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Review: To Get to You by Joanne Bischof

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

To Get to You by Joanne BischofTo Get to You
Joanne Bischof
Mason Jar Books

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When Becca’s dad is involved in a serious accident, Riley vows to do whatever he can to help her. As her family packs up their motor home and takes off to be with her dad, he watches helplessly as she leaves him behind. A call asking for help is all it takes to send Riley on a journey after her. But then his car breaks down and Riley finds himself stranded with only one option: to call the father who abandoned him for fortune and fame as a pro surfer. Determined not to let his dad back into his life, Riley plans on keeping his head down and focusing on what matters: making it to Becca’s side. But the long journey isn’t without its own ups and downs, and Riley has to admit that there’s more to his dad than he wanted to credit him with. The two hammer out their differences as they cross state lines, making their way toward Becca’s family and the girl Riley hopes to make his future with.

At first, I wasn’t sure I’d like this book. The pro surfer thing didn’t really resonate with me, and I worried that it would be kind of too feel-good or obnoxiously clean or something. While the writing is very clean, I found the story to be largely authentic. I liked that Riley finds value in Becca and wants to protect her, even from things he thought were okay in his own past. Honestly, I liked Riley, period. I liked his dad and Saul, too. I thought Saul made a great third wheel and really brought some humor and warmth to the story in some of its harder moments.

I loved that Riley connected with not only Becca but her larger family, too. In my own life, my parents were kind of those sort of people, where our home was a place our friends liked to be, and their connections went beyond my sister and me to include my parents as well. That model definitely resonates with me as an authentic expression of Christianity, so I enjoyed that part of To Get to You, even though it was a smaller, less central element.

Overall I found this book to be a great clean read with a strong spiritual center. It’s the first time I’ve read anything by Joanne Bischof, but I’d definitely read other novels she’s written. To Get to You is a 2016 Christy Award finalist, an honor I think is well-deserved.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Riley makes some oblique references to his past dating experience, stating that he probably owes some girls an apology. We never get specific details about what happened, but we definitely sense his shame and how foreign Becca’s family’s strict rules are.

Spiritual Content
Riley has a mentoring relationship with a local pastor who holds him accountable. Riley thinks a lot about wanting to treat Becca right according to the guidelines her conservative Christian parents set for her.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Brief references to the fact that Riley used to smoke.

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Review: The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone

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

The Loose Ends List
Carrie Firestone
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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With Maddie’s high school graduation behind her, she and her friends make lists of loose ends they want to wrap up before leaving for college in the fall. When Maddie’s Manhattan grandma, Astrid, announces she’s terminally ill and is taking the family on a “death with dignity” cruise, Maddie’s summer plans take a turn. Maddie has never dealt with death well, but now she’s facing the loss of her closest confidante. As the trip unfolds with one exotic destination after another, she rediscovers family connections, falls in love, and braces herself for the most difficult grief she’s ever experienced.

I really can’t decide if I liked this book or not. I felt like the writing was pretty solid. The characters were well-developed. The plot made sense, and the emotional situations deeply moved me. One of the issues Maddie faces is that her anxiety manifests itself in her body in the form of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. There are a couple of comments about her ruining thong underwear because of her condition, and she mentions feeling an upset stomach now and then, but it doesn’t overtake the story. I’m not sure it was perfectly integrated into the story, but I really liked the concept of including a character with this issue. I also loved the family saying about snow globe moments and how that tied in with other parts of the story.

My biggest hurdle with the story was in the form of a moral dilemma. I’ll include more explicit information in the spoiler section at the end of my review. I have really mixed feelings about this issue and I think maybe it would have been an easier read for me if at least some character had expressed the doubts and concerns that I felt, and there had been more dialogue about the choices the characters were making. Instead, I kind of felt like I was supposed to automatically approach the issue the same way the characters did, and the fact that I did not left me out of sync with the rest of the novel.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Maddie graduates high school without losing her virginity, not for lack of trying. She relates a brief incident in which she and her boyfriend have a failed attempt at sex. Later, she begins seeing a boy and they eventually have sex. No details about her exchanges with this boy, but they do make a point to be together frequently.

