, so it didn’t have that same freshness as the first book. The ghost mystery didn’t have quite the same weight as a murder mystery, either, and it had some definite willing-suspension-of-disbelief requirements. Which is okay. It still had the same killer descriptions and hilarious antics and dialogue as well as a fantastic cast of characters.

I still enjoyed The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing a lot. I’m glad I read it—nothing wrong with more Mo and Dale in my reading. I would be interested in reading the third book. Fans of books like Because of Winn Dixie and Elsie Mae Has Something to Say will want to check out this series and won’t be able to help falling head over heels for Mo and Dale.

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Cultural Elements
Takes place in a small southern town. I think all the characters were white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Mo talks about her wish to marry Dale’s older brother someday.

Spiritual Content
Mo and Dale meet a ghost living in the old inn. They decide to interview her for a school project and hope they can figure out what happened to her so she can be at peace. They have some other ghostly encounters, like seeing ghost cars in the middle of the night.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
One of the men in Mo’s town is rumored to have a still where he brews alcohol.

 

Review: Every Day by David Levithan

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

Every Day
David Levithan
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published on August 28, 2012

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About Every Day
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

My Review
Conceptually, this is probably one of the most intriguing books I’ve read this year. It reminds me a tiny bit of the show Quantum Leap, except that we don’t ever learn why A travels from body to body. And of course, Every Day takes a lot more time for exploration of what this kind of existence would mean in terms of understanding gender and sexual orientation. On that topic, I felt like the story sometimes got a bit preachy.

I think my favorite character by far was Rhiannon. I liked that she’s obviously a good person even though she’s sort of blind to her boyfriend’s flaws and therefore flawed herself. She struggles to understand life around her and embrace the relationships in her life. I liked that.

A was tougher for me. I liked him a lot more at the beginning of the story than the end. At the beginning, he tries to be really respectful of the person’s life into which he’s trespassing. But as the story progresses and his obsession with Rhiannon grows, he takes bigger and bigger risks and soon pretty much hijacks the life he’s occupying in order to spend the time with her, regardless of the consequences to the other person. As the story resolves, A tries to be the bigger person and do what he sees as right, but even in that, I felt like he was a bit controlling. I don’t want to spoil the ending, so I don’t want to say more. I just felt like he again took the choice away from other people Even though it was well-meaning, it still felt selfish to me.

On the whole, Every Day is a truly unusual book that did make me think about relationships and the things in life we so easily take for granted, like actually being able to have relationships and even possessions from one day to the next. To be honest, I felt like while the story posed some interesting questions, the content and ideas might be confusing for younger teen readers. For me personally, this would be one to wait on introducing or to read together and discuss some of the ideas and what they mean in the context of faith. See below for more content information.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
A has no body and therefore no gender, though he still falls in love—once with a boy, once with a girl. A experiences life as straight, gay, and transgender teens. Sometimes A is white, sometimes Asian, sometimes black or Latina. At one point A is an obese teenager, and makes some disparaging comments about the person’s character because of his weight.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A knows Rhiannon and her boyfriend have had sex. When A is Rhiannon’s boyfriend, they sit on the “make-out blanket” and kiss. Later, A and a girl plan to have sex, but A ends up feeling it’s not fair for him to take that experience from the person whose body he’s using. They do climb into bed naked and kiss one another. Some scenes show kisses between two boys or two girls or a boy and girl.

A believes gender is sort of meaningless and doesn’t understand why Rhiannon is more comfortable showing affection to boys than girls. The narrative occasionally gets a bit preachy about this.

Spiritual Content
A has some really negative feelings about Evangelical Christians in particular. One person A “borrowed” later claims he was possessed by the devil for a day. A pastor supports his theory.

Because A has experienced life as a participant in many different religions, he feels they’re all the same and ultimately share the same goals. There’s a short passage in which the narrative focuses on this topic and emphasizes a belief that all religions are essentially equal.

Violent Content
A boy punches another boy in a school gym.

Drug Content
A, as a sixteen-year-old girl, watches her brother smoke a joint in the car on the way to school. She helps him lie to their parents about his drug use so he doesn’t get into trouble.

Teens drink alcohol at a party. A doesn’t drink because the boy whose life he is in wouldn’t do so.

A boy makes a comment about how much he enjoys using his girlfriend’s mom’s pills.

Review: When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas

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

When Light Left Us
Leah Thomas
Bloomsbury
Published on February 13, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About When Light Left Us
When the Vasquez siblings’ father left, it seemed nothing could remedy the absence in their lives . . . until a shimmering figure named Luz appeared in the canyon behind their house.

Luz filled the void. He shot hoops with seventeen-year-old Hank’s hands. He showed fourteen-year-old Ana cinematic beauty behind her eyelids. He spoke kindly to eight-year-old Milo. But then Luz left, too, and he took something from each of them. As a new school year begins, Ana, Hank, and Milo must carry on as if an alien presence never altered them. But how can they ever feel close to other people again when Luz changed everything about how they see the world and themselves?

In an imaginative and heartfelt exploration of human—and non-human—nature, Leah Thomas champions the unyielding bonds between family and true friends.

My Review
When Light Left Us is a really odd book. Some of the oddness kind of made it hard for me to get into the story at first. I liked all three of the kids, though, so as I got to know them, I got more into the story. The writing is amazing. Even when the plot didn’t hook me, I would find myself lost in the stark descriptions of things, especially of the emotions of the characters. Thomas finds these really powerful and often unorthodox ways of describing things that is like tossing you into a swimming pool of that emotion. Suddenly, you’re swallowed up by feelings. I loved that about her earlier books and found it to be equally true in this one, too.

I liked that the siblings had really distinct traits and ways of thinking and talking. Ana with her sarcasm and Hank with his uncertainty. Milo with his helium-filled optimism. So great! I wasn’t crazy about the fact that their mom had her own point-of-view scenes at first, but it did add to the story. I’m not sure if teen readers would connect with her the same way that I did as a mom, though. Lots of the things she said and did resonated with me.

All in all, the story never gets un-weird. A strange alien-ish creature changes the lives of the humans it contacts. They must fight their way back from the trauma of losing their dad and then losing contact with the alien presence. But the characters, the power of the storytelling make When Light Left Us a strong, unforgettable story.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Hank, Ana, and Milo’s dad is Mexican and their mom is white. Hank is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and references to kissing between a boy and girl and a boy and boy.

Spiritual Content
Luz is possibly an alien or other sentient being who communicates with his hosts and can take control of their bodies.

Violent Content
Hank remembers attacking two people and trying to choke them. Ana has a history of cutting herself and briefly remembers some of those experiences. A boy attacks Hank, punching and kicking him. Luz seems fascinated with death and nearly forces two people to end their lives while he controls them.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.