Birthmarked, by Caragh M. O'Brien

Disclaimer: All reviews are the result of my personal opinion from a Christian stand-point. These reviews are provided for those who share my beliefs and morals, to help guide what fiction a reader may wish to pick up. For those who do not share these beliefs, please refrain from hateful comments. It is due to rude commenting that I must now include this note prior to all reviews. For more information, visit my purpose behind this blog. Thank you for your understanding.

Summary:
Intended Age-Group: 12+
Issues of Violence: action violence, passive mentions of gunshot or imprisonment.
Intimacy Level: mild attraction
Swearing: b*****d
Recommendation: 3 out of 5 stars

Blurb:

"You can't take my baby. She's mine."

"You'll have others. You'll get to keep some. I promise."

"Please. Not this one. Not my only. What have I done?"

"You've provided a great service to the Enclave."

In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the wall and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. Gaia has always believed it is her duty, with her mother, to hand over a small quota of babies to the Enclave. But when Gaia's mother and father are arrested by the very people they so dutifully serve, Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught to believe. Gaia's choice is now simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying. 

Initial Reaction: *****

The idea of supporting a higher and healthier life by giving up newborn babies to be raised in an alternate society was fascinating. Gaia's skill and knowledge as a midwife (passed down by her mother) is very believable and educational. I especially love Gaia's concern and care for the babies--both in the womb and after they've been sent inside the wall.

This dystopian America follows the similar trend of a character discovering that the overall power may not be in her best interest.

Characters: *****
Gaia's character wove up and down for me. At the beginning of the book, when warned of imminent danger by a family friend, she clung to extreme ignorance, even with her parents missing and blatant question marks staring her in the face, but I understand that every character goes through a growth process and we can't see Gaia grow without first seeing her weaknesses. 

When life takes a nasty (but predictable) twist, Gaia's strength shows through. She acts out against injustice. She's good at maintaining an active role in passive circumstances, which is refreshing.

The character of Captain Grey was very developed and not as predictable as I'd expected. His internal conflict between Gaia's plight and his own duties was well-delivered. He made diplomatic choices that were affected by his twinging conscience. I enjoyed his growth and, though some of his choices near the end of the book were a leap toward daring and dangerously uncharacteristic, they still remained believable.

Gaia's relationship with her father was especially touching. He wasn't just the typical loving, warm-smile, twinkle-eyes father. Through Gaia's sixteen-year-old-eyes, we learned a lot about his spunk, fire, and awareness. The character of Gaia's mother didn't come out quite as much until later in the book and, though she's supposedly formed much of Gaia's character, she was a little cliche.

Plot: *****
About half way through the novel, the story hit a wall for me. I went from reading every night to snatching short paragraphs over the course of a couple weeks. My interest faded as the story slowed down even further after a stretch of medium-paced plot. This may have been caused by the limited insight into Gaia's feelings. There were moments when I knew exactly what she was feeling as she thought about her parents or wondered about the life of a baby, but when the action starts rolling, it's hard to know what's going through her head. I was often left waiting for a moment of guidance--an "Aha! That's where we're at emotionally," but it didn't come.

Spiritual Content: *****
On the spiritual front, no mention of God or any other deity was present, keeping the book quite neutral. Though I enjoy Christian speculative fiction novels, I like being able to recommend a secular one that's clean. It's good to see the different types of writing.

Other:
The book had mild, decent violence and no sexual issues in it. There is a specifically graphic scene of an old-fashioned "C-Section" of sorts, but I found it more interesting than repellent.  The single swear word I saw in the book (b*st*rd) actually felt very appropriate in the scene it was used.

Overall Recommendation:
Over the course of the 361 pages, my interest declined. The book ended with a pleasant surprise (who doesn't like surprises?), which managed to salvage an inkling of my interest. I may pick up the second book. All in all, definitely a clean read for the intended age-group, but lacking depth for more serious well-versed readers.

Nadine Brandes is an adventurer, fusing authentic faith with bold imagination. She writes stories about brave living, finding purpose, and other worlds soaked in imagination. Her debut dystopian novel, A Time to Die, releases 2014 from Marcher Lord Press, the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction. When Nadine's not taste-testing a new chai or editing fantasy novels, she is out pursuing adventures. She currently lives in Idaho with her husband. You can find out more about Nadine and her books at http://nadinebrandes.com.

Daughter of Light, by Morgan Busse

Disclaimer: All reviews are the result of my personal opinion from a Christian stand-point. These reviews are provided for those who share my beliefs and morals, to help guide what fiction a reader may wish to pick up. For those who do not share these beliefs, please refrain from hateful comments. It is due to rude commenting that I must now include this note prior to all reviews. For more information, visit my purpose behind this blog. Thank you for your understanding.

Summary:

Recommended Age-Group: 15+
Issues of Violence: physical injuries, magic-related violence, assassination, war
Intimacy Level: mild attraction
Swearing: none
Recommendation: yes, 4.5 out of 5 stars! (see end of entry)

Blurb:

Rowen Mar is an orphan adopted into a village where she's not accepted. Her reputation sinks even deeper when a strange mark brands her as a witch and she's cast out of the only home she's known. She travels to the White City--a place she's never been, but the place her adoptive father has spent most of his life..and he's built a reputation. She arrives with hopes to become the varor to the princess--aka ferocious female bodyguard.  

Rowen is haunted by memories of when she accidentally touched a person with her mark, which revealed the evil inside a human's heart. Out of fear, she covers her hand with a glove and attempts to live without anyone knowing she is different, but God made her different for a purpose. War brews in the land and Rowen finds herself drawn to reveal and accept who and what she is, but will that acceptance distance those she loves away from her? Particularly the handsome Captain Lore?

