Christian fiction

Book Review: A Scheming in Parliament

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A Scheming in Parliament
Of Cloaks & Daggers #2
by Erica Vetsch

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical mystery

After spending years cultivating his reputation as a drunkard amongst the peerage, Sir Bertrand Thorndike, agent for the crown, has been given a mission that requires him to go straight so he can be presentable as he takes his new seat in Parliament. Meanwhile, the Eleos school, run in part by Philippa Cashel, a former courtesan who now attempts to help other women in a similar position, seems to have become a destination for injured or sick women before they’ve barely gotten themselves set up. Philippa and Bertie have to work together when the dirt Bertie is trying to uncover in Parliament ends up colliding with Philippa’s work.

I just love the way Vetsch weaves her stories, and this one is no exception. Philippa has terrible history, but she allows it to inform her present and future and help others who are going through what she did or worse. And Bertie’s completely unassuming yet protective nature is exactly the right foil for Philippa. The slow development of their relationship is one of my favorite kinds, and while they learn to lean on each other, there’s the terrible secret in Parliament to ferret out. Bertie is capable yet just clumsy enough to be endearing, and Philippa adds her own skills to the team. I really enjoy this twosome.

My favorite Vetsch character may have had a smaller role in this book, but that just means that the others get to shine more. And there’s still plenty of Marcus Haverly, so it’s all good. I’m really looking forward to the culmination of this trilogy. I highly recommend this book for fans of this genre and time period, whether you like romance or not, because there is some, but it’s not the focus of the book. But keep in mind that this book is the second in a trilogy. They each have their own main plot, but there’s enough that carries over from the previous book that it’s better to start with A Thieving at Carlton House. Of course, I would really recommend starting at the beginning for the full, rich experience, but diving in here is fine, too.

Note: I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway, but my opinions are my own.

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Book Review: Mandie and the Cherokee Legend

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Mandie and the Cherokee Legend
Mandie #2
by Lois Gladys Leppard

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian historical fiction

I read a lot of this series when I was a kid/pre-teen, and I read some of them to my now-teen daughter when she was younger. I would expect nostalgia to affect my reviews for this series, but I sadly have to say that this book did not hold up nearly as well as the first one did for me. There are three main areas in this book that really bug me. Mandie’s too-perfect characterization stands out in this book. I think the author tried to combat that some by having Mandie struggle with her hatred toward her rude Cherokee cousin, but it was a small part of the book, and she didn’t struggle with it that much. Plus, he miraculously changes his tune by the end of the book for no reason, which is one of the other issues I had.

On top of all of that, this book introduces a trope in the series that I remember my sister complaining about when we were younger, though somehow it didn’t bother me. It does now. Every guy that meets Mandie is attracted to her, charmed by her, jealous of other guys’ attention of her…. She inspires a lot of attention for a 12-year-old (though the guys are all at least a year or two older). Of course, Mandie is completely oblivious and doesn’t understand why these guys are so competitive around her. It’s unnecessary at best and a little disturbing at worse. I do hope that some of the issues I had with this book smooth out as the series continues, because I plan to keep going and don’t want to continue to be this annoyed.

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Book Review: Resistance

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Resistance
The Ilyon Chronicles #1
by Jaye L. Knight

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Christian fantasy

When the self-proclaimed emperor of Arcacia begins to crack down on the worship of Elôm instead of the nation’s moon gods, it leaves many of Elôm’s followers scrambling to hide their faith or hide themselves. Kyrin has been trained since a young age to serve the emperor, but drawing too much attention to herself right now is not a good idea, given her faith. Jace is half ryrik, a race that is believed to have no soul, which means that many believe he can’t have a soul either. But he has also come to believe in Elôm as the one true God, though he can’t help but wonder if Elôm could possibly care about him. Both find a possible home at a camp for fellow believers of Elôm and hope that they can keep their new home safe.

