Review: Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage

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

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

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

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: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Children of Blood and Bone
Tomi Adeyemi
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Published on March 6, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Children of Blood and Bone

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for the enemy.

My Review

I have heard SO MUCH about CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE and really looked forward to reading it. I love the story world. It felt really different than anything I’ve read before. Very fresh. I love the maji system even though it’s a little complex. Not too bad, though. I never felt lost in reading scenes.

Amari quickly became my favorite character. Her bravery and her love for her best friend totally endeared her to me right from the get-go. It took a little longer for me to warm up to the powerful Zélie who made some selfish choices at the beginning of the story. But as I got to know her true nature, I couldn’t help rooting for her and wanting her to succeed. I’m kind of wondering if there’s not a love triangle ahead for her? I felt some sparks between her and a pretty minor character who seems poised to have a larger role in the next book. We’ll see what happens!

Zélie wants freedom for her people more than anything, but she hesitates to use her power to fight at first and she has a strong moral sense of good and evil. Inan seems more mixed up. His need for his father’s approval made him a sympathetic character to me, but his relationship with violence and the lengths to which he was willing to go to get his father’s love were a challenge for me. He also seemed to flip flop a little quickly where one minute he’d be thinking he could disregard his goal and the next reversed his position.

On the whole, I loved the originality of the tale and both of the female leads. This is a rich, immersive story and a great start to a new fantasy series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Characters are brown-skinned.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. One romantic interlude progresses further and hints at sex. No graphic descriptions of it.

References to a relationship the king has with his mistress.

Spiritual Content
Each god or goddess is connected to a type of magic. Zélie uses reaper magic which connects with dead spirits to create animated helpers that she controls.  Inan’s magic shows him things about a person’s inner life, like memories and emotions.

Violent Content
Lots of battles, sometimes involving civilians. Some pretty graphic descriptions of combat and death. Zélie worries about being placed in slavery, a common fate for a maji. Men sometimes threaten her with harm or make vulgar, suggestive comments about harming her sexually.

Inan especially seems to view violence through a kind of morally gray lens. He desperately wants his father’s approval and is willing to do almost anything to get it, including harming people he otherwise wants to protect. He’s also desperate to hide his magic, and willing to harm anyone who will out him.

At one point, Zélie and her crew end up fighting in a sort of gladiator arena style match where only the winners come out alive. They watch a match first and are horrified at the bloodshed, but still decide to enter.

Drug Content
References to wine.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which cost nothing for you to use, but which generate a small amount of support for this blog.

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

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

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: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

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

To Kill a Kingdom
Alexandra Christo
Feiwel & Friends
Published on March 6th, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About To Kill a Kingdom

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

My Review

This was a very different look at The Little Mermaid tale. And by different, I mean on the complete opposite end of the spectrum compared to the Disney version we are familiar with. This tale pays more homage to the Brothers Grimm than it does to Andersen.

Setting: The world-building was neat, and I’d like to learn more about the various countries represented in the story. I especially liked how the royalty of each country had their own unique myth or legend that made them stand out compared to the rest of the citizens.

Characters: The characters were entertaining, on the whole, even if they did fall a little flat. Lira’s character arc stuttered a bit, and I struggled to understand and empathize with what she was going through. I felt like she changed a lot without enough description of what was going through her head to make it believable. Elian, on the other hand, was more enjoyable to read about; however, I felt like he was two different characters, depending on if I was reading from his perspective, or Lira’s perspective. I get the author was doing that on purpose, but it just made it harder to connect with him.

Plot: Nothing special here. It’s a typical band of YA characters going on a mission to save the world from an oppressive ruler. Read it for the retelling, not for the plot.

Overall: I didn’t like this one. It had waaay too much violence (it really should have been a DNF), and the characters weren’t especially endearing. If you like brutal, bloodthirsty fairytales, then this book is for you. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something with a little less content, and a little more a unique plot, then I suggest checking out The Mermaid’s Sister by Carrie Anne Noble.

Recommended for Ages 16 and up

Cultural Elements
Some characters are described as having brown skin. Some characters are described as being pure white, with blue lips. One lesbian couple. Sirens seduce both men and women. 

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Frequent profanity, and some innuendo. 

Romance/Sexual Content
One heavy, detailed kiss. A monster forces a kiss. Sirens kiss seduced sailors. Some innuendo, and veiled mentions of castrating people. One royal family has the power to seduce anyone they touch.

Spiritual Content
A goddess, Keto, is frequently mentioned and referred to. Magic is attributed to her.

Violent Content
There is a lot of graphic violence in this one. Torture, beatings, attacks, blood, wounds, burns by acid, etc. Very gory.

