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Book Review: The Hot Marble

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The Hot Marble
by Rosemary B. Althoff

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Christian sci-fi

When 10-year-old Patrick and his 8-year-old sister Gracie watch something fall from the sky and find a hot marble. Patrick asks his physicist brother Lewis to analyze the otherworldly marble, and that leads to all three siblings, plus Lewis’s engineer friend Fred to another world. Lanthra has two moons, a near-total ban on electricity, and heavy conflict between two sides—those who follow Earth’s Jesus and those who follow earthly demons.

I was intrigued by the melding of sci-fi and Christianity when I decided to read this book. The author does have some interesting ideas here, particularly on the sci-fi side of things. The ban on electricity and also on traveling to Earth makes this a medieval-type world, but with pockets of technology that come across like magic. But the Christianity side is underwhelming, if not downright confusing at times. First and foremost, the theology of creation, the fall, and the redemption provided through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is questionable here. God created the entire universe, and when Adam and Eve sinned, the entirety of the creation was cursed. This means there can’t be planets out there with people who are not under the curse, but that is what Althoff is presenting here. The people of Lanthra have observed Earth enough to know about the curse (which they say affects only people from Earth, though I guess it can spread to people of Lanthra via demons that travel there?) and the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I guess all of this means that people of Lanthra aren’t under the curse of sin (not that they refer to sin or even creation or the fall at all, just a vague curse), so it really don’t matter if they worship Jesus or not, though it still seems to be a bad thing that some worship Satan/demons. Beyond that, one character from Lanthra seems to be a sort of prophet, in direct communication with God in some form. And characters are said to have inner “dragons” that could be seen to simply be their consciences or inner desires, but one character’s inner dragon talks to him? And it’s all presented as if this is some well-known concept that shouldn’t seem unusual to the reader, but I was really lost.

I understand that, even when a book is written with a Christian worldview, unbelievers will have sinful, fallen natures. Fred and Lewis want nothing to do with Christianity, and their character arcs seem to be the driving force behind the religious aspects in this book. But Fred, in particular, made me really uncomfortable ogling women all the time. And there was a line that really stood out to me as a red flag, which involved one character telling Fred that the “Master” wants to enjoy various things about him, including his “taste for busty women.” Um…no…just no.

There truly are some great allegorical moments in this book, and I think I can see what the author was going for. But in the end, I think there was too much going on in too many different directions for me to be able to pick out one cohesive story to enjoy. And the book ends on a cliffhanger that I was fortunately able to see coming. As for recommendations, the book is marketed, at least on Amazon, in teen and children’s categories, but I would not recommend it to those ages at all. All 4 of the characters mentioned in the synopsis have POV sections, but he older brother and his friend are in their 30s, and they are larger characters than the 10- and 8-year-old. There’s also a fair amount of language in the book. (In fact, now that I think about it more, it bugs me A LOT that this book is listed in the categories of “Children’s Action & Adventure Sci-Fi Books” and “Children’s Science Fiction Books” on Amazon with the amount of language and discussion of women’s bosoms that is included in it!) If you’re interested in the premise of spiritual warfare crossed with physics and aren’t bothered by the issues I had with it, you might be interested in this book.

I received a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Mandie and the Medicine Man

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Mandie and the Medicine Man
Mandie #6
by Lois Gladys Leppard

My rating: 3.5 / 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. Nostalgia definitely affects my reviews for this series, and I’m okay with that.

This book felt a like a rehash of book #2, Mandie and the Cherokee Legend, in several ways. Mandie and friends traipse around the Cherokee lands, some of the kids end up tied up by bad people, and Tsa’ni is a jerk. That last one is particularly odd, considering how he was suddenly kinder at the end of book #2. He actually has some POV scenes in this book, though, which I think could have been really good, if the author had delved just a little more into the reasonings behind his choices, rather than him just thinking about how he’d pretend to do nice things but not do them or lie about whatever he was asked but not ever really explaining his justifications for these things other than him not liking white people. Though I suppose that’s about as complicated as anything ever gets in this series meant for 9-12-year-old kids. Overall, though, this book is a decent one for the series. I didn’t care for Mandie’s continued disrespect for her mom, which she gets away with again and is probably something that kids who read the book should be made aware of as something they should not do. So while I think these books can still be good for younger people to read, especially if you’re looking for something with Christian content, I strongly recommend discussing what’s good and bad in them with your kid(s) after they read it.

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Book Review: The Rags of Time

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The Rags of Time
DC Smith #6
by Peter Grainger
read by Gildart Jackson

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Detective procedural, mystery

When DC Smith joins an investigation already underway, he approaches the case in a different way than the other investigators. This leads to him questioning the path the investigation is taking, suspects who are arrested, and avenues he feels are being ignored.