Before the cruise, Maddie’s grandmother introduces her wealthy upper class, white family to “the love of her life,” a black Jamaican man. Some family members have a difficult time accepting this relationship. There’s a brief discussion later about how Astrid was against her daughter marrying a Jewish man at first. And how coming to understand that her son was gay was also a difficult transition for her, though now both her son and her son’s husband have close and loving relationships with her.

Maddie’s cousin is a pretty promiscuous girl. At one point she relates a drama about the size of her boyfriend’s penis, and soon everyone in the family knows about it. Maddie also discusses this topic with her boyfriend. In one part of the trip, Maddie walks in on her cousin having sex with an unknown man.

There are some comments about Maddie’s grandma’s VHS porn collection and Maddie’s curiosity over whether her grandma and her lover are having sex. Her entire family is pretty open about these things.

Spiritual Content
Maddie has a short conversation with a friend about whether or not they believe in heaven or afterlife. Her friend expresses a belief that the dead sort of watch over us and communicate with us through benevolent signs. At Wishwell island, patients are offered some spiritual counseling. Maddie’s family doesn’t seem to participate. At one point, Maddie discusses her earlier obsession with the Holocaust, inspired by the discovery of her Jewish heritage.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Maddie’s brother is described as being a stoner. He, Maddie and some others gather in a hot tub to share a joint. Patients aboard the Wishwell use marijuana to manage pain.

Maddie’s mom is an alcoholic, and her drunken behavior causes some embarrassment to Maddie and her family. Maddie doesn’t drink, but her cousin and other teen characters do. (In some of the international settings, the legal drinking age is 18, so they’re probably not breaking any laws there.) More than one character gets drunk and commits some behavior later regretted.

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

SPOILER ALERT
As a part of the cruise, patients have an opportunity to say goodbye to their families and participate in an assisted suicide. I had a lot of mixed feelings about this issue, and overall I think Firestone tried to show some different angles. One character, a young mom, decides the assisted suicide isn’t the best outcome for her, and that she should spend all the remaining minutes she has with her family instead.

I’m not sure what my personal choices would be were I faced with a terrible, fatal illness, so I don’t want to be judgmental. I know that I have a really difficult time with the idea that suicide somehow becomes this courageous choice for someone terminally ill. I really struggled with this issue through every page of the book.

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Review: Grayling’s Song by Karen Cushman

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Grayling’s Song
Karen Cushman
Clarion Books

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When a dark force transforms Grayling’s mother into a tree, she must track the evil and free her mother’s stolen spell book. Grayling has never been far from home, and she has no skills with which to battle a sorcerer, so along her journey, she gathers a team of companions with various magical inclination, including a shapeshifting mouse and a witch who can control the weather. Together they follow the call of Grayling’s mother’s book to the source of the evil that’s taken it, and there, Grayling will have to fight to free the grimoire.

It might be impossible not to enjoy a book with a shapeshifting mouse. Pook might have been my favorite character, though Grayling’s other companions were fun in other ways. I liked that Grayling has to find her own strength and talent, and that it comes in a way she doesn’t expect. Her confidence builds with each challenge she faces.

Grayling’s relationship with her mom seemed a little less focused. Or maybe I lost track of the details in the story. Either way, I found it odd that she had the memories of the hurtful things her mom had said and yet from other descriptions, her mom seemed really caring and compassionate and close to Grayling. I kind of want to go back and reread to see if it’s just me being confused because I wanted them to be closer or whether there are in fact mixed signals in the story.

This was a fun, offbeat read that went pretty quickly. I think I read the whole thing in an evening. I definitely enjoyed it. This is a great one to add to that summer reading list for late elementary-aged readers.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
One of Grayling’s companions is an enchantress. Men tend to fall in love with her and can easily be persuaded to give her anything she wants.

Spiritual Content
A dark force has stolen spell books from persons of various magical gifting. In Grayling’s world, whether magic is good or evil depends on how it’s used—whether to help or hurt someone.

Violent Content
A soldier captures Grayling and her companions and threatens to hold them captive until they make him invulnerable.

Drug Content
Various herbs are used to heal. At an inn, the companions are offered mead.

