Anyone would be thrilled to spend the summer in Paris, but Sophie dreads it. Meeting her dad’s new wife and stepdaughter? Leaving her friends behind in the States? Not fun at all. When Sophie arrives, things only get worse. Her dad promised her a piano but never follows through. Her stepsister Camille torments her constantly, and even recruits her friends to help make Sophie miserable. Then one of Camille’s friends reaches out to Sophie. His charm and sweetness are the lifeline Sophie needs to get her through the difficult summer. The two grow closer, but if Camille finds out, she’ll do everything within her power to ruin Sophie’s happiness.
The French setting definitely won me over in this book. I loved the way Swank described different places and streets, cafes and apartments. The relationship between Sophie and her brother Eric added a lot to the story, too. I liked that while at home they were more like rivals, once they arrived in Paris, they became each other’s number one ally. It was sweet and definitely felt real to me.
For the most part, I liked the plot. There were a couple of moments that made me pause. One was when a stranger approaches Sophie outside a restaurant. For a girl who panicked about being alone in a foreign country earlier, she is remarkably unguarded when a strange man strikes up a conversation with her. Later on, a boy lies about his relationship with Sophie, and I just didn’t buy the idea that he’d tell such a farfetched story. I didn’t feel like he had enough motivation to do it, so I didn’t buy in. Which made the ending sort of unravel for me.
I loved the scenes in which Sophie plays the piano. Her music definitely felt like a real, emotional part of her life. I often found myself pulled into her playing and wanting to look up the composers and pieces she practiced.
Cultural Elements
Culture clash occurs between Americans Sophie and her brother and their French step-sister and her friends in Paris. Most of the story takes place in Paris.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
References to swearing, but no cursing appears in the text.
Romance/Sexual Content Sophie and a boyfriend exchange kisses. She learns about her stepsister sleeping with boys, but doesn’t personally witness any of her behavior other than kissing. At one point she discusses the difference between American dating and French relationships, and mentions that the French are more free about sex. Her French companion disagrees, pointing out that in France, there may be less judgement or shame about sex, but most people only engage when they love each other.
Spiritual Content Sophie’s parents have a civil ceremony to legally wed and then a separate church ceremony. She’s told that many Catholics prefer the religious ceremony.
Blink is an imprint of Zondervan in which stories do not contain overt Christian themes.
Violent Content An unknown thief pickpockets Sophie on a subway. A boy handles her roughly, leaving a bruise on her wrist. A boy kisses her when she didn’t expect, and she doesn’t want him to. She’s able to stop him pretty quickly. A boy claims he’s been having sex with her every day, which isn’t true.
Drug Content
At Sophie’s Dad and stepmom’s wedding, all guests except the youngest children share in a champagne toast to the couple. At a Bastille day picnic, Sophie and her friends drink alcohol. She only sips a tiny amount and doesn’t like it. Later, her brother drinks a bottle of cheap wine and ends up sick.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
With college application deadlines fast-approaching, Devon is under pressure to be her most extraordinary self. The problem? How would Jane Austen say this? She’s remarkably uninteresting. Devon has never minded the sidelines. Especially when her best friend Cas and secret love takes the football field. When her socially awkward cousin Foster moves in with Devon’s family, his presence changes everything, bringing the local unapproachable football star, Ezra, into Devon’s path. Like, almost constantly. Ezra’s new closeness seems to stir some jealous feelings in Cas, and at first Devon thinks this might be the moment in which he discovers his deep love for her. But as she gets to know Ezra better, she starts to wonder if it really is Cas she wants.
I have to be honest. If you had asked me if I’d like to read a book equal parts football and Jane Austen, I would have looked at you as if you’d just asked whether I’d like ice cream on my nachos. Um, what? No. Just no.
But.
I think this really worked. It had a lot more profanity than I was expecting and felt was necessary, but I did enjoy the way Devon kept this inner monologue of Jane Austen describing her modern life. I liked that it celebrated Austen without making the story a straight-up retelling of a familiar tale or something like that. I also enjoyed Foster’s rambling monologues and totally inappropriate questions. I laughed out loud at some moments.
As far as the plot goes, there were definitely some unexpected twists and turns. I liked that, in keeping with true Austen tradition, this isn’t a story with explicit sex. Devon’s on a quest for love, and while she recognizes that sex is out there, she’s not eager for it for its own sake.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.