These books have always been pretty laid back, which also describes DC most of the time. Somehow this one seems even more so, with DC kind of wandering his way through the investigation, almost seemingly at random, yet there always ends up being a method to his randomness. Sometimes he reminds me a bit of Hercule Poirot in that regard. Unfortunately, because I was too busy to write a review until over 3 after I finished the book, I’m having a difficult time remembering much in the way of details or even how I felt about the book while I was reading it. I know I enjoyed Gildart Jackson’s narration, because I always do. And I do remember finding the metal-detectorist and badger-digging aspects of the book really interesting, though also quite horrible in the latter case, when I looked up what badger-digging even was. I think that this book wasn’t as good as the previous several installments overall, though. Still a good series, and I look forward to continuing it and also recommend the book/series for fans of procedural crime dramas, especially with a seasoned detective and set in a small-town area of England. Though it’s not strictly necessary to start at the beginning of the series, there are more references to past events and characters than I normally see in series like this, so keep that in mind.

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Book Review: Night Terror

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Night Terror
Bleak Haven #2
by Vincent Ralph

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: YA paranormal horror

The town of Bleak Haven has had more than its share of serial killers, almost as if it’s under a curse. Though it’s been around 18 years since the last murders, the town still hosts remembrance ceremonies every 3 months. Some of the citizens think it’s time to move on, so they seek out the fabled Burning Book to try to convince everyone that this particular urban legend is nothing more than a fairy tale. But what will they do if it turns out that the book has powers they can’t imagine?

After enjoying the previous book in this series, which is a straight-up slasher story, I was not expecting the follow-up (which is set in the 80s, 40+ years before the first book) to involve supernatural elements. The official synopsis does hint at that, but I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly and simply wanted to read more about this town that has such a bloody history. I’m not a big fan of the zombie genre, and that’s all this basically is. There’s very little in the way of a plot, at least a plot that has any kind of cohesion, and the book is mostly just teenagers running from undead monsters and gruesome death scenes. By the end of the book, I still didn’t really understand much about the origins of the Burning Book or the legend surrounding it, if the book had anything to do with serial killers that came after the first ones in Bleak Haven, or any explanation for other supernatural elements. I’m left saying the same thing that I said in my review of the previous book—hopefully more explanation will come in later books in the series.

The main character was really hard to get a read on—his motivation for fighting, or at least not running away, seems to change randomly. Maybe that just means he’s confused, lying to himself, or even keeping things from the reader, but it mostly just left me feeling completely disconnected from him. Other characters weren’t much better in that regard. Also, I’ve read other reviews that talk about the 80s vibe in this book, even to the degree that the book relies too much on that vibe and not enough on the story itself, but I didn’t really get much nostalgia from this book at all. Other than Blockbuster and cassette tapes being mentioned, I don’t know where the 80s references really were. Not that I need them, but I actually did forget now and then that this book took place around 40 years ago.

There’s no mystery here, no big reveal. It’s really just violence and survival. There is a little bit of language, including the f-word several times, but not nearly as much as I’ve read in other books in the same genre. And there is no sexual content. But there is a lot of pus, bile, and blood. People who enjoy zombie stories and gory death scenes (in the teen/YA age range), and don’t mind there not being much plot might enjoy this book. At this point, I can’t really say whether this book is important to the rest of the series or not, so I can’t even say if it’s necessary to read it if you read the rest. I do plan to read the last 2 books, though, so maybe I’ll come back and edit this review later with more info about that.

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Book Review: Daican’s Heir

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Daican’s Heir
The Ilyon Chronicles #6
by Jaye L. Knight

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian fantasy

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

This final book in the series hits the ground running, with a plan hatched between books put into action to try to recover Samara and then bring the fight to Davira, the ultimate goal being to restore two rightful kings to their thrones. I enjoyed returning to this world one last time, and I appreciated the way the author wrapped up the series, for the most part. I’m not a huge fan of all of the major characters, but I think Kyrin bugged me less in this book, at least. A story set in a fantasy world that still manages to present something of a gospel message can’t be easy to do, and I applaud Knight’s presentation here. I still feel like the gospel message is watered down a lot, though, and I don’t know if that was intentional or not.

The stakes never quite felt as high as I would have expected and might even have preferred for being the final book in a series full of persecution and war. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to avoid a lot of fighting, death, etc., but it felt a little off compared to the rest of the series to this point. The resolution was just too…easy, I guess. We also continue with the “everyone must be paired” trope that I started to notice in the previous book. I was able to skim over some of it, but it still slowed down the story for me now and then.

