King's Folly

"Their Battle for the Throne has just Begun.

But Will it Matter if the World They Rule

Collapses into the Sea?"

 

Bookworm's Ranking - 4 Worms

Storyline - The world is falling apart; cliffs fall into the sea, a town is swallowed by water, a thriving city sinks into the ground. The king believes more human sacrifices will save them. His son, Wilek, believes other wise. But this is just the beginning. The five kingdoms are raging with their own problems, beliefs, and wars. Yet, they might soon all face a devastating disaster if something doesn't change.

Author - Jill Williamson

Publisher - Bethany House

Age Group - 17 and up

Content - *May Contain Spoilers* Sex, at least for the first third, was mentioned every few pages whether is was about concubines, teasing about being with a female (this was done by the males), being (or fear of) taken advantage of, or who was with who, it was everywhere. There is also a scene at the beginning were a man is sacrificed to a god and also a short history of past sacrifices. Magic with the use of contacting spirits and doing rituals. Now, none of what has been listed so far is suggested in anyway as a good thing to the reader. The characters, in their own opinions on certain items, don't see the issue but it is clear to the reader. A lot of the characters do want to do right, love others, and fight to help someone in need, all while doing something listed above. They are real people struggling in this world on a journey to the truth.

Personal Opinion - If I had to choose one word to describe King's Folly, it would be intense. At least, that is how I felt. There are numerous characters of all different personalities (some are more likeable than others) and the darkness in the world is very much the same as the trials and dangers of our world. The story, while having a very Biblical feel to the story, almost a retelling from on of its books, and the situations the characters face, I couldn't help but make comparisons to our current world and times. Themes also of sexuality and its use were very prevalent in the story and made me think of how people see and use it today. How much sex was focused on really bothered me. Yes, I will give that it isn't supposed to be a positive thing the characters are doing even though they don't know that yet, but I found it stressful and irritating to be running into it so much. It felt over emphasized when the human sacrificing or other issues could have been discussed too to see the peoples' sinfulness that is leading to the destruction of their world. It has a part in the story and the message it is sending but I had a hard time dealing with it. It got to the point that I would see whose point of view I was heading for and would dread it, wanting instead to jump to a character I was more interested in instead.

Actually, that was some of the redeeming qualities I found in the book, the characters I liked so much that I couldn't wait to get back to them and their interactions and struggles. I personally loved the characters Mielle, Trevn, Onika and her cat, Kal, and Grayson. I know I'm forgetting some because their were so many in this highly developed world. Strangely enough, while the plethora of characters expanded the story and brought it to life, there were also times I didn't like it because there were too many points of view and also made the book seem long and more drawn out than it need to. This had two affects on me. One was the too many characters, over whelming aspect, and the second was a world believable and come to life, breathing into it something not always caught in stories.

If I had one more thing that I didn't like (yet worked in an interesting, almost teaching way) was that I had no idea who was supposed to represent God in this story for over half the book because their were so many different gods the characters followed. Being a Christian book, I thought it would be clear and I would get this right away. In the end, while I still wished I had known sooner, I think it taught something interesting in my not pinning it down so fast. In life, we get distracted by so many things, our wants and desires, and the various voices of the world, that we lose track of God and not always sure where to turn. Also, someone who isn't Christian, might think He sounds so much like all the other religions that it is just another in the pot. It made me think on how others might see the world and see God and religion.

In short, this book deals with some dark and serious matters yet the characters are understandable, relatable, and connectable where the reader wants them to change or become better or their circumstances to become better in a world that is terrifyingly like our own. It is a book that makes you think, especially when you start linking it to our world. It was a book which I had a hard time liking it but would recommend to anyone who like high fantasy and loves these types of stories. I also apologize for my novel length review but a book this size and this much depth requires more.

Video - This is a song inspired by the book and is beautiful.

Buy - Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ChristianBook, Publisher,

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Disclaimer - In exchange for an honest review, I received this book for free from the publisher through Bethany House Bloggers.