Drug Content
A brief mention of using poison/sedative to get what a character wants.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: If You’re Gone by Brittany Goodwin

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

If You’re Gone
Brittany Goodwin
Edge of 22
Published on June 20, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About If You’re Gone
Lillian White was planning for the perfect summer- spending every waking minute at the lake with her heartthrob boyfriend, Brad Lee. But her world is shattered when Brad mysteriously disappears the night of his graduation ceremony- the same night he tells her he loves her for the first time. After law enforcement dismisses the case, classifying Brad as voluntarily missing, Lillian becomes desperate to prove that he couldn’t have just walked away. Not from his family. Not from his friends. Not from her.

Heartbroken but determined to find answers, Lillian begins to uncover secrets from Brad’s past that force her to question everything she thought she knew about him and their relationship. Will the truth lead her to him? Or are Brad’s lies just the beginning of the mystery?

My Review
I liked that this story explores a different side of a missing person case. While Lil believes only something terrible would keep her boyfriend Brad from coming home, she can’t help but be concerned about the things he kept from her. She believes he must be out there somewhere, which only makes it harder for her to find her way through her grief process—something she struggles to communicate to her family and friends.

Her mom’s response to Brad’s disappearance frustrated me. I felt like there were several characters all hitting the same flat note where they had used up all their patience and compassion and sort of wanted Lil to snap out of her depression and worry. I’m sure that’s a realistic experience, but I guess some of the similarities in response made some of the scenes and characters feel repetitive or two-dimensional.

The end definitely wasn’t what I expected, which I also found appealing in concept. What was harder, though, was that there are several things that happen in close succession near the end which feel like sharp turns, and I felt like I didn’t always understand the abrupt changes in Lil or the people around her. It felt like there should have been more explanation or a slower progression or some additional development to better anchor those changes into the story.

Overall, though, If You’re Gone is a quick read with an unusual take on a popular YA theme. If you’re into missing person stories, put this one on your list.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Few race/cultural details. Most characters seem to be white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Lil prays sometimes, usually in the desperate way of someone overwhelmed and longing for God to ease burdens. She and her family attend church regularly, and church values are a significant part of Lil’s life.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Lil celebrates with friends, sharing a bottle of champagne with them.

 

Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2018

Lists, Middle Grade 8-12, News and Fun, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

February 2018 Reviews

Romance and dystopian stories, favorites and books I just didn’t get… here’s what you missed this month in reviews.

The Returning (Seer #3) by Rachelle Dekker

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

I liked the fast-paced storytelling and the way you could read this book without remembering what happened in (or without reading) the earlier books. I had some issues with the theology, which you can read about in my review.

Everless by Sara Holland

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

A friend suggested that I read this book, and I’m so glad she did. Really fascinating concept and characters I enjoyed.

The Unicorn Quest by Kamilla Benko

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

I think you pretty much can’t go wrong with a book about unicorns! This was a fun read, perfect for readers aged 8 to 12.

For Love and Honor (An Uncertain Choice #3) by Jody Hedlund

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Another book from one of my daughter’s favorite authors. It’s a sweet, light romance, great for readers just starting out in the genre.

The Ruby Moon by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

I had a hard time following the story in this book. It’s got a wide cast of characters and a lot happening. If the story interests you, I’d recommend starting with the first book in the series instead of this one.

Hawk’s Flight by Carol Chase

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

One of my favorite books of all time– though it’s out of print. I love the characters, and the story still feels fresh to me even after reading it easily a dozen times.

Duels and Deception by Cindy Anstey

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Gabrielle says: Overall, I give this book 4 stars. While not terribly life-altering (it leans more to the ‘fluff’ side than the profound), it was a delicious read, and as such, merits my approval. Fellow Janeites looking for a quick, easy read will enjoy this one.

When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

I read this book because I so enjoyed Thomas’s other books about Moritz and Ollie. This one is very different, but I found the same compelling characters and great descriptions of emotion in here that made me fall in love with the other books.

The Messengers: Discovered by Lisa M. Clark

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

This might be the best Christian dystopian book I’ve ever read. I really enjoyed reading it and liked that the story so seamlessly supported its Christian message.

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

I struggled with this book. While I found the story interesting, I feel like it was really issue-driven, to the point that everything else seemed to take a back seat to the issue of women’s sexual equality. It’s an important issue, for sure, but I felt like it dominated the story too much for my taste. If you like issue-based books, though, it might be a good one to check out. See the notes after the review for content information.

What did you read in February 2018?

What about you? Did you find any books you have to talk about or books you want to recommend? Leave a comment below sharing them with us.

Also, if you’ve read any of the books we reviewed, leave a comment telling us how you liked the book or what you thought about it!