Initial Reaction: *****

I enjoyed the fast pace to Morgan Busse's debut novel, Daughter of Light, which kept the story from dragging. There is a wide variety of characters who are more "out-of-the-box" than some of the recent fantasy I've read--a female scribe, woman bodyguard, and a blackmailed assassin. Those characters are an instant handful of gold.

Plot: *****
Rowen's journey is a great model of an under-qualified person embarking upon God's path of greater things. His calling can be intimidating and seemingly impossible, but it's important for her (and us) to take that tentative step that seems terrifying.

Daughter of Light has a similar feel to Lord of the Rings (only it's easier to read!). For those who enjoy that type of fantasy, this will be right up your alley!

Characters: *****
I had a difficult time relating to the characters, which in turn made me read the story mostly for plot-reasons than character plight. Rowen seemed very soft-hearted through the entire book, even after becoming a bodyguard and swordsman (swordswoman?). I would have liked to see a little more ferocity in her internal character--there were a lot of moments where she had to step up to bravely defend the princess, but I didn't see much confidence or determination grow from those experiences.

There were three point-of-views in this book, but Rowen's seemed to be the main one. I greatly enjoyed the assassin, Caleb's, point-of-view and looked forward to his chapters. The third character, a scribe named Nierne, caught my attention when her city was attacked. I connected with her plight the most--feeling her fear, her dread, her desperation to escape--but after her initial introduction, we only enter her head a couple more times. Not much follow-up comes regarding her city, but the way Daughter of Light ends leaves an opening for a lot more development in Nierne's besieged city. After all, we can't expect all the answers in one book. ;)

Spiritual Elements: *****

Just as the book is focused on adventure and quest for one's king/queen and country, it is focused on God's (called the Word) interaction with those He loves and pursues. This is done in a way that doesn't slap the reader across the face with Christian theology or over-the-top Christian fantasy. It touches on the Word's ability to heal and forgive.

The story also enters into the human struggle with faith, instead of thrusting every character into a "believe" moment and be a perfect apostle afterward. Characters pray out of desperation, admitting they have no faith that God will come through. A scribe who's spent her entire life copying and studying the Word's law doesn't understand His choice to allow good people to die and grows angry with Him. These moments just confirm God's faithfulness even when we doubt or don't understand.

Other:

Many scenes of battle have short graphic images--a dagger to the throat, bones splintering through a person's skin, screams of anguish. These bring the reader into the scenes, but Morgan Busse does an excellent job of giving just enough information to understand and feel what is going on without leaving a bad taste in the reader's mouth. 

Rowen is a very innocent and genuine person. When her mark leads her to see into the darkness of someone's soul, she is haunted by what she sees. Much of this includes the thoughts, desires, and memories of lust. Rowen is disgusted when she sees into the heart of a rapist. The book does not go into detail, but it informs the reader enough to know what she's seeing.

I really had to stay on my toes to keep the characters and locations straight. I have difficulty with names in general so this may not apply to all readers, but I mixed up the names of cities quite often through this book. I thought I'd also have a hard time with the characters, but the author does an excellent job reminding the reader in subtle ways who each character is.

Overall Recommendation:

Overall, I recommend this book. It's a great read and the driving idea is very original (my initial reason for stalking the release of this book). Again, I tip my hat to Marcher Lord Press for producing another inspiring book that touches the often forgotten corners of Christian fantasy. Bravo, Morgan Busse!

Nadine Brandes is an adventurer, fusing authentic faith with bold imagination. She writes stories about brave living, finding purpose, and other worlds soaked in imagination. Her debut dystopian novel, A Time to Die, released September 2014 from Enclave Publishing. When Nadine's not taste-testing a new chai or editing fantasy novels, she is out pursuing adventures. She currently lives in Idaho with her husband. You can find out more about Nadine and her books at http://nadinebrandes.com.

Reluctant Relaxation

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What does an avid reader and writer do when the doctor says, "Relax your brain."? 

She asks, "What does that mean?"

"No video games, no texting or brain-exhausting things."

Okay, I can handle that, but.... "What about reading? And...maybe writing?"

"Limit the reading. Probably shouldn't write much. Definitely no textbooks or anything."

No problem there, I think. I don't plan on picking up another textbook ever if I can help it. But limited reading? Okay, I can read with breaks. So that's what I'm trying to do (while breaking the rules and writing on my blog).

Yesterday, on my way to my internship, I was rear-ended (see the details here), which resulted in a concussion and some other muscle sprains. My brain needs to heal. I like to think that it will heal from reading. The doctor thinks otherwise. Thankfully, this is not permanent (as far as we know). 

In conclusion--I have not been reading or blogging much because my speech-therapy internship has been a 10-week, sprint-to-the-finish, last-hurrah before graduating with a Master's Degree. Now that I finally have a doctor's note demanding I rest...my reading is still limited.

So, my dear readers--please be patient with me as my traumatized brain heals and as my internship comes to an end. I can say with all honesty that I've been counting down the hours to when I could delve into some more book reviews for you. They shall return in greater force when God's finished teaching me how to rest and heal.

Nadine Brandes is an adventurer, fusing authentic faith with bold imagination. She writes stories about brave living, finding purpose, and other worlds soaked in imagination. Her debut dystopian novel, A Time to Die, releases 2014 from Marcher Lord Press, the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction. When Nadine's not taste-testing a new chai or editing fantasy novels, she is out pursuing adventures. She currently lives in Idaho with her husband. You can find out more about Nadine and her books at http://nadinebrandes.com.