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Chew on a good book today!

Trapped

"The Day the Blizzard Started,
No One Knew that it was Going to Keep Snowing for a Week.
That for Those in its Path,
it Would Become not Just a Matter of Keeping Warm, 
But of Staying Alive."

Bookworm's Ranking - 2 Worms

Storyline - When a blizzard strikes the small town Scotty lives in, he remains behind to help his friend on a project. But soon things become worse than they thought and becomes one of seven stranded at the school for days. Not long after, power slowly goes, heat slowly goes, food becomes scarce, and the snow is ever rising. Can they live through this? Or will they all be lost to the storm?

Author - Michael Northrop

Publisher - Scholastic

Age Group - 16 and up

Content - Hints at teens being together and other such crass stuff. Made some disrespectful comments concerning religion. Scotty helps his friends and turns to God for help. He also helps his friend and stands by them.

Personal Opinion - I didn't enjoy this book that much. Maybe because I felt that Scotty just told you what was happening or because of the characters hinting at being together or making jokes like that. I thought much of what was happening with the character didn't seem completely realistic for what was happening around them. Such as flirting with a girl when you have no power, no heat, and have to live on the second floor because the snow covered all the windows on the first floor. I did like how Scotty stands by his friends and how they became a bit more serious in the end. The adventure about the snow piling up did get more exciting but I still didn't get into this book.
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Awards - Spring 2011 Indie Next List selection, Barnes and Nobel "Must Read for Teens," 2012 TAYSHAS (Texas) High School Reading List selection, and some good reviews by several big name places.

Links - Learn more about the book and author at: http://michaelnorthrop.net/?page_id=7

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Wildfire Run

Bookworm's Ranking - 4 Worms

Storyline - When Luke, the son of the President of the United States, is on vacation at Camp David with his friend and father, a wildfire begins eating up the forest and is heading right to them. But when an accident strikes, Luke and his friends, Theo and Callie, are own their own to survive and escape before the fire claims the camp with them still inside.

Author - Dee Garretson

Publisher - Harper, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers

Age Group - 12 or 13 and up

Content - Even though the characters were at odds with each other at first, they came to support one another and tried to help those who were hurt. The came to see what was important and really grew up. Luke even put others before himself when everyone wanted him to just go and save himself because he was the President's son.

Personal Opinion - This was an enjoyable book which I was able to read in just two days. There were some unbelievable stuff that happened but it was an exciting book with lots of action and a fire coming around every corner which made the characters work together to find a way out of the 'secure' camp. The ingenuity of the characters was great and supported imagination and inventiveness. I wish the ending had been a little longer and had more to the adjustment after the fire had been covered because it didn't seem like enough for them to recover but perhaps you are just suppose to see them start to come around from the terror. Anyways, good book and I might look into the new book this author has coming out.

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Links - Learn more about the book and author at: http://deegarretson.wordpress.com/

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Soul Surfer

 
Bookworm's Ranking - 3 Worms

Storyline - Bethany Hamilton was a great surfer. She was like any other kid, homeschooled, hung out with friends, loved God and family, until one day a shark took her arm. But she wouldn't let that keep her down. She wanted to surf and get back in the water and fulfill her dream of being a pro surfer. With her friends, family, and God, she would make the journey to return to the sport she loves.

Author - Bethany Hamilton, Sheryl Berk, and Rick Bundschuh

Age Group - 13 or 14 and up

Positive - Bethany placed her trust in God, even when things looked really bad. She also didn't give up on her dream. It seemed hopeless that she would ever surf competitively but she was determined to "get back in the water."

Negative - Nothing was really negative but there were a couple of things she mentioned doing as a kid that I just shook my head at.

Writing - The book was mostly in a telling format. The organization could have been done a little better and more info on the peoples' feelings and specific situations would have been better. It would sometimes talk about the attack and then the next chapter would be something about before the shark such as things she did with her friends. I think this was to see what life was like before but there was just a little too much information and I didn't always see how it pertained to the rest. It