The overall idea of this book is good, sort of a take on the time of Nero persecuting Christians, set in a medieval-like fantasy world with at least 5 different races. I particularly liked Jace’s story arc, but Kyrin’s was underwhelming in comparison. Some exciting things happen with her for sure, but it just takes a really long time to get into it. I felt like a few hundred pages could have been cut from the book and details in those pages could have been either cut completely or sprinkled throughout the rest of the book in flashbacks, memories, general backstory. Most of this excess was probably Kyrin’s story, which is likely what makes me feel like her arc was underwhelming. But there’s also the fact that there are something like 8 POV characters, which is far too much. Too many people to try to get to know, especially considering that several of them are minor characters and thus do not need their own POV. And at least one of them just seems to be there to reinforce what we’re already learning about Jace, so again, unnecessary. If I were rating just the part of this that felt like the meat of the story, it’d probably be more like 4.5 stars. But man, it just took so long to get to it.

One thing I did appreciate about Kyrin, though, is that she’s still young in her faith and not perfect by any means. She’s trying to learn to lean on Elôm but struggles with fear, because she didn’t believe in Elôm and immediately become a perfect follower. That was a realistic angle I liked. The overall Christian parallel here is really interesting and well done. Because what I liked most came in the 2nd half or so of the book, I anticipate the story picking up from here and am looking forward to seeing where the series goes. My 15-year-old daughter read it first and recommended it to me, and it looks like the book is classified as “new adult,” so I do think that older teens up through adults who enjoy Christian fiction about persecution and standing up for one’s faith. You wouldn’t really have to like fantasy to enjoy it, I don’t think, since it’s fairly light on the fantasy.

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Book Review: Beyond the Far Horizon

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Beyond the Far Horizon
The Restorationists #3
by Carolyn Leiloglou

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian middle grade fantasy

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with Beneath the Swirling Sky.

Ravi may have chosen to side with the Restorationists, but that doesn’t mean he trusts them. All his life, he’s been used and had to look out for himself. So though he’s agreed to help Vincent, Georgia, and Ms. Arte take down the Distortionists, he has a secret escape plan in case things go bad. But the longer he works with them, the more he realizes that he might not want to be on his own anymore.

I am so sad to think about this being the last book in this wonderful, inventive world in which people can enter paintings and travel between them, interacting with the painted people, creatures, and other aspects within, and making changes that aren’t visible but affect the painting’s viewer, for good or for ill. Though I’m not much of an art lover, the author is clearly passionate about paintings, and I really enjoy the inclusion of different paintings and especially the various components within the paintings.

Each of these books spotlights a different teenager with the ability to Travel through paintings, and each one deals with some sort of baggage throughout the story. Vincent’s resulted in a moment that I will never forget. Georgia’s kind of paled in comparison. I felt this book brought back a lot of the sympathy and enjoyment I felt in the first book. I felt for Ravi so much, I just wanted to hug him through most of the story. 

The plot is exciting, and the ending is a satisfying conclusion to the 3-book arc. I didn’t like this book quite as much as the first, but it was still a 5-star read. I recommend this book (and series—and really, you should start at the beginning if you’re interested) to anyone, young or old, interested in fantasy fiction with a Christian worldview.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Mandie and the Secret Tunnel

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Mandie and the Secret Tunnel
Book #1
by Lois Gladys Leppard

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian historical fiction

For complete transparency, I’ll say up front that I read a lot of this series when I was a kid/pre-teen, and I read some of them to my now-teen daughter when she was younger. Nostalgia will hugely affect my reviews for this series, and I have no plans to try to be objective.

Written in the 80s and set in 1900, the book begins with the death of 12-year-old Mandie’s father. Her mother clearly has no love for her and sends her away to work for an equally unkind family that needs help taking care of a baby. But through Uncle Ned, an old friend of her father’s and a Cherokee, Mandie learns of her father’s brother, who she’d never known existed, and with Uncle Ned’s help sets out to find a better life with her uncle (her real uncle, because “Uncle” Ned isn’t really her uncle).