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

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Review: Into the Free by Julie Cantrell

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

Into the Free
Julie Cantrell
Thomas Nelson (first published in 2012 by David C. Cook)

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Millie has grown up watching the Romany travelers make their yearly trek through her Mississippi town and on into the free. She longs to leave her abusive father and poverty-stricken life behind and follow them, but who would care for Mama if she goes? When tragedy swallows Millie’s family, she’s left with only the memory of her mother’s faith to guide her. A window into her father’s secret life opens to Millie, and she finds an unexpected community among his friends. As the day draws near for the Romany to return and the one person Millie has counted on to save her will appear, she finds herself torn between the life she always wanted and the life she’s learning to embrace. She’ll have to choose one path, and hope it’s the one that leads away from the long history of abuse in her family.

The prose in this story is heart-achingly beautiful. It’s no wonder the first edition of this title won the Christy Award back in 2013. Millie’s relationships are deeply developed and complex, from her friendship with the older man, Sloth, who lives next door to her family, to her relationships with each of her parents in the midst of the abuse that takes place between them.

I felt like Millie’s reactions to things, especially early on through the middle of the story definitely fit with my picture of her as the victim of and witness to abuse. There’s one moment late in the story in which something really big happens, and I felt like Millie’s reaction is much too small and she moves on much too fast. (I’m hoping that in the sequel, we get a better understanding of why this happened and how she didn’t move on the way she might want us to think she did.)

I had a bit of a hard time with the romance of the story. I wanted it to follow an entirely different course, so I had a hard time adjusting when it didn’t follow that course. Eventually I came to understand and respect Millie’s choice, but again, the part of the story where she actually makes her choice for her future felt rushed or forced, and the jilted lover is kind of like, aww, man. Yeah, okay. So I wasn’t sure what to do with that. Did he not care about her the way I thought he did? What was that supposed to mean? Regardless, by that point I was okay with her choosing the other option, so maybe it was okay.

The sequel crosses into a more new adult story, following Millie into her new marriage and watching her deal with the unresolved issues of her past in the context of marriage. I’m really eager to see how that story unfolds. The idea reminds me a little bit of Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith (who also wrote A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, one of my favorite classics.)

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Millie and River sneak away from the gypsy camp and kiss. She feels alive inside when she’s with him, and even spends one night asleep beside him in a field.

Millie suffers a trauma (see spoiler section if you want to know details.) A wise woman tells her that you want to marry someone who is steady and safe, not someone who makes you head-over-heels crazy about them. She reads this advice as true especially considering what happened when her mother risked everything to marry her father.

Spiritual Content
Millie’s grandfather is a preacher who is all about rules. Millie’s mom has a deep faith in God despite the fact that she lives the life of an outcast. There’s a strong theme throughout the story in which a living spiritual faith is juxtaposed against rule-oriented religion. Millie rejects the empty rule-bound religion and clings to the memory of her mother quoting scripture and her messages about God’s love for people.

Violent Content
Millie’s dad beats her mother, once so badly that she has to be hospitalized.

Drug Content
Millie’s mother uses a morphine-like medication to relieve pain from injuries and also to escape emotional pain. It nearly costs her life.

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

SPOILER ALERT AND TRIGGER WARNING
A man rapes Millie. It’s not deeply described, but Millie’s response is included, and reading that was rough. Sensitive readers should take caution. Afterward, she is angry, but she puts the whole event aside very quickly to pursue a romantic relationship with a boy who loves her. I felt like that all happened very quickly. I wasn’t sure I really believed a girl who’d been raped so recently would immediately take off and offer to marry someone. It sounds like the sequel deals more deeply with this experience, so that might explain why Millie shoved it aside so abruptly and show her need for healing.

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Review: Rebel by R J Anderson

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

Rebel
R J Anderson
Enclave

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

A disciplinary issue at boarding school sends Timothy Sinclair to live with his aunt and uncle. While there, he meets a bizarre creature he never would have believed existed: a tiny, winged girl named Linden who desperately needs his help.

As Timothy becomes caught in Linden’s grave mission, he draws the attention of dark faeries. Soon, hunters close in on their trail. The only hope lies in a myth about a white stone that could secure the freedom of Linden’s people, faeries living in the Oak on Timothy’s aunt and uncle’s property. Timothy and Linden must find the stone before the deadly hunters catch them.

Yet again author R J Anderson brings us a unique tale about faeries in modern England and the humans who vow to protect them. I loved that this time the faery world expanded to include other faery kingdoms, each with their own myths and beliefs about how to interact with humans.