Here at the end of the series, I’d say that if you’re looking for clean fantasy, whether you specifically want the Christian angle or not, this is a good series to read (though it’s probably too Christian for those who can’t stand much of that in their books at all). It’s not super heavy on fantasy elements, either, so fans of clean books with a Christian worldview, fantasy or not, would probably enjoy this series as well. It does lean into the romance a lot more in the last few books, even with more physical interaction than some might prefer (nothing graphic, though). I did not enjoy the series as much as my 16-year-old daughter did; she loved it pretty much all the way through. I don’t think I’d choose to re-read any of this in the future, but I am glad I read the series once.

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Book Review: The Secret Winners Club

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The Secret Winners Club
by Donna Galanti

My rating: 2.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fiction

Sunny, Trev, and Vee are best friends who all have autoimmune diseases that cause visual effects such as hair loss and make them the targets of ridicule amongst some of their peers. Each of them has some kind of goal that they’re striving for, so Sunny comes up with the idea that they will band together to do whatever it takes to reach those goals.

Before I get into my review of the actual story, I feel it important to put a warning up front for anyone who is a Christian, conservative, or would otherwise be concerned about certain aspects being represented so strongly in a book aimed at young teens. Trev, the male character in the book, is gay and multiple romance storylines revolve around this (I generally feel that this level of romance is unnecessary in a book where the main characters are only 13 anyway). It actually goes beyond that, too, as Trev dabbles in transcendental meditation, which heightens my concern for teens reading the book. So please keep that in mind if you are considering this book for a teen or younger, especially, and at the very least consider reading the book along with your child and discussing these elements.

Regarding the story itself, the premise felt weak to me from the start. Our introductions to each 3 of the main characters is seeing them in their respective activity, already desiring to be the best, which in each case specifically means beating out the person who is currently considered the best. In 2 of the 3 cases, that person seems to also be the respective character’s biggest bully. Then Sunny comes up with the idea for all 3 of them to band together and try to be the best at…the activities they were already trying to be the best at and to beat…the people they were already trying to beat. But it’s different now because 1) they will do whatever it takes, 2) they will support each other, which it seems like they should have already been doing as best friends, and 3) they won’t tell anyone that they’re now trying extra hard to be the best. Why? I don’t really know.

What this really ends up meaning, though, is that they use the people that are kind enough to help them, keep secrets from parents, and decide to be bullies back to the people who had been bullies to them. They sort of learn lessons in all of this, but it all feels pretty weak to me. Then there’s another character throughout this book that I never fully understood the purpose of, other than to eventually be a sort of conscience for the main three. And a big disaster happens that also feels a little out of nowhere and lacks the punch I think it was intended for. Based on how the characters act and talk at times, I had to remind myself that they’re only 13.

I really like the idea of a book showcasing autoimmune disorders that can make kids feel “other” (or really anything that makes a kid look/act/talk different and thus leads those around them to treat them badly). I know a young girl with alopecia that has caused her hair to fall out in patches, as opposed to Sunny’s complete baldness, and I know she’s faced mockery from others her age and even, I believe, from some adults. It’s absolutely terrible, there’s no reason for it, and I really wish more people could understand the harm that bullying in general does to anyone, especially adolescents. This book could be a conversation starter for kids or young teens, though again, I don’t know that Sunny, Trev, and Vee are the best role models, even after they learn some lessons. Maybe because those lessons felt a bit too easy to me.

I received a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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May in Review

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I read 15 books last month, which has become about an average number for me since I started listening to audiobooks more. On the other hand, that number includes a few more really short books than normal, so maybe it should have been higher. Going into June, our church’s Vacation Bible School, for which I am director, is in a few weeks. My reading always takes a hit around this time.

Here are the books I read in May:

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (3 / 5)
Illusion by Frank E. Peretti (5 / 5)
Shepherds & Kings by Christina Minoli (4 / 5)
In This Bright Future by Peter Grainger (4.5 / 5)
The Smartest Kid in the Universe by Chris Grabenstein (4 / 5)
Second Time Around by Nancy Moser (4 / 5)
Santa’s Little Yelpers by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
Mandie and the Trunk’s Secret by Lois Gladys Leppard
A Most Peculiar Providence by Angela Elwell Hunt (2.5 / 5)
Toofer & The Giblet by Paulette LeBlanc (4.5 / 5)
The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer (5 / 5)
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (4 / 5)
The First Measure by Keith Gregor (2 / 5)
Winter by Marissa Meyer (4 / 5)
Lily Tripp: Diary of an Accidental Time Traveler by Amelia Tait (4 / 5)

This list includes 3 ARC and 4 re-reads. My favorite book from May (that wasn’t a re-read) was In This Bright Future. I started 2 series, continued 3 series, and finished 2 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: Winter

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Winter
The Lunar Chronicles #4
by Marissa Meyer
read by Rebecca Soler

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: YA sci-fi

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with Cinder.