This introduction to Mandie and her heritage is charming. There’s a mystery involving the will of a relative of Mandie’s, and it’s not exactly a deep mystery, but for the age group, I think it’s intriguing enough. Uncle Ned is a comforting presence for both Mandie and me, to be honest, as I seem to recall a feeling that when he’s involved, everything is going to be okay. I’m not a huge fan of Polly, a new friend of Mandie’s in this book, but overall, this is the kind of book where the good people are really good and the bad people are quite (sometimes over-the-top) bad. Not that they’re all villains, but their personalities are pretty sour.

I can’t pretend that this book holds up really well for me as an adult—Mandie’s friend Joe is domineering, and it’s super awkward when Joe and Polly meet and are attracted to each other (these kids are all 12-14, don’t forget). The Christianity presented in this book is shallow at best, maybe even somewhat works-based, which I couldn’t possibly have realized was incorrect as a kid. The preacher who talks at her dad’s funeral and visits her later only scares Mandie, rather than helping her through her difficult time. It’s unfortunate that Mandie doesn’t believe God cares about her until things end up working out well in the end, which is not a great message for kids.

My daughter read the entire series (which is more than I’ve read, but I plan to rectify that) when she was around 10 years old and loved them. Even now, at 15, she remembers them fondly and is planning to re-read them again some time soon. If that isn’t an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

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Book Review: The Daughter of Rome

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The Daughter of Rome
The Emissaries #3
by Angela Hunt

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Biblical fiction

Spoiler notice: This book will contain some mild spoilers from the previous two books in the series, The Woman from Lydia and The Sisters of Corinth.

Under Nero’s reign, Calandra helps her sculptor father create a piece for a very important Roman, who then commissions him for something greater. Meanwhile, that important Roman’s son Hadrian is tasked with visiting the imprisoned Christians regularly to make sure they’re not trying to cause a revolt. But when a fire sweeps through Rome and destroys more than half of the city, leaving many dead and others homeless, Nero places the blame on the Christians, despite their hospitality to the hurting and displaced. With friends amongst this persecuted group, both Calandra and Hadrian struggle to understand why Romans are so quick to accept this explanation.

I was expecting something quite different from this book, given the way the previous one ended. I knew there would be a new main character, but I thought we’d see more of the characters from the previous book, and I particularly thought we’d get more of a follow-up to the previous book’s main character’s sister, who ended on such a tragic note. Though Mariana and Marcus, as well as Euodia and Ariston from the first book, do appear in this book, they have pretty small parts. However, Calandra’s and Hadrian’s stories are engaging in their own rights. The explanation of how sculptures are crafted, especially large bronze sculptures, was fascinating (though eventually I did start to skim some of the details). Hunt’s author’s note puts some of that into perspective, but I really appreciate her research and her way of weaving it into a captivating story. And speaking of that, there are so many other historical elements that Hunt brings to play in this book, from speculation that Nero started or at least allowed the fire in order to make more space for his palace, political unrest in Rome, and specific well-known early church founders that are generally believed to have died in Rome during this time of persecution.

Hunt’s descriptions of the various deaths during the fire and the persecutions are vivid enough to bring them to life. Though let that be a warning to those who would struggle with the violence and bloodshed. Both of these sections of the book had me in tears, and the latter (the persecutions) left me thinking of how much I complain about petty things in my life, when I have it so very much better than many others even around the world now, who are persecuted for the very God that I am free to worship every day. It really puts things into perspective.

However, I feel like there is a pacing issue here. After the persecution, the story kind of takes a bit of a drop-off, and I don’t feel like it ever really comes back. More of interest does happen, but it feels like a really long conclusion after a climax, even though I’m sure it wasn’t intended to be the climax. Still, the story overall kept me hooked throughout, partly because, unlike the main characters in the previous two books, Calandra is not a Christ-follower at the start of this book, so I appreciated her arc. A few major moments happened near the end of the book that may have felt just a little too convenient, but really, when taking in the larger story, they actually make a lot of sense. And I would have been really disappointed without them.