While I wasn’t as captivated by Timothy as I had been with Paul in Knife, the first book in the series, he definitely grew on me. I enjoyed the references to his life in Uganda, and the descriptions of his spiritual journey throughout the story. I missed the Oak and its inhabitants, so I hope to see more of them in the next book in the series, called Arrow. I loved the addition of the male faeries, too. I can’t wait to see where those stories go.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Timothy grew up with missionary parents in Uganda. He’s been attending a Christian boarding school in England, but he’s really struggling with whether or not he believes in Christian doctrine. Along his journey, he meets some very kind, very authentic Believers and while their faith doesn’t immediately reinstate Timothy’s he does find himself energized to search and ask deeper questions of the beliefs he’s been raised with, and he feels much more confident about pursuing faith.

As with the first book in this series, Rebel contains faeries who possess magic. The faeries make references to the Great Gardener, whom we understand to mean God. Some faeries believe in living lives invisible to humans while others form friendships or relationships with them. Some evil faeries use their magic to take advantage of humans.

Violent Content
Some brief battle scenes. Nothing gory.

Drug Content
None.

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Review: An Uncertain Choice by Jodi Hedlund

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

An Uncertain Choice
Jodi Hedlund
Zondervan

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

As Rosemarie’s eighteenth birthday nears, she prepares to fulfill the sacred vow her parents made and become a nun. She struggles to accept this role even as her kingdom is in turmoil at the hands of a sheriff who enforces cruel punishment and unexplained plagues that ravage the poorest citizens. Then, one month before her birthday, an old family friend rides into her kingdom with news: Rosemarie may have another option. If she can find and marry her true love before midnight on her eighteenth birthday, she will not have to enter the convent. Three knights accompany Rosemarie’s advisor. She must find out if one of them is her true love.

I felt like this story was kind of like the Ever After retelling of Cinderella, but with the Prince and Cinderella’s character kind of reversed? I really liked the concept of having this really short timeline to find out which man is Rosemarie’s true love and what is love and that sort of thing, with the clock counting down in the background.

One of the things I always struggle with in reading medieval stories is the way the writing, especially in dialogue, can be extremely stilted. I shall see what may be done about this unfortunate circumstance, etc. I tend not to enjoy that sort of thing because it’s just not how I imagine the characters talking and it sounds really forced to me. But that’s a personal preference. If you prefer that style, this is definitely a book to check out.

There were a couple of plot issues that I kind of hiccuped over, too. The largest was the idea that Rosemarie would become a nun and still also rule her kingdom. I guess I thought that you had to forsake worldly goods when you join a convent. I’m not sure if that’s a faulty perception on my part, or if I was supposed to willingly suspend my disbelief in the reading of this story. Either way, I understand why the stakes were set up that way, but it confused me. I kept wanting someone in the story to be like, yeah, but remember how King What’s-His-Beard was a monk and still ruled? Something to kind of let me off the hook for wondering. But alas.

The romance element of the story was very sweet. I liked that she had to kind of work out what was important to her in terms of choosing a husband and that her chosen knight shared her values. There were definitely some things that happened I didn’t expect, so that was good, too. The plot definitely wasn’t as simple as I expected it to be. I liked that.

The cover art and some of the way the story is told reminded me a bit of Melanie Dickerson’s novels. I’ve reviewed The Princess Spy here if you want to check it out.

Because of some brief graphic description of torture, this might not be a great pick for tweens, though the other parts of the story are certainly light enough. See below for more information on content.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
There’s some sexual tension between Rosemarie and the three knights. She wonders repeatedly what it will be like to kiss them. There is one kiss in the book.

Spiritual Content
Rosemarie has grown up believing that when she turns eighteen, she’ll have to become a nun because of a vow her parents made when they received help from a holy artifact to conceive her. When Rosemarie feels troubled, she spends time in prayer and seeks council from a trusted advisor within the church.

Violent Content
Rosemarie is passionately opposed to the use of torture to punish her people for even serious crimes. The local sheriff disregards her wishes and tortures several criminals by various methods which are described briefly. Torture comes up several more times throughout the story. The most graphic description, I thought was when a woman’s head is placed in some kind of restraining device so that her tongue can be removed. That scene lasts a bit longer than the others, and had more painful descriptions.

Drug Content
A goblet of ale is poisoned at a feast.

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