Tag Archives: sisters

Review: We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

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

We Are the Goldens by Dana ReinhardtWe Are the Goldens
Dana Reinhardt
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House Children’s Books
Published May 27, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Fifteen year-old Nell has always been comfortable in her older sister’s shadow. She and Layla are intertwined. Nell begins her first year of high school, delighted to share her school days with her sister again and thrilled by the interest of a handsome boy. Then she begins to sense something strange in Layla. Her sister is pulling away. Keeping secrets. And try as she might, Nell can’t understand why.

Desperate not to lose their closeness, Nell pursues Layla, being supportive and loyal. Earning her way back into Layla’s secrets. But learning Layla’s secrets comes with a price Nell isn’t sure she can pay: should she keep Layla’s confidence even if she believes Layla is doing something wrong and deeply destructive? As she watches her usually sensible sister slide further into her secret life, Nell realizes that the only way to save her sister may be to betray her.

Reading this novel is like taking that first ride on a roller coaster and feeling the adrenaline and rush building over each tick-tick-tick as the coaster inches up to the top of its track until its riders can look out over the imminent fearsome drops and wild loops ahead. Reinhardt nails the emotional turmoil of teen relationships and the anxiety of difficult choices, creating a powerful story about both the healing and destructive powers of love.

Language Content
Moderate word choice, infrequent usage.

Sexual Content
Nell and Layla go to a very liberal-minded school whose students, according to Nell, are more interested in briefly hooking up than actually dating or having relationships. Nell very briefly relates her own experience with boys. Details are scarce and the experiences are few. Nell sleeps over at her best friend Felix’s house while his parents are out of town, but the two are not intimate with each other.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
References to a family friend who was rumored to have a drug problem. Nell and Layla attend a couple of parties at which teens guzzle alcoholic drinks. Nell indicates that a few people retreat to the porch to smoke a joint, but she doesn’t describe further nor does she participate.

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

Save

Save

Review: The Rebel Within by Lance Erlick

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

The Rebel Within
Lance Erlick
Finlee Augare Books
Published on March 25, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Annabelle attacks an opposing team member at a basketball game, she faces dire consequences. Though she is a volunteer with the police force, she may be sent to a rehabilitation facility far from home and the younger sister she dearly loves. Annabelle’s only alternative is to join a fierce group of government agents called Mechs. All she wants for herself is a quiet life as a restaurant owner and a place to keep her adopted sister safe.

In Annabelle’s world men are exiled, quarantined or forced to fight to the death in the annual games which serve as final training for Mech operatives, so when a group of boys escape from an enclosed school, Mechs and cops alike are called to the hunt. Annabelle can’t suppress her curiosity about men. Her feelings about them are so different than her feelings for women, and she wonders if this is strange. When she is faced with an escapee, Annabelle knows she should turn him in and follow the rules. The only problem: she is anything but a rule-following girl. Helping the boy escape will endanger everyone she loves and rocket Annabelle to a place of impossible life and death decisions.

Erlick creates an imaginative dystopian world in which men are exiled and women rule all. Despite harmony ranking as highest virtue, the government trains up powerful forces to destroy anyone who breaks the rules or bears a Y chromosome. Disaster lurks around every turn, and one can’t help but be drawn into the dilemmas Annabelle faces.

Though the possible romantic pull between Annabelle and the redheaded boy she rescues is never really developed, her compassion and valor are endearing. Dystopian fans will likely call this one a winner.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Moderate profanity and frequency.

Sexual Content
Annabelle lives in a society largely without men. Children are often born as a result from a procedure which combines two eggs from mothers. Annabelle’s mother has two wives. After drinking too much at a party, Annabelle wakes up the next morning with a girl. She also has a close but ambiguous relationship with her adopted sister. Others tease them about being lovers, but no graphic details are given about whether or not the two are physically involved.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Annabelle’s government has tracked her to employment in a security job, either as a cop or a mech, a member of a special operatives group known for their deadliness. Annabelle’s training is pretty die-hard, but the author doesn’t give many graphic details about the girls’ injuries.

Drug Content
Annabelle’s rival hosts wild parties at her plantation home. Annabelle goes sometimes, but usually does not drink alcohol with the girls. (See Sexual Content for exception.) The leader of the mech training program uses powerful medication on the girls which heal serious injuries overnight and makes them infertile. Side effects aren’t specified, but it’s no secret that these are not safe/approved medicines.

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

 

Save