Romance/Sexual Content One of Devon’s high school friends is pregnant. There’s not much discussion about who she’s been involved with or anything like that. Devon laments her lack of sexual experience. As a senior in high school, she’s never even been kissed, and she hasn’t dated since eighth grade. There are a couple of scenes in which kids are described as making out or kissing. Devon knows that some of her friends are sexually active, but they don’t talk about it explicitly.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content Devon’s cousin joins the football team, and she witnesses some practices and games. One player is tackled and suffers a concussion. He is rushed to the hospital. One boy shoves another boy’s head under water repeatedly in a swimming pool. It’s clearly a threat and not a joke.
Drug Content
Devon attends parties where teens are drinking alcohol. She doesn’t enjoy the parties and often doesn’t stay late. Her cousin and another friend each throw parties without any alcohol which are still well-attended, though some guests show up drunk already or plan to leave for other parties in order to get drunk.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Fish Wielder is kind of like Lord of the Rings, set in Narnia, if it was written by the guys who made Monty Python and the Holy Grail while they were listening to the music of They Might Be Giants.
In ancient times, the Dark Lord Mauron cooked the most powerful magic chocolate dessert ever made, the Pudding of Power. One thousand and two years later, the evil leader of the Bad Religion, the Heartless One, is trying to recover the lost pudding in order to enslave the peoples of Grome. Only the depressed barbarian warrior Thoral Might Fist and his best friend, Brad the talking Koi fish, have a chance to save the world of Grome from destruction, but that’s going to take a ridiculous amount of magic and mayhem. Thus begins the epically silly epic fantasy of epic proportions, Fish Wielder—book one of the Fish Wielder Trilogy.
Jim has worked as a writer, screen writer, animator and director in entertainment and commercials since graduating from Columbia College of Chicago in 1988. He is the author of The Helm, which YALSA praised as one of 2010’s best graphic novels for young readers, and has directed animated commercial and entertainment projects, including spots for M&M’s, AT&T, and Kellogg’s. He co-founded Character LLC in 2000 and has given story advice to many of the world’s largest brands, such as Target, Verizon, Samsung, McDonalds and Walmart, and has even appeared on NBC’s “The Apprentice” as an expert adviser on brand characters. Jim lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, two kids and two dogs. Fish Wielder is his first novel.
Enter the Giveaway
1 winner will receive a $10 (USD) Amazon Gift Card and a copy of FISH WIELDER
*Gift card is open internationally, but FISH WIELDER can only be mailed to a US mailing address*
The royal prince offers an imprisoned assassin the one thing she wants most—freedom—at a heavy cost. She must compete for the honor of serving the king who imprisoned her as his champion. At first Celaena is only determined to bide her time until she can escape. The competition begins with a chilling event. Competitors are found murdered, their bodies mutilated. Celaena fears the murders may be tied to dark rituals, but no one else will believe her. As she investigates further, she finds herself caught deeper in a web that would keep her from running away. As romance blooms between Celaena and the prince, she begins to realize she doesn’t want to run. She might have a chance at freedom and the possibility of a life wholly her own. But only if she can win the contest and stop the killer before she becomes his next victim.
This is the first novel by Sarah J. Maas that I’ve read. I’m not sure what I was expecting from this novel. I like the idea of a young girl as a famous assassin in a country where almost no one really believes it. She’s so young and it’s so unexpected. I guess I had a hard time really buying into the idea that she’s that good and yet the king welcomes her to the palace, totally within reach of everyone who has made the last year of her life completely miserable. It seemed like a really big risk. But I was willing to overlook that because other parts of the story sounded really intriguing.
I liked Celaena’s friendships with the Princess Nehemia and with the captain of the guard, Chaol Westfall. I think he actually might have been my favorite character. Prince Dorian was hit and miss with me, though. Sometimes I liked him a lot, and other times he felt inconsistent to me. One moment, he acted sort of the cliché misunderstood prince. In other scenes, he seemed confident, comfortable in his role, so I couldn’t always reconcile those differences.
The competition itself felt a little bit choppy, though sometimes that’s because other more important parts of the story overshadowed the competition. I guess I wanted that part to feel more like those scenes from The Hunger Games when the tributes are practicing and then performing for the game makers, and this didn’t have that same power. But in fairness, it also didn’t have the same weight to the story as the larger conflict emerged and becoming the champion became a less important goal.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. There are more than enough potential conflicts introduced throughout the entire novel to interest readers in subsequent books. Readers who liked The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch will probably also like this book.
Cultural Elements An oppressive king rules multiple peoples, and some struggle to organize a revolution. The cultural or racial differences between each group are vague, but the story world does give the indication that each group have cultures and customs. Celaena respects others, and often wonders what it’s like for people like Nehemia and Chaol, who have loyalty to family and homes oppressed by the king.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Captain Westfall worries that Prince Dorian will attempt to seduce Celaena. He references the prince’s reputation for such behavior, and Dorian himself makes a couple of vague comments. A young woman has come to the court by promising an unappealing older man that she’ll marry him. She secretly hopes to secure Prince Dorian’s affections instead, and dreads and worries about the man she promised herself to making romantic advances. A man and woman kiss several times, once lying in her bed, clothed.
