Monument 14, by Emmy Laybourne

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.

Click to read my review of book 2 -- Monument 14: Sky on Fire
Click to read my review of book 3 -- Monument 14: Savage Drift

Summary:
Intended Age-Group: 9th grade & up
Issues of Violence: gun fights, deaths from post-apocalyptic disasters, fist fighting, rape
Intimacy Level: kissing, nudity, attempts at sex (both willingly and forced)
Language: Use of "God," "Christ", and "Jesus" for exclamations. Hell, SOB, b****, f*** (blanked out), a**,
Other: Underage drinking/intoxication, drug use, conversations revolving around sex, drugs, "getting high", hallucinations from air toxin, violent animal-like behavior from air toxin, etc.

Recommendation: Neutral. Use caution. 3 out of 5 stars with reservations (see end of entry)

Back-Cover Blurb
Six high-school kids (some popular, some not), two eight-graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world--as they know it--apart.

Initial Reaction: *****
I picked up this book on a whim at the library. It truly was a whim, but once I started it, it replaced the others and became my midnight read until I completed it two days later. There are many things I enjoyed about it, but also many things I didn't.

PROS:

1. Characters: *****

I liked how realistic the kids seem. No one came off as completely cardboard. Sure, there was the jock, but he wasn't a total self-absorbed jerk. Then there was the nerd, but he still had social skills. The pretty popular girl  wasn't an airhead or a flirt. Through the book, I got to know the characters   right off the bat (though I had some trouble keeping the little kids straight.)
2. Realistic. The author captured the terror that might come from these types of events in a very realistic way. She really pegged how I believe thinking would change, hope would change, and leadership would change with a handful of kids trying to survive.

3. Parent Appreciation. One aspect I especially appreciated was how the children missed and worried over their parents--even when we see some parents aren't the greatest of caretakers. I was pleased that this wasn't a "kids-in-charge!" type of book and showed how leadership and loneliness can be very real.

4. Action Packed. Practically every chapter brought a new reason that made me want to turn the page to the next. Small things--realistic things--that, in a situation like this, make them very big. 



CONS: 1. Clean Content: ***** The book got a bit crude on the sexual side of things -- joking, jealousy, some scenes of nudity. I understand that's something that goes on with teenagers and it's still realistic, especially with no adult supervision in this environment. But it's not something I enjoy reading. And it's not content I would want to hand to my 9th grade daughter or son. There is also drug use and underage drinking that, understandably, takes place amongst some of the older kids.

2. Spiritual Content: ***** This 'con' is mainly because I review from a Christian point-of-view, and my reviews are to help those with similar beliefs as me to choose which books they would like to delve into next. This point is not to "sway" readers with different/nonexistent spiritual beliefs. 

There were some strange mixed views of God--mostly whatever-you-believe-is-right type of thinking--but it's the views of confused children raised with differing beliefs, not an expressed view as a theme/message in the book. One younger character does go around pointing his finger and saying, "That's a sin!" over and over. Though it was funny, it made me sad to see the views of a "judgmental God" portrayed in one so innocent--sad because that's how a lot of the world often views God, and that portrayal is not accurate.


Overall Recommendation: (3.5 stars)

This book may be dark and somewhat scary to a teenage reader, depending on his/her reading habits. I certainly recommend caution. But as a post-apocalyptic work of fiction, I thought it was written well. It's gritty, harsh, realistic, and captures the slivers of hope that always exist in dark times. I enjoyed it, despite the mature themes throughout the entire book. 
Story-wise and because of good quality, I found this book to be a good read. I enjoyed it, and I recommend it with caution. As always, I encourage all readers to examine his/her own reading preferences before following my recommendation.

 

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.

Harry Potter and the Order of the phoenix (book 5), by J. K. Rowling

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: 9+ (recommended 13+)
Issues of Violence: action violence, torture, murder, mutilation, intense situations, snake attack, cruel punishments from evil teachers.
Intimacy Level: mild attraction, mention of kissing (or "snogging"), and one character kiss.
Language: some instances of d***, nicknames for disliked teachers 
Other: Mention of drunkenness regarding some characters, a scene inside a bar (nothing questionable) 

Recommendation: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Book Description:
The Order of the Phoenix is the first book in the series after Voldemort has returned. Naturally, Harry is on the watch for any murders, disappearances, and odd happenings in the wizarding world, but Voldemort's playing it smart and keeping low. Meanwhile, the Ministry interferes at Hogwarts with a new member of staff, partly to keep an eye on the "unstable Harry Potter" and partly to keep Dumbledore from spreading fear about Voldemort.

Characters: *****
Harry's main character trait in this book is angst. He's hit the dramatic teenage years where he questions himself, questions others, and can't seem to see past the mirror. We all went through it and, now reading this book outside of my teen years, I see how impeccably accurate Harry's hormonal upheaval is.

Loyalty of friends is a big theme in this book, especially since Harry seems estranged from his peers--they're frightened of him after what happened the last school year during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry and Hermione are as faithful as they come, standing up for him and encouraging him to be the leader he needs to be, which brings me to my next positive: Leadership.

Harry steps up to lead his peers, even against his own misgivings, to ensure they can protect themselves against a dark wizard attack. When he steps into these shoes, it's with genuine humility and the feeling he's unworthy to lead, which is one reason he's so good at it.

