Tag Archives: spiritual

Review: Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,
Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky

Coming Back
Jessi Zabarsky
RH Graphic
Published January 18, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Coming Back

A beautiful graphic novel fantasy romance that follows two young women who have to go on their own separate adventures to discover the truth about themselves and about each other.

Preet is magic.

Valissa is not.

Everyone in their village has magic in their bones, and Preet is the strongest of them all. Without any power of her own, how can Valissa ever be worthy of Preet’s love? When their home is attacked, Valissa has a chance to prove herself, but that means leaving Preet behind. On her own for the first time Preet breaks the village’s most sacred laws, and is rejected from the only home she’s ever known and sent into a new world.

Divided by different paths, insecurities, and distance, will Valissa and Preet be able to find their way back to each other?

A beautiful story of two young women who are so focused on proving they’re meant to be together that they end up hurting each other in the process. This gorgeous graphic novel is an LGTBQ+ romance about young love and how it can grow into something strong no matter what obstacles get in the way.

My Review

This graphic novel has a lot of panels with pictures that show action, such as someone performing a ritual. I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything quite like this book before, so it took a little bit of getting used to. Once I felt like I grasped how the author was using still panels to indicate movement or action, it was easier to follow what was happening or fill in the interim movements in my head.

Once I got used to this style of storytelling, I found it really cool. A lot of the scenes have no text or only onomotopeia. There’s something really different about reading a scene without words to interpret what’s happening. It’s like that made me filter the story through a completely different part of my brain. I loved that experience, even though it was unfamiliar.

I also appreciate that this story follows two characters who break the norms of their group. Preet has powerful magic, but she uses it in an unapproved way. In their community, the people depend on those with powerful magic to help one another. Valissa doesn’t have magic, but she doesn’t let that stop her from risking her life to protect her people.

I also enjoyed the color palette of the book. It’s got peach and turquoise tones that make the scenes seem really nature-based. They’re soothing colors, too.

I hadn’t heard of this book, but found it while browsing at the library. I’m really glad I picked it up, and I would love to read more by Jessi Zabarsky.

If you like nature-centered fantasy graphic novels, put this one on your list.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two characters are in a relationship.

Spiritual Content
Some characters can do magic, such as changing shape and creating wind, etc. Some characters are mythical creatures.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Prejudice and shaming drive some characters from their home.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neill

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

The Moth Keeper
K. O’Neill
Random House Graphic
Published March 7, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Moth Keeper

Being a Moth Keeper is a huge responsibility and a great honor, but what happens when the new Moth Keeper decides to take a break from the moon and see the sun for the first time? A middle-grade fantasy graphic novel about passion, duty, and found family.

Anya is finally a Moth Keeper, the protector of the lunar moths that allow the Night-Lily flower to bloom once a year. Her village needs the flower to continue thriving and Anya is excited to prove her worth and show her thanks to her friends with her actions, but what happens when being a Moth Keeper isn’t exactly what Anya thought it would be?

The nights are cold in the desert and the lunar moths live far from the village. Anya finds herself isolated and lonely. Despite Anya’s dedication, she wonders what it would be like to live in the sun. Her thoughts turn into an obsession, and when Anya takes a chance to stay up during the day to feel the sun’s warmth, her village and the lunar moths are left to deal with the consequences.

K. O’Neill brings to life a beautifully illustrated fantasy world about responsibility to yourself and your community. THE MOTH KEEPER is filled with magic, hope, and friendship.

My Review

THE MOTH KEEPER is the first book by K. O’Neill that I’ve read. I’ve had my eye on the Tea Dragon series, which they also wrote, so I’ve been curious about their books for a while.

One of the things that fascinated me about this book is how many scenes are told strictly through the illustrations in the panels. I enjoyed looking at them and following scenes that way.

The story has a nicely sized cast of characters. I felt like we got to know each of them, and I especially felt like I learned a lot about each character sometimes by reading between the lines or watching how other characters reacted to them.

I liked the background of the story– both the lore about the moon’s spirit and the connection to the village, and also the girl wandering the desert, drawn to the moon. The way the story tied different elements together, and the sense of movement in the panels, especially in the illustrations of the moths.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s kind of a peaceful story about community and a celebration of the importance of spirituality.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Characters have some animal characteristics. Anya has fox ears and a tail. Her best friend Estell has rabbit ears and a tail.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The spirit of the moon gifted the moths to Anya’s village to care for and to bless them.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Review: Breakup From Hell by Ann Davila Cardinal

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Breakup From Hell
Ann Davila Cardinal
HarperTeen
Published January 3, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Breakup From Hell

Miguela Angeles is tired. Tired of her abuela keeping secrets, especially about her heritage. Tired of her small Vermont town and hanging out at the same places with the same friends she’s known forever. So when another boring Sunday trip to church turns into a run-in with Sam, a mysterious hottie in town on vacation, Mica seizes the opportunity to get closer to him.

It’s not long before she is under Sam’s spell and doing things she’s never done before, like winning all her martial arts sparring matches—and lying to her favorite people. The more time Mica spends with Sam, the more weird things start to happen, too. Like terrifying-visions-of-the-world-ending weird.

Mica’s gut instincts keep telling her something is off, yet Sam is the most exciting guy she’s ever met. But when Mica discovers his family’s roots, she realizes that instead of being in the typical high school relationship, she’s living in a horror novel.

She has to leave Sam, but will ending their relationship also bring an end to everything she knows and everyone she loves?

Clever, hilarious, and steeped in supernatural suspense, BREAKUP FROM HELL will keep you hooked until the last page.

My Review

This was a fun book to read. It’s got some suspense– the world may literally end if Mica and her friends can’t figure out how to stop it. But it’s also got a lot of fun banter between friends, a best friends to lovers thread, and a powerful main character with a strong connection to her mom and grandmother.

BREAKUP FROM HELL is set in a small Vermont town, which I also really liked. It feels very much like a small New England place, with a small downtown area filled with interesting shops and some surrounding farmland. I liked the way the story used the landscape at different points. It was kind of funny to see this quaint little town erupt with apocalyptic events.

I really liked the relationships between Mica and her friends, especially Zee and Rage. They were a loyal friend group with a very can-do approach to things. They stuck together and needed each other in order to piece everything together. I also loved Mica’s relationship with Abuela. They didn’t always see eye to eye, but they both loved each other so much, and ultimately wanted the best for one another. I thought Abuela’s notes on the fridge were fantastic.

All in all, I thought BREAKUP FROM HELL was a fun read, perfect for fans of paranormal books like BITTERWINE OATH by Hannah West.

Content Notes for Breakup From Hell

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Mica is Puerto Rican.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Mica learns that the boy she’s been dating has dark powers and dark spiritual connections. Some characters have supernatural abilities. Some items also have supernatural abilities. Evil creatures can’t come onto the sacred ground of a church or chapel. Mica and her friend witness an evil sacrifice.

Violent Content
Mica and her friend witness an evil sacrifice of a deer. Situations of peril. Brief battle violence. A powerful weapon vanquishes an evil character, turning them to ash.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of BREAKUP FROM HELL in exchange for my honest review.

Review: 5-Minute Devotions for Teens by Laura L. Smith

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

5-Minute Devotions for Teens: A Guide to God and Mental Health
Laura L. Smith
Zonderkidz
Published December 6, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About 5-Minute Devotions for Teens

5-Minute Devotions for Teens: A Guide to God and Mental Health removes the stigma on mental health and advises Christian teens what they can do when they are depressed and anxious. Scattered throughout the book are tips to help teens maintain good mental health practices such as meditation, disconnecting from social media and technology, saying affirmations, and much more.

Each day includes a Scripture verse, short devotional, and a prayer or prompt.

This 100-day devotional will help teens 13 to 17 years old:

deal with mental health issues, depression, and/or anxiety.
re-enter normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
develop an authentic relationship with God and deepen their faith.
5-Minute Devotions for Teens is an affordable resource that can be read again and again.

My Review

Laura L. Smith’s books always seem to find me at a moment when I need the messages within them. This devotional is broken down into 100 one page sessions. Each one begins with a verse from the Bible and then a few paragraphs discuss how the verse relates to our lives. The paragraphs always encourage, offering compassion, wisdom and even humor.

The subtitle of the book says it’s about God and mental health. I feel like that can be a fraught combination for a lot of us, so I want to speak to that for a second. The way I read the book was with an intent to encourage and uplift. The author does make it clear that getting professional help and treatment for mental health needs like depression and anxiety are really good things. She also offers some basic wisdom on how to care for our bodies with good mental health in mind. Things like, going outside, tracking our thought life and focusing on gratitude. Stuff like that.

Each page closes with a journal prompt to get you thinking about what’s happening in your life and help you identify parts of your life that aren’t healthy or good for you and parts that are. I like the simplicity and straightforwardness of the writing and how overall positive it is.

Gift Ideas

I think 5-MINUTE DEVOTIONS FOR TEENS would make a great gift — or even a stocking stuffer! It’s pretty small– for a teen who’s interested in deepening their Christian faith. I think the book perfectly lives up to its name. The devotions took only a moment to read and always led me on some interesting thought journeys.

If you’re looking for something a little meatier and more in-depth but like the sound of this, check out RESTORE MY SOUL by Laura L. Smith, which explores 30 Psalms, or HOW SWEET THE SOUND, which explores 30 beloved hymns. I really liked both of those, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
None.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains verses from the Bible with prayer and journaling prompts to help readers explore and deepen Christian faith.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of 5-MINUTE DEVOTIONS FOR TEENS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle

Book Review and Content, Memoir, Nonfiction, , , , , , , , ,

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
Gregory Boyle
Free Press
Published March 9, 2009

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Tattoos on the Heart

How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a loving heart? How do you overcome shame? Stay faithful in spite of failure? No matter where people live or what their circumstances may be, everyone needs boundless, restorative love. Gorgeous and uplifting, TATTOOS ON THE HEART amply demonstrates the impact unconditional love can have on your life.

As a pastor working in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in Los Angeles, Gregory Boyle created an organization to provide jobs, job training, and encouragement so that young people could work together and learn the mutual respect that comes from collaboration. TATTOOS ON THE HEART is a breathtaking series of parables distilled from his twenty years in the barrio.

Erudite, down-to-earth, and utterly heartening, these essays about universal kinship and redemption are moving examples of the power of unconditional love in difficult times and the importance of fighting despair. With Gregory Boyle’s guidance, we can recognize our own wounds in the broken lives and daunting struggles of the men and women in these parables and learn to find joy in all of the people around us. TATTOOS ON THE HEART reminds us that no life is less valuable than another.

Father Gregory Boyle’s sparkling parables about kinship and the sacredness of life are drawn from twenty years working with gangs in LA.

My Review

I feel like I’ve seen tons of examples lately of what I do not believe or agree with in my faith. I didn’t realize the level to which I was exhausted by and deeply upset about the ugliness of people preaching hate in the name of Christianity. It has kind of made me nervous or hesitant to read faith life books because I’m sometimes afraid I’ll find more of the same “righteous” hate in those pages, too?

My mom told me about this book years ago, but I had never read it. I had an audiobook version, though, so when I needed a new evening read recently, I decided to try out TATTOOS ON THE HEART.

So I began reading this book, and it’s cover to cover a message of compassion. It’s about seeing other people as loved and valuable, even the people that most of us overlook or are afraid of. I couldn’t stop reading. This book put words– and far more than words, because this man and his organization have been living these words for decades– to things that I believe but hadn’t been able to frame into sentences.

I read chapter after chapter, feeling like, here is a person I want to pull up a chair and learn from. This is a person whose life and values I want to emulate. He’s also an incredible reader and storyteller, so sometimes I’d get lost in the book for its personal stories about the people Fr. Boyle has met and experiences he’s had.

I cried and laughed as he related stories about gang members’ and former gang members’ lives. My heart felt full when he told about the way a community emerged to love people that so often get left behind or treated as unlovable or less valuable.

He connects the stories to greater ideas really well, too. Each chapter kind of focuses on one idea and tells stories that show those things in different ways. He talks about God as not only being loving and gentle, but also as One who delights in people.

Conclusion

Reading this book felt like having a full glass of water for the first time after a long, hot day. I didn’t know how much I needed to hear his message, and to hear someone with much more learning in scripture than I have to be preaching that message.

I don’t know. Probably I’m doing a terrible job with this review. I feel like it’s hard to put things into words. After I listened to this book as an audiobook, I bought the ebook. I’ve already gone back to highlight some parts, and I suspect this book will be one I reread periodically, too.

If you want to find out more about the gang intervention program, it’s called Homeboy Industries. They have some cool merchandise and great information about what they do on their website.

Fr. Boyle’s second book, BARKING TO THE CHOIR, is now on my reading list, too. I’ve started the audiobook version already, and it’s just as good so far.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Contains many stories of gang members.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The author is a Jesuit minister and founder of Homeboy Industries. The book references sources from several different faiths but relates Christian values and beliefs throughout.

Violent Content
Multiple references to gang-related shootings and violence. Some descriptions of domestic violence and child abuse.

Drug Content
References to drug and alcohol abuse.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.

Review: Destiny at Dolphin Bay by Diane Delacruz

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

Destiny at Dolphin Bay (Desert Island Diaries #1)
Diana Delacruz
Heart Ally Books
August 3, 2021

Amazon | Goodreads

About Destiny at Dolphin Bay

God always has a purpose. We always have a choice.

In this compelling Genesis Award finalist, fifteen-year-old Melissa Travis finds herself floundering into uncharted waters when she is exiled from her Christian high school. Dreading a month of “mom talks” over endless cups of tea, she accepts her missionary sister’s invitation to visit the remote Chiloé Islands of southern Chile. There she discovers a world utterly unlike the South Pacific paradise she imagined, where dire poverty dwells with enchanting beauty, and ancient customs conspire with modern corruption. While a pod of playful dolphins casts an irresistible spell, sinister evil simmers beneath the surface.

A suspicious drowning, a ghost ship, and a shaman’s chilling prediction of her death on the island force Melissa to question everything she believes. Amid the storm of human greed and natural disasters, a soulful young islander inspires her to make life-changing choices, while faith and friendship draw her to reckon with destiny.

My Review

I found it really easy to get lost in this story. The relationships between the characters felt real– especially between Melissa and her sister and Melissa and Nico. I liked that romance wasn’t the central theme of the book. There’s a bit of attraction between Melissa and Nico, but other events seem to keep them from exploring their feelings, like an earthquake and a possible crime operation threatening the people they love.

The book is set in 1990, so it’s historical fiction. Some of the phrases Melissa used seemed more dated than that, but maybe they were still being used in Maryland, where she’s from, in the 90s? I’m not sure, as I’m from Florida, so I am giving the benefit of the doubt there. They did make Melissa sound pretty sheltered as a person, which fit her character.

The setting is amazing. I felt like I could see the places described in each scene, and that added a lot to the story for me. I loved the adventure of the dolphins and the earthquake rescue and trying to uncover the truth about the ghost ship and possible nefarious activities it was masking. Melissa’s journey to deeper faith also really resonated with me. I loved the way some of her moments of awakening were described.

This is a super old-school comparison, but I feel like readers who enjoyed the Christian classic CHRISTY by Catherine Marshall or books by Julie Cantrell or Carla Stewart would really enjoy this book.

Note: I was a beta reader for this book several years ago, so my name is listed among the beta readers in the acknowledgments.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Melissa and her family are white. Her close friends Nicolás and Marco are Chilean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The story is told from a Christian perspective and features a few scriptures and stories from the Bible. A local religious leader uses local beliefs and superstitions to cover up crimes or manipulate others.

Violent Content
A man drowns to death. Melissa attends an open casket wake for him. A violent earthquake destroys the town where Melissa is staying and kills some of the people there.

Drug Content
Brief mention of people getting drunk as part of a ritual. Melissa also got expelled from her school over an incident that involved injecting oranges with alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of DESTINY AT DOLPHIN BAY in exchange for my honest review.