Spiritual Content The king outlawed magic and its use long ago. Celaena discovers evidence of dark rituals and demonic creatures. The spirit of a queen long dead offers aid and protection to a warrior.
Violent Content None.
Drug Content
A young woman smokes opium. A team of warriors must identify wine laced with poisons.
Tara St. Pierre, author of Just a Few Inches joines me today to talk about inspiration and some behind-the-scenes information about her book.
Hi Tara. Thanks for taking time to answer my questions about Just a Few Inches. 🙂
You’re welcome! It’s a pleasure to be here, Kasey.
I find that a story was often inspired by a question. Was there a question that inspired you to write Just a Few Inches?
What if one of those checkout-counter magazine headlines that claimed a diet could “shrink inches from your waist” caused a person to shrink in height instead? I realize that it’s a somewhat odd question to pose, but it’s the one that crossed my mind while I stood in line at a drugstore when I first came up with the idea for this story. The usage of the word “shrink” in that context is what really jumped out at me, and my imagination went to movies like The Incredible Shrinking Woman and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. I figured I could make this into a story about body image but in a much different way than had been done before. Rather than Carrie (my protagonist) battle with an existing eating disorder—and risk the book being too heavy-handed or worse, inaccurate or insensitive—I chose to show weight loss in the most outlandish way possible with this sci-fi/fantasy twist. There are claims that fashion dolls cause young girls to develop body image insecurity, and though I don’t know if that’s true, it became a much more interesting question to posit while Carrie was literally the size of a fashion doll. By employing the speculative element of Carrie shrinking, I could still tackle the issues I wanted but integrate them into a unique, gripping, entertaining plot.
Very cool stuff. As I was reading, I definitely had a few moments where I thought about those movies, too. I liked that you had that moment about fashion dolls, too. I think you’re right– the way you chose to tell the story did explore the issue in a really unique way.
Do you have a favorite character? Were there things about your favorite character which couldn’t be included in the novel?
I think my favorite character would have to be Carrie’s mother. Imagine watching your own daughter shrink smaller and smaller with possibly no end in sight. A chilling thought, isn’t it? She’s brave and supportive because she has to maintain that face for her daughter, but inside, she’s terrified and angry and trying her hardest no to be completely devastated. Because the story is told from Carrie’s point of view, I can’t just tell the reader how her mother feels; I can only show her mother’s emotions during her interactions with Carrie. There’s an entire perspective there that I couldn’t include as much as I would’ve liked. Also, in the first draft, I went into more detail about the legal matters between Carrie’s parents and the manufacturers of the diet pills, but my advance readers, which included some teens, didn’t respond to these scenes as positively as other parts of the book. They would have shown Carrie’s mother fighting the external conflict for her daughter. But no matter how much of her mother’s story that I had to keep out of the book, Carrie is extremely grateful for all the love and support her mother provided—and I have what I think is a neat way of symbolizing that in the final chapter.
As a mom myself, I totally identified with Carrie’s mom, so I hear you. Kudos to you for trusting those advance readers. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to make some of those changes.
Is there a scene or moment in your novel that really sticks with you? Can you tell us a little bit about it?
There’s a chapter about halfway through the book where Carrie and her younger stepsister Amy have a significant confrontation. I don’t want to spoil it with details, but their relationship had been bubbling to this point, and it was exhilarating and frightening and draining to write about when it reached its boiling point. I had a handful of advance readers who were reading chapters every few days after I’d draft them, and I vividly remember their reactions to this chapter above all others. The consensus was that in the first few paragraphs, they dreaded what could conceivably happen in the chapter. Then that dread developed into full-scale panic. But in the end, they were surprised with where I went with it, and it was the confirmation I needed to know that I had achieved what I set out to do in that chapter. I’d love to tell more, but I want readers to really feel that chapter—and they’ll surely know which one it is when they get there.
I remember the scene you’re talking about. Yes! It’s really intense. What a great scene. 🙂
What do you most hope that readers take away from your novel?
We should not be a hostage to our shape and/or size because what’s inside is what really makes each of us incredible. Carrie wanted to be smaller, and she got smaller in ways she could never have imagined, but did she really need to be smaller? Even as she shrinks, she never lets it fully stop her from doing what she wants, and her family, friends, and school find ways to accommodate her growing disability. In the end, I would like readers to think about their own inner strength and confidence, about respecting and helping out others, and about being true to themselves.