Calandra’s POV is first-person and Hadrian’s is third-person. I’ve never been a huge fan of that kind of back-and-forth, but on top of that, there was at least once that I noted that Hadrian’s slipped into first-person for a line or two. It was a little jarring. In general, this book was my least favorite of the series, but I still highly enjoyed it, and I recommend both it and the series for those who like biblical fiction, especially from the time after Christ. The books could possibly be read out of order, but I think you’d lose a lot of the richness of the full story doing that.

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Book Review: Dawn of Grace

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Dawn of Grace
by Jill Eileen Smith

My rating: 2.5 / 5
Genre: Biblical fiction

Dawn of Grace is the fictional story of Mary Magdalene, from the perspective of Mary herself, starting in her childhood, when the author imagines that she might have first become possessed by the demons that the Bible says Jesus cleansed her of, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The first portion of the book, when Mary is possessed and dealing with that for years, is intentionally and understandably dark and depressing. Some readers may struggle with the details of the spirits that Mary lets in, so let that be a warning if that might be you. I didn’t have any issue with that, though I have to admit to being a little confused that Mary seems to believe that they are the spirits of her relatives, while also being fully aware that they are demons (does that mean she thinks her loved ones died and became demons?). And demonic possession is apparently rampant in her world (which makes sense, since Jesus and his disciples did cast demons out of a good amount of people in the Bible), so again, it seems strange that she didn’t know what she was getting herself into. But maybe she came to learn about other possessed people as she grew up and I just didn’t pick up on that. Outside of my confusion, though, I felt Smith does a great job here showing Mary’s desperation by the time she meets the “teacher who heals.”

Once Mary was cleansed and started to follow Jesus, I had two main issues with the story—one with the plot and one with the fictionalization. On the plot side, it just felt fairly slow to me. Because Mary is a woman, she spends a lot of her time (sometimes grudgingly, sometimes cheerfully) helping the other women prepare food. It’s just…not terribly interesting. And so many of Jesus’s teachings are re-hashed by “the men” and even Mary and the other women, as they try to make sense of what at the time must have truly been confounding, but again, in a fictional story, it’s just too much repetition to keep at least this reader engaged.

The other main issue I had was with the portrayal of Jesus. I’m not saying that Smith went against the Bible or included anything sacrilegious, but I think that we need to be really careful about any fictional portrayals of Jesus. Other biblical figures (humans themselves) are one thing, but this is God Himself in human form, and anything outside of what the Bible says He did or said is purely human invention. Smith does use Scripture for a majority of his dialog, but the rest of his words, actions, or feelings made me a little uneasy. I worry that there are people who don’t necessarily know how to draw that line, and presenting extra-biblical portrayals of God or Jesus to people like that could cause trouble. This concern isn’t specific to this book, but something I realized as I read. And it made me realize why other fictionalized portrayals of Jesus have set me on edge in the past; I think what this tells me is that I need to avoid biblical fiction that is likely to include Christ himself as a character. (Though I did once read a biblical fiction book that showed Jesus in a private moment, and the author still used Scripture for his words, which I really appreciated.) Even beyond my concern about the character of Jesus having extra-biblical words and actions, there’s also the incongruity of all of the fictional dialog with what is directly out of the Bible. Though Smith’s dialog isn’t exactly modern, it’s different enough from NIV dialog to be a bit jolting to me. 