Winter may be a princess, but she is still very much under the thumb of her stepmother, Queen Levana of Luna. Cinder and her friends from Earth are on a mission to stop Levana from marrying Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth and gaining a foothold on Earth. Winter may be able to be of help to them, if only she can keep a handle on her hallucinations.

This book is both Winter’s fairy-tale retelling of Snow White and the conclusion to the story that started all the way back with Cinder. That makes it a sort of culmination of the Cinderella retelling in the first book as well. And because each book introduces a female protagonist and a male romantic counterpart, everything coming together in this book felt a little too repetitive to me. Their overall stories were different, but 4 romances resolving not too far apart was a bit much for me. Though to be fair, a couple of these romances were at least partially resolved before the end of this book, so it could have been worse. And I don’t mean to say that I didn’t enjoy the book. I really liked the way the main plots played out, the threads from previous books that Meyer weaved together in this final installment. After several books talking about the moon colony, getting to go there in this book added a new, exciting dimension. I like that Meyer explored so many different facets of that world.

At times, it seemed as though so many characters/pairs of characters got to be a bit too much for the author, too difficult to make sure they all had their own distinct personalities. For example, when Thorne (my favorite character since book 2) had cause to be concerned for Cress, I wish he had reacted more Thorne-like, as opposed to doing this best impression of Wolf’s broodiness. Thankfully, Thorne was more himself by the end of the book. Most of the time, though, I could see distinct differences in how Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter acted, thought, and talked. Part of that last one might have been due to the audiobook narrator putting on a slightly different voice for some of the characters, but since that’s how I consumed this series, the narration was definitely a plus for me in that area.

Overall, this was a solid YA sci-fi series for me, and I am sure I’ll revisit it again in the future. Fans of futuristic sci-fi and/or fairy tale retellings, maybe around age 15 and up, should definitely consider checking out this series, starting with the first book (you really don’t want to dive in here on the final book).

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Book Review: The Darkest Minds

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The Darkest Minds
Book #1
by Alexandra Bracken

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: YA dystopian

When the small percentage of survivors of a plague that affects children and teens begin to exhibit special powers, they are feared, hunted, and locked up. But some avoid capture or manage to escape the camps. Ruby spent six years in a camp, and when she manages to leave, she has to figure out who on the outside can be trusted. Both adults and other children present unknown risks she might not be prepared to deal with.

The set-up for this book is scary, but it’s all too believable that adults would lock up kids if they turned out to be dangerous. Ruby’s time in the camp is summed up at the beginning and is a sad and poignant backdrop to the rest of the story going forward, exploring the emotional and psychological toll of such treatment on young individuals. I like the dynamic of Liam, Chubs, and Zu and the way they incorporate Ruby into their group, fostering a sense of camaraderie and mutual understanding amid their shared struggles. The romance didn’t really stand out to me, but at least it didn’t make me cringe, serving as a subtle undercurrent rather than the main focus of the narrative. To be honest, I felt like Ruby connected with and had more chemistry with Chubs than Liam. The plot overall is engaging; yes, a lot of the middle involves these four kids driving toward an unlikely dream, but I really don’t remember being bored, as their journey is filled with moments of tension, growth, and unexpected turns.

My biggest issue with the book is that Ruby mostly doesn’t act like someone who was locked up from age 10 to age 16. Her emotional development, her knowledge of the world, social skills, etc. should basically be at a 10-year-old level. This crops up in very minor ways, but not nearly what I think would be realistic. There are times when she answers questions about life or, even more narrowly, her home state of Virginia that would just make me shake my head and think, “There’s no way I would have known that at 10 years old.” I also wish there could have been some adults that weren’t just bad. A kind guard at the camp, a legend about a group that actually is trying to help kids, etc. That part of the set up maybe wasn’t so realistic, but maybe that will be explored more in a future book. Overall, I enjoyed this story a lot, even with those issues. I’ve already recommended it to my 16-year-old daughter and think other fans of YA sci-fi, especially dystopian worlds, should give it a try.

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Book Review: Mandie and the Trunk’s Secret

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Mandie and the Trunk’s Secret
Mandie #5
by Lois Gladys Leppard

My rating: 4 / 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. Nostalgia definitely affects my reviews for this series, and I’m okay with that. It’s good to at least see some consequences from Mandie’s disobedience in the previous book, though of course the consequence ends up being fun for her and Celia and leads them into another mystery. I appreciate that they are trying to behave better here as well, though she questions whether she should really be meeting with Uncle Ned at night while still doing it anyway. Uncle Ned himself clearly thinks it’s important to adhere to the rules but still visits in secret. Overall, though, this book was better than the previous. While I think these books can still be good for younger people to read, especially if you’re looking for something with Christian content, I strongly recommend discussing what’s good and bad in them with your kid(s) after they read it.

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