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Review: A Daring Sacrifice by Jody Hedlund

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

A Daring Sacrifice by Jody HedlundA Daring Sacrifice
Jody Hedlund
Zondervan

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

The mysterious Cloaked Bandit lives in the forest of Wessex, robbing its nobility to feed peasants displaced when the current Lord usurped the lands. Now he combs the forest seeking the identity of the Bandit, unaware that in fact, she is the rightful heir to Wessex.

When the Cloaked Bandit robs a neighboring noble, Lord Collin recognizes the girl as his childhood friend. Concerned for her safety, he convinces her to stay a week in his home, far away from Lord Wessex’s soldiers. As he learns the terrible truths that led to Juliana’s impoverished circumstances, he vows to do something to help her. Her compassion for the poor moves him, and the injustice of her father’s death stirs him to outrage. But before Collin can enact a plan to right the wrongs in Juliana’s life, she slips away, her feelings for him suddenly more than she can bear. Collin pursues her, but if Lord Wessex finds her before Collin does, his love will be lost forever.

I liked the Robin Hood-ish element of the Cloaked Bandit, and the way Juliana’s band of thieves operates like a family. Fans of the series will remember Lord Collin as one of the three knights who competed for Lady Rosemarie’s hand in marriage. I enjoyed the fact that this story followed him, but I found it difficult to connect with his character. He spent a lot of time obsessing about Juliana’s or his sister’s feelings. I wanted to feel more of the warrior-knight in him, and that stronger side didn’t show until very late in the story. I also found his flippant attitude about his wealth to be a bit strange. It was okay that he started out feeling that way, but I guess I wanted to see more maturity emerge on that front? I don’t know.

Romance dominates this medieval tale. I lost track of how many times Collin or Juliana experienced butterflies in their bellies over being near each other. I had a hard time really buying into exactly why they felt this powerful attraction toward each other. It seemed like the physical attraction overshadowed the development of their relationship. It’s definitely one of those swoony, sweet stories, which is great. I think I just wanted a little more bite or something to balance out that sweetness.

If you like Melanie Dickerson’s medieval fairy tale novels, you’ll want to check out this series by Jody Hedlund. Though A Daring Sacrifice isn’t a true retelling of the story of Robin Hood, it definitely has some similarities. If you’ve already read and enjoyed A Daring Sacrifice, and you’re looking for another story with a bit of a feminist spin on Robin Hood, try Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley.

Cultural Elements
None.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Lots of description of tingling hands and fluttering tummies when Juliana and Collin are in close proximity to each other. A few kisses. At a midnight picnic (with a chaperone) a man places his head in a lady’s lap.

Spiritual Content
Juliana wrestles with the morality of her life as a thief. She knows her father raised her to do right, and that stealing is wrong. She looks for the courage to find another way to stand against her uncle. She prays in times of need. One young woman ends the story shaken and disillusioned about love and marriage. She joins a convent.

Violent Content
Juliana recalls finding pieces of her father’s body after her uncle tortured him to death. Not a lot of gory detail, but even the straight descriptions are pretty harsh. Something about a young girl finding her father’s body in pieces just can’t be anything other than disturbing to me, no matter how few details there are beyond that. Juliana’s uncle captures a young thief and tortures him in an attempt to find the location of the Cloaked Bandit. The boy suffers broken bones and having his nails removed. The torture itself isn’t described, only his injuries afterward.

Juliana’s uncle arranges to have a young woman burned to death. Later, he arranges to have a man tortured to death.

Juliana describes the servant uprising that led to her father’s death. Collin describes another battle in which soldiers and civilians are injured or killed.

Drug Content
Servants give ale and wine to guests at a dinner party. Collin and Juliana both drink ale.

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.”

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Review: That’s Not Hay in My Hair by Juliette Turner

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

That’s Not Hay in My Hair
Juliette Turner
Zonderkidz

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Jules finishes fifth grade just in time to move from her tiny New York apartment to a 300 acre ranch in Texas. While her mom overflows with confidence that she and Jules can care for the longhorn cattle, horses, dogs and cats on their own, Jules carries some doubts. Sure enough, zany adventures abound as she and her mom struggle to find their inner cowgirls. Through it all, Jules determines to remain positive. When tragedy strikes, though, she’ll have to reevaluate her feelings for her new Texas life.

Turner really hits her stride in the scenes in which one wacky event follows another. In one, Jules struggles to get ready for school in the morning amid animals running amok. Another shows her frantically helping her party diva grandmother prepare for a Fourth of July barbecue. Lots of good-humored, clean fun.

