Monday, May 14, 2018

Review: A Window to Your Heart by Sean McKissack

A Window to Your Heart



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My Take:
Jason Dennereck has a serious problem. He can't seem to get past the word 'Hello' with the girl he wants to spend the rest of his life with. As chance after chance to push the relationship past that word pass him by, he begins to realize that she may slip away without even knowing how he feels. His best friend informs him that everyone, including the girl, is aware of his infatuation, so why can't he summon up the courage to just ask her out? But for Jason, that moment never can seem to come.

Enter Lydia, the strange, Goth girl who promises she can help him achieve those dreams, his own way, without any fear of rejection. At the same time, a new teen at school, named Gabe, tries to encourage him to do things God's way, and let the relationship grow organically.

As Gabe pulls out a flaming sword and opens a portal to show Jason his past, and Lydia brings him a tome she promises is a recording of his dream girl's entire life, and the easy way into a future with her, Jason begins to realize these two are not average students.

Jason is given the rare opportunity to choose the future he wants, or accept the future God gives him. If he chooses to do things his own way, he may gain everything he's ever dreamed of, but lose himself in the process.


Content:
Drug Content:
G - squeaky clean.

Violence:
PG - There is a fist fight at school. There is one scene, a dream, where a student is cut to pieces by flaming daggers.

Language:
G - squeaky clean.

Adult Content:
G - It's clean. Pre-teen angst is about as far as it goes.

Christian content:
Gabe is obviously a younger rendition of the Angel Gabriel, and his encouragement to have Jason follow the guidance of God is clear Christian content. Lydia is never truly described as the demoness she probably is. The book of Life is referred to. The importance of a life, of the destiny of an individual, temptation and character, longing and patience, are discussed and dealt with. The battling of Good and Evil is clear, and the spiritual forces are represented well. An event in the past concerning a church youth camp is visited.

No scripture is quoted, God is not given center stage, and church attendance is only present during a wedding. But that does not mean that Christian values or an eternal perspective are not here.

Final analysis:
Window to Your Heart explores the struggle most boys this age go through. I certainly went through it myself. The struggle to overcome the fear of rejection enough to tell a girl how you feel about her. The struggles Jason goes through, the trauma and drama of Junior High School is very real, painful, dimensional. Trips through time, alternate realities, life-altering decisions, all make for an exciting and spellbinding MG fantasy with some life lessons thrown in. Jason is likable, realistic, and has to go through a very real character arc to navigate the dangerous waters of Middle School.

I would love to have given this a five star rating, but I found some of the scenes, carried primarily by dialog, to be a bit confusing, and I got lost trying to follow who was saying what, and where they were, to the point where it pulled me out of the story for a bit. This was an excellent read, though. Fast action, a quick read, real characters, and a solid plot. Four Stars!
About the Author:
Sean McKissack's ability to view the world around him and find a story and truth enables him to prepare the stage in a reader's mind for a heart-felt life cinema. Inspired by God, music and his experiences, he captures teaching and growing moments commonly found during adolescence. His writings epitomize the good and the bad in life, the joys and the pain, culminating in the coming of age and wisdom.

Sean hails from Southaven, Mississippi and he's always thinking of new stories to write

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Review: Capering on Glass Bridges (Hawk of Stone #1) by Jessica Hernandez

Capering on Glass Bridges (Hawk of Stone #1)


26209793The Utdrendans have spoken, and everything has changed as a consequence. 
People normally avoid the fog surrounding the cursed Kingdom of Mar, but now they are asking sixteen-year-old Kaia Stone to venture into it. The Utdrendans implied that there is something special about Kaia. They claimed that she could help free the land; she need only carry out their instructions and deliver a message to the Marian king.
Mar, however, is a land in which dark secrets abound, and many will stop at nothing to ensure that it remains forever cursed. Determined to work against Kaia, unfriendly forces have already begun to gather.

Will Kaia choose to abandon the only life she’s ever known—perhaps indefinitely—in pursuit of the greater good…in pursuit of her purpose?



My Take:
Sixteen-year-old Kaia Stone feels like a misfit. In the land of Grey, where she lives, almost all citizens have a canonipoms, a small intelligent creature that bonds with them for life, and lives to serve and protect them. The two are linked telepathically from birth, and on a given day, the canonipom is called, and they meet to share the rest of their lives together.

When Kaia's canonipom was called, however, she no-showed. The bitter disappointment, the incompleteness, still festered in her. She felt useless and unimportant, rejected, really, until her family was called to Zavonia, to the city of the Makers, to discuss her role in freeing the captive and cursed Kingdom of Mar.

Mar was cursed over a decade previously by the Zavonians, when King Richard committed genocide against the Tivmicans. The curse took the form of an impenetrable barrier of fog. The people inside could not escape, and were left to deal with the... other... ramifications of the curse. The land was obscured by fog and darkness, but there were rumors. Of horrors lurking there. Of evil waiting.

The Zavonians, who have the ability to speak and create by that spoken word, intended the curse to be permanent and irrevocable. But the Utdrendans, who were the first people and creators, considered the punishment of Mar too harsh. And the curse was imperfect, ill-spoken and flawed. With the flaw, a chance for redemption offered itself for the people of Mar.

They could be freed, but a message had to be delivered to the Marian King, and only Kaia could deliver it. But would she, when there was no guarantee she could ever return?



Content:
Drug Content:
G - squeaky clean.

Violence:
PG-13 - The curse has some horrific transforming power, and some descriptions of it are a bit graphic. Monsters attack and rip people apart. Several murder attempts are made. There is a passage where children are quietly murdered.

Language:
G - squeaky clean.

Adult Content:
G - It's clean.   

Christian content:
While God is not mentioned at all in this book, nor is church or faith, the basic workings of the curse are that immorality transforms the immoral person. Liars receive a forked tongue. Murderers immediately transform into a creature of horror. Because of this, sin in its various forms is limited in its presence in the land of nightmare.

Self sacrifice, the greater good, loyalty and its lack, are major themes. Compassion and mercy are bold brush here. Risking all for the undeserving becomes an undercurrent as well.

Final analysis:
Capering on Glass Bridges was a gripping tale. The stakes were very high for Kaia, and the plot twists abounded. The settings were quite realistic, the flora and fauna captivating. The world-building here was astounding. This fast-paced adventure had me ripping through it, from the moment they embarked on the adventure to the very end. Well written, fast-paced, captivating! Five Stars!

About the Author:
Jessica HernandezHello, everyone! My name is Jessica. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. :) Allow me to share a bit about myself with you. I was born and raised in the beautiful, sunny state of Florida. I attended the University of Miami, where I spent more time than I care to admit daydreaming of a faraway land called Acu. Upon graduating with a degree in English and Political Science in 2014, I put pen to paper and brought Acu to life—so was born the Hawk of Stone duology.