That’s a great message. I liked that her changing size made her reevaluate those things and challenged her to see herself in a different way. It also challenged her friends in some unexpected ways, too.
What is one question about your novel you are often asked by readers?
A question I’m often asked is: “How did you make Carrie’s experience seem so real?” It all starts with the decision to tell the story from her first-person point of view. Doing so allows the reader to always be inside her head and see through her eyes, especially as her perspective changes—the world seemingly grows around her. To make it seem real, I measured everything in my house—countertops, windowsills, doorknobs, pillows, phones, you name it. Then I’d walk around the house on my knees or lie down on the floor and look up, trying to imagine myself at Carrie’s varying size. To an outside observer, I’m sure I would have looked a little strange, but hey, it was all research necessary to make the journey believable!
Funny the things writers do to really get inside those characters, huh? 🙂
What are you most looking forward to reading next? How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather. I grew up close to Salem, Massachusetts, and I was involved with a production of The Crucible when I was in high school. The Witch Trials have always fascinated me, particularly how hysteria prevailing over rational thought can have serious consequences. That theme can be applied to many eras in history as well as the present. The author is a descendant of someone involved with the Trials, and so is the main character of the book. A retelling of sorts with a modern Mean Girls kind of vibe? What’s not to be excited about with that?
Oh man. I remember reading The Crucible in high school, too. I like the idea of marrying that with a Mean Girls vibe. I can totally see that!
Kasey, thank you so much for featuring me and my book in your Sanctuary. It has been an absolute pleasure to answer your questions! As Carrie would blog, I hope you and your readers are always looking up!
Tara St. Pierre has been writing for over two decades, but her muse only sporadically provides inspiration. Her laptop is filled with incomplete manuscripts and other plot outlines, and she feels blessed when one finally pushes its way through to completion–no matter how long it takes!
She enjoys classic science fiction movies and television shows. When driving, she sings along with the radio loudly and off key. She prefers tea over coffee, spring over autumn, vanilla ice cream over chocolate, and caramel over hot fudge. Though she lives by herself, one of her two cats enjoys cuddling with her.
To fit into the perfect dress for the Valentine’s Day Dance. To look beautiful for her boyfriend, the school’s star basketball player. To keep his jealous ex-girlfriend, a rival cheerleader, away from him. And to be noticed by her classmates. Exercising and dieting don’t work, but an advertisement for weight loss pills promises a quicker solution to her problem. As time runs out, she takes more than the recommended dose until she’s just a few inches slimmer... Getting everything she once wanted has created new problems—problems that are growing more terrifying every day.
After Wren’s father unexpectedly dies, her mother rips her away from her only home. Move after move takes Wren further and further across the country, and Wren can’t help but wonder what her mom is running from. Then Wren finds a beautiful pond to secret herself away to watch birds the way she and her father used to do. When Wren discovers the local landfill owner plans to demolish her sacred place, Wren vows to stop him.
The birdwatching elements felt very natural to me. I’m not an experienced birdwatcher by any means, but my daughter and I kept a journal for about a year of birds we saw behind our house in a canal (a surprising number and variety, actually.) So I enjoyed that part of the story, and it definitely resonated with me.
Wren and her mom deal with the grief over losing her dad in very different ways. For a time it becomes a wedge between them. Wren meets a boy in school who also lost a parent, and they bond over those losses and how they’ve changed their surviving parents. It’s a really healing experience for Wren. So is her campaign to save the pond. I think the emotional journey of grief and the outward journey to save the pond balanced the story in a great way.
There is one part where Wren’s mom reveals a secret about her father that’s very hurtful. I really struggled with that decision. It didn’t feel like the right call to me, so that kind of took me out of the story a bit as I wrestled with why it bothered me so much. More details in the spoiler section.
Other than that, though, I enjoyed the story a lot. Both grief and love for our environment are really worthy topics for a novel, and Be Light Like a Bird handles both very well.
Cultural Elements
Wren speaks with a man who purchased her dad’s old car. He has some Native American ancestry. The story briefly talks about the importance of respecting Native American burial grounds and what items might be found there.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content See spoiler section. There’s nothing sexually graphic, but Wren does learn something traumatic about her parents’ relationship.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content None.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
SPOILER Wren’s mom tells her that her father was having an affair. She mentions having found romantic letters and states that he planned to leave Wren and her mom. Wren is, of course, devastated. It does explain her mom’s anger and impulsive behaviors, but I couldn’t help wishing that Wren hadn’t had to deal with that information, especially so close to losing her dad.