The writing feels young, which mostly works for a story in the middle grade genre. At times the story loses focus, and lingers in scenes and dialogue that don’t really move the plot forward. Overall, it’s a sweet story with a lot of humor and heart. Jules’ struggles over changing schools definitely seem believable. I wished her peer community had been better developed. I expected there to be a little more connection with friends in the story, as those relationships become more and more important in the middle grade years. The story primarily focused on Jules’ relationships with her family members, and those feel genuine and fun.

Something about the story reminded me a little bit of the stories by Bill Wallace called Beauty (one of my favorites!) and Buffalo Gal. That’s Not Hay in My Hair is a lighter story about a modern city-girl-gone-cowgirl. But readers who’ve enjoyed one should consider trying the others.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Several mentions of animal poop. At one point Jules slips on a cow patty.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Jules mentions the church she and her mother attended weekly while they lived in New York. She also attends a Christian school, and at one point her teacher asks her to share a favorite Bible verse. Jules doesn’t know one off the top of her head, so she names a reference she sees on a classmate’s notebook. She or her mom pray at different points in the story. After the death of one of the animals, Jules wonders if the animal is in heaven. She sees an image of the animal that makes her believe so.

The vet briefly references a Native American burial tradition.

Violent Content
Jules and her mom live on and work a 300 acre ranch with cattle, horses, dogs and cats. At one point, an animal has to be put down. A vet handles everything.

Drug Content
None.

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.”

 

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Review: Curio by Evangeline Denmark

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Curio
Evangeline Denmark
Blink YA/Zondervan

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

In a world in which women are of little value, Grey tries to remain beneath the notice of the ruling Chemists. To draw attention to herself risks her very life and the lives of her family and her best friend Whit. When Chemists punish Whit for protecting Grey, she abandons hope of escaping notice and vows to help others like Whit, no matter the cost to herself. When the Chemists realize what she’s done, her family protects her by spiriting her away to a world within her grandfather’s curio cabinet. There, among a strange world of clockwork people, Grey must find a hidden ally and a key that may bring an end to the Chemists’ tyranny.

Though I’ve been long fascinated with steampunk literature, I hadn’t really read much of it. I enjoyed this story very much. I loved the way Denmark creates not only the dystopian world in which Grey lives but also another hidden world within the curio cabinet. I hadn’t realized when I started reading that a great majority of the story would take place within the cabinet. At first I wasn’t sure if I’d like that idea, but actually, though I think the dystopian world is complex and interesting in its own right, I came to prefer the part of the story that happens within the curio.

Blaise is absolutely my favorite character. I liked that he was a bit removed from both worlds. In terms of the way the story unfolds, I liked that he held his own and played his own part in fighting evil and rescuing Grey, but she had her own heroic role to play.

Also, I have to say that the villain in the curio was super creepy. Like, not in a ‘beware!’ kind of way, but in the sense that I definitely felt the danger Grey was in when she was in his custody.

Over all, I loved the pacing of the story and its great characters. Because of the pervasiveness of the attraction the characters feel for one another and the intense situation described below, this may not be a great book for younger or more sensitive readers. See the content notes for more information.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
From almost the very beginning of the story, Grey has some intense feelings of attraction toward her friend Whit and another man she meets. There are a few kisses exchanged, but nothing beyond that, though there are a lot of moments when Grey or other characters dwell on the romantic pull toward one another.

There’s a scene which might be a trigger for abuse or rape survivors. See below for details.

Spoiler — One of the porcies takes a fascination to Grey, and though the porcies aren’t capable of procreation, he intends to “explore” Grey, by force if necessary. He ties her down and tries to take advantage of her, but doesn’t get very far. It’s definitely intense, but she’s able to escape.

Spiritual Content
Within the curio cabinet, the clockwork people believe they were created by a Designer. This idea seems consistent with metaphors for our relationship with a Creator, but it’s not explored.

Within Grey’s village, powerful Chemists who have magical abilities rule the people.

Violence
Chemists mete out harsh punishments for rule violations. Whit bears injuries resulting from being whipped. In the curio, a fall or other mishap seriously damages the fragile porcies (living people made of porcelain with steam-powered inner workings.) A girl loses her hand in a battle. At one point, Grey finds a mass grave of tocks (living people made with clockwork pieces.)

Drug Content
Whit comes across a potion dealer who adds an addictive element to the potions. It seems to affect him the way illicit drugs would (he’s a bit out of things for a while after taking it), and he craves more of the stuff.

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.”

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