Crushed under the powerful Regime, Marrok and his mother slide deeper into poverty. Driven by a strange vision, Marrok spends the last of his money on a bet that’s beyond a long shot. And then wins. But what seems like his salvation soon becomes his worst nightmare. Ambrosia, a mysterious woman who leads a resistance network, knows about Marrok’s power and believes he has come to save them from the terror of the Regime. Ambrosia isn’t the only one interested in Marrok, though. He feels powerfully drawn to Chantelle, a girl he meets in the gambling hall. It isn’t long before she’s saved his life, more than once. When the Regime closes in around them, Marrok must find the courage to stand up against a terrifying evil.
At roughly seventy pages, The Dredge is a pretty quick read. A lot happens in those pages, so the story pulled me through from beginning to end. I liked Marrok as well as Chantelle, a girl who helps him along the way. There’s a little bit of romance, but it’s very sweet. I liked the storyworld created by Engle in this piece. It felt like the same kind of universe you might meet Captain Malcolm Reynolds or Luke Skywalker in.
Language Content
“Hell” appears one time.
Sexual Content Physical contact between opposite sexes is forbidden. Marrok feels drawn to a girl and they touch hands and briefly kiss. They spend a night in one another’s company, sharing a mattress, but just sleeping.
Spiritual Content A prophecy foretells a savior coming to destroy the regime. A powerful woman believes Marrok is the one to whom the prediction refers.
Violence Brief battle scenes. The Regime is brutal, but the descriptions are not gory.
Drug Content
Marrok goes to a gambling hall and orders a strong drink.
As White as Snow by Salla Simukka
Translated from Finnish by Owen F. Witesman
Skyscape/Amazon
After risking her life to bring down a crime ring in Finland, seventeen year-old Lumikki retreats to the anonymous streets of Prague, hoping to find a little peace. Instead she finds a young woman claiming to be her long-lost sister whose life may be in danger. Even though she finds the girl’s story suspicious, Lumikki can’t turn her back on the girl and the mystery surrounding her.
Some elements – an investigative reporter working to uncover a far-reaching scandal aided by a brilliant but odd girl – may remind readers of Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Yet despite the drama and suspense, the story’s pace chokes on pointless flashbacks featuring a failed romance between Lumikki and her transgender partner. Perhaps Lumikki is too smart, for she often foils the plans of her enemies with seemingly little effort. To digest the ending requires a firm willing suspension of disbelief as Lumikki resolves one mystery only to abandon pressing charges or consequences on some guilty parties.
As White as Snow is the second book detailing Lumikki’s crime-fighting exploits. Perhaps reading the first book, As Red as Blood would have given me a better reference point for understanding how the relationship flashbacks related to the current story. Without having read that first book, it’s hard for me to say. As a fan of Larsson’s Dragon Tattoo books, I felt this story, which is advertised as a comparable tale, really couldn’t compare to the complexity and machine-tight plot found in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But perhaps that comparison set the bar too high?
Language Content
Profanity used very infrequently.
Sexual Content
Lumikki has flashbacks to her relationship with Blaze, who is a transgender boy. Blaze ended his relationship with Lumikki due to worries that she couldn’t accept his transition. Lumikki feels she never judged Blaze and loved him regardless of any issues related to his transgender-ness. She remembers some sexual experiences rather vividly – PG-13 kind of stuff. These scenes don’t really connect to the present story at all. Blaze never enters the story in any way other than in the flashbacks, and they never add to the current tale.
Spiritual Content
Lenka is a member of a cult whose practices have some connection with Christianity. The cult members believe they are members of one family, and their practices reference Jesus and God. There are references to other cults in which members have committed suicide en masse.
Violence
An assassin tries to catch and kill Lumikki, but he’s a bit clumsy about it.
Drug Content A girl takes sleeping pills on orders from her spiritual leader.
Seventeen year-old Cassie Hobbes and her friends possess unique gifts that have landed them on a secret FBI team that solves tough cases. Their last case called the whole project into question, and now, just when Cassie and the others desperately need a case to focus on, it looks like they might get benched.
But when a new killer emerges and leaves behind a trail of crime scenes all too familiar, authorities turn to Cassie’s team for answers. The killer mimics team member Dean’s father, who’s still behind bars on his own murder convictions. As the team investigates, Cassie and Dean’s relationship shifts, but the emotional baggage each carries might bar them from anything deeper than friendship.
Barnes continues to develop relationships between characters, ratcheting up the drama and intrigue within the group. There’s a hint of romance, but it doesn’t overtake the larger plot of the novel. Suspense lovers will enjoy the quick pace of the story as Cassie and her friends race to solve the clues left behind by a terrifying murderer before he snatches his next victim. The ending leaves plenty of room for a follow-up story as well.
Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.
Sexual Content References to a romantic history between some characters but no real details given.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence The team studies a case in which a serial killer cuts, brands and murders women. There aren’t a lot of details about the crimes themselves or the condition of the victims’ bodies, so it’s more creepy than graphic. One of the boys had been forced to watch a woman treated this way as a child. Again, not a lot of detail there, it’s just heartbreaking to think of someone going through that.
The walls of her tiny prison cell and the soothing voice of the boy in the cell next to hers make up Em’s world. She waits, dreading the moment the doctor will come again, because she knows he’ll use whatever means necessary to force her to reveal the location of coveted documents. When Em finds a message hidden in the cell’s drain, she knows following the instructions are the only way she can be free. She must find a way to kill the doctor and prevent the creation of the time machine that will destroy the world as she knows it.
As Marina prepares to attend a prestigious political dinner with her best friend James, all she can think about is finding a moment alone with him to reveal her feelings for him. Before she has a chance, an assassin’s attack throws the evening into chaos and threatens the life of the person James holds most dear. Determined to protect James, Marina and James’s best friend Finn launch their own investigation into the identity of the assassin. What she uncovers forces her to reevaluate everything she knows about the one she loves most. Marina’s investigation and Em’s mission collide in a desperate struggle that could destroy everything.
Because it’s a story about time travel, many characters appear more than once as different versions of themselves. Terrill handles this really well, allowing the readers to experience through these different character versions the effects of disillusionment, torture and desperation on once innocent, ordinary teens. Finn is probably my favorite character. I loved the banter between him and Marina, and the way that his relationships with other characters unfolded.
In this story, Time is sentient and can take action to keep the universe from totally unraveling as a result of changes made during various trips back and forth through time. While I loved this concept of Time being almost a character in its own right, I wanted more. I kind of wanted Time itself to play a role in the resolution of the story, so I was a little disappointed when the concept wasn’t developed to play a more important role. Still, this was one plot that kept me guessing. I kept making predictions about what the characters were going to do to restore some kind of order to their future lives, and often I was wrong about how that was going to come about.
The ending was a little bit jarring – there’s kind of a disconnect at one point where things sort of jolt forward or reset and I felt like it was a little bit of a weak transition. I think we’re meant to assume that Time has taken action to protect itself, but that seemed like a bit of a stretch to me in this instance. I’d have liked to see that transition more smoothly and would have liked some of the gaps to have better explanations. Overall, though, I still really enjoyed the story and totally fell in love with the characters.
At one time this book was intended to have a sequel. Since then the author has issued a statement saying that All Our Yesterdays will remain a stand-alone novel. While I am curious what happened next for the characters, I think that was probably a smart move. All Our Yesterdays is a stronger story on its own. Fans will be pleased to know that Terrill has released a short story taking place several months after the end of the story on her web site.
Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.
Sexual Content During some pretty intense kissing, Marina removes her shirt. Things break up and go no further. Em and Finn have a romantic relationship and share kisses and sleep together. No details.
Spiritual Content In this story, Time is sentient and capable of self-preservation.
Violence Em and Finn are tortured for information regarding missing papers. An assassin tries to kill James and his brother. Torture scenes are brief but intense. The assassin uses a gun.
Grave 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.
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.