Unity is strong between those who believe the Dark Lord has returned. It creates a sense of family, safety, and trust. Harry's kinship with his new role models--Sirius, Lupin, the Weasleys, draws him even deeper into the sense of family outside of actual blood relatives. It shows the readers it's possible to have such unity solely through love of one another.

Plot: *****
Well, Voldemort is back, what do you expect? He's conniving and vindictive against those who didn't come to his aid during his years of hiding. Most of all, he wants to kill Harry and he uses mind tricks to do it. He draws Harry in and then uses his minions to torture, kill, and injure those who fight against him.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron, find themselves in a new type of mystery. How do they prove Voldemort is out to destroy the world when Voldemort's not showing himself? Harry deals with taunting from peers as he's labeled "mentally unstable". His strange dreams and visions don't help matters, but he's determined to keep people safe, even if they won't help him. In the end, Harry and his faithful friends face Voldemort's followers in battle. Inevitably, deaths and injuries take place that are a bit intense for the younger reader.

Spiritual Aspect: *****
There is no spiritual or Christian focus in these books, but there are a lot of good themes and messages. 

Other:

The unlikable side of adults comes out in this book. Harry's admiration of his father is brought back down to earth, he sees the maniacal side of a professor determined to do anything for her misguided beliefs. Harry sees what solitude and captivity can do to a grown man and what affect that can have on mental stability. All this time, while Harry is looking to an adult to lead him, he's seeing their faults and it's discouraging. Even Dumbledore is being distant. This pushes Harry to take a lot of matters into his own hands.

Overall Recommendation: (4.5 stars)
The entire Harry Potter series carries wonderful themes of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, love vs. hate. These themes only grow in this book and, though the characters encounter violence and dark opposition, they learn to rise above with the right beliefs, values, and morals. I highly recommend this book. The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is because I believe the intended age group of 9-years-old is too young. I would stick to 13 and up.

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.

The Host, by Stephanie Meyer

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.

Mini-Summary:

Intended Age-Group: 16+

Issues of Violence:  action violence, topic of suicide, euthanasia, dissection, knife wounds

Intimacy Level: a lot of kissing, talk of sex, passionate kissing (did I mention kissing?)

Swearing: h**l, d**n, bl**dy, b*gg*r, j*ck**s

Recommendation: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Blurb:
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.


Initial Reaction: *****
 I picked up Stephanie Meyer's The Host on a whim. I'd seen the movie trailer and I was curious about the opening line. You can tell a lot about a book by its opening line. I had two flights that evening and the book was thick. I bought it. Two days and 800+ pages later, I finished it.

Plot: *****
It has a love story. I'm not a love-story type of gal. I read books for premise and world-building. The Host drew me in with its premise...and kept me there with the writing. Gone is Meyer's simple prose of a vampire love story. She enters a new level of eloquence and allure with The Host and I loved it. It is nothing like the Twilight series and I found the female protagonist strong and a much more appropriate role model for younger readers than Bella Swan.

The premise is the invasion of an unseen enemy into earth, called "souls". The souls use human bodies as "hosts". Melanie Stryder, one of the few remaining humans on earth is caught by the Seekers. Her body is used as a host to the foreign "soul", Wanderer, but Melanie's no wimp. She fights Wanderer's presence and control out of desperation to return to her brother...and her love, Jared.

Characters: *****

The book was slow moving, yet concretely suspenseful the entire time. I felt an instant connection with the main characters, Melanie and Wanderer, which kept me rooting for them. Many people called this story a unique love triangle, but I found it more of a love square, which is much more to my liking.

The science fiction culture mixed with Wanderer's "alien" mind fascinated me. They were beautifully delivered and thoughtfully developed. I found Wanderer's inner growth  distinctly deep, heart-wrenching, and realistic (for an alien). Her character grew and grew until she went from "the enemy" (in my mind) to my heroine.

Likes:

Coming from a reader who doesn't like romance novels, I knew, judging by Meyer's history, that I'd probably encounter flaming goosebumps and deep gazes. Sure enough, Melanie's obsession over Jared had me rolling my eyes, especially because I didn't like Jared very much and I couldn't see why Melanie did. A lot of Meyer's basis for attraction between couples is based on chemistry. Did the physical touch create goosebumps or not? Heart flutter or not? Flaming mindless emotional drowning or not? 

That just doesn't do it for me. But Ian was so much more realistic, gentlemanly,  and a great example of a good man.

He was so...understanding, it made him instantly likeable in my book. A woman wants to be understood and, even though Wanderer is an alien, he manages to understand her the best way a human can. He is patient, respectful, sweet, but still with faults--a wonderful mix that won me over far more than Jared's brooding stubbornness.

Dislikes:
At many points in the book, we enter Melanie's memories of being with Jared. In one instance, she expresses wanting to share a bed with him. She says when he touches her, she doesn't want him to stop. His drawback is that she's nine years younger than he is and underage. He also doesn't want to run the risk of bringing babies into their invaded, dying, war-torn world. Sex is implied and marriage is not.

On a side note for the book's sake, everyone is suspected of being an invader. This makes it hard to find anyone to perform a marriage, so two people in a serious relationship are called "partners". It implies faithfulness and something akin to marriage.

Overall Recommendation:
Overall, I enjoyed the book on many more levels than I thought I would. Even though there are supposed to be continuations, I thought this single novel wrapped itself up very nicely and I'm content leaving it where it is. Even with the romance side of things, everything stays appropriate. I loved this book.

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.