Overall, the book fell short of my expectations, but I think many people would easily overlook the things that brought the rating down for me. So as always, please check out the link below to see other reviews if you’re interested in reading this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Revell for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: The Secret Blend

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The Secret Blend
by Stan Toler

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian living

My husband recommended this book to me after reading it for one of his pastoral training classes. Though it is a fictional story, it is one meant to teach, specifically seven lessons about acquiring true wealth in the form of fulfilling relationships. As one who has always struggled with friendships, I appreciated not only the lessons but also the starting point of the main character. I can see real merit in what is presented in this book. What the book doesn’t really account for, though, is people who are super awkward in social situations. The main character just didn’t really take the time or effort to make friends before starting to learn these lessons, but it comes fairly easy to him once he tries. It would not be so smooth for me. Also, I don’t actually encounter a whole lot of people on a daily basis. All of that being said though, the story is touching and biblically grounded, so not just an empty self-help book.

I have to say, though, that as a fiction writer and reader, Toler’s writing style grated on me. This may not be his normal genre, and maybe any editors or publishers involved are also used to non-fiction more than fiction, but someone really need to read this out loud before publishing it. The main thing that bothered me was the way that the characters constantly said each others’ names as they were talking. And entire conversation would occur where the characters would say each others’ names when they started speaking back and forth, and no one talks like that in real life. My husband didn’t notice this when he read it though, so it’s clearly personal preference (and probably has something to do with me being a much heavier reader than him). Those annoyances aside though, I do recommend this book for anyone who struggles with making or keeping friendships or feels that their life could be richer in this area.

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Book Review: The Collector of Burned Books

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The Collector of Burned Books
by Roseanna M. White

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Historical Christian romance

When the Nazis invade Paris, they also take over a library full of books that were banned in Germany. The man sent to catalogue and update this and other libraries in Paris is Christian Bauer, who is only a Nazi officer as a means for survival. Corinne Bastien, a neighbor of the library and regular frequenter, makes herself a target of Christian and some of his Nazi compatriots when she sneaks into the library to try to recover some secrets she’d left behind. But Christian doesn’t want to cause problems for her any more than he does anyone else. Will he be able to stay true to his beliefs when his superiors push for destruction?

I was excited to read this book, because I read and loved White’s The Imposters series, set in Edwardian England, and I enjoy WWII fiction. However, it felt a little off to me. Corinne was a pretty terrible resistance worker, leaving evidence sitting around and drawing so much attention to herself. By the end of the book, the Nazis involved felt a little too much like an idealized version of what I’m used to, both in fiction and non-fiction. I actually hoped for information in an author’s note explaining why White made some of the choices she did—factual evidence or anecdotes to explain why most of the German soldiers and authorities in this book are, frankly, more polite and forgiving than how they’re usually portrayed, but there was nothing. It just felt somehow like the stakes and consequences were lower than they should be, given the setting.

On the plus side, Christian is a very sympathetic male hero. My favorite moments in this book are related to his story. I appreciate that his faith and devotion to his homeland require him to walk a thin line between going along with the Nazi Party and doing what he believes is right. And yet, he questions whether he is sinning when he lies to protect a life. I’m not sure I would agree with the line drawn here in answer to that question, but I also can readily admit that none of us knows for sure what we would do in this kind of situation. The main characters in the book are Catholic and observe various practices that are extra-biblical at best. This is probably not the best platform to go into detail or start a debate, but I think some people would appreciate knowing this information in advance. Overall, the book fell short of my expectations, but I think many people would easily overlook the things that brought the rating down for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tyndale House Publishers for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Beauty in the Least

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Beauty in the Least
McGee and Me! #12
by Bill Myers & Robert West

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian fiction

This was my least favorite book in the series, which is a shame, since it’s also the last, leaving me on a not-so-high note. It just doesn’t have the same feel as the rest of the series. The entire family is so put out by these visiting foreigners, and I’m not really sure anyone learns much of a lesson in the end. The father and son duo provide the only real heart in the story, and it’s overall pretty brief. Considering all of the growing Nicholas has done throughout these books, I just think he should be beyond the petty, immature behavior he displays here—or at least that he should get past it a little more quickly. So sadly, I wouldn’t recommend this book on its own, but the rest of the series is still great. These books may not be easy to find anymore, but if you do have the chance to read any of them or procure them for an 8-10-year-old child, I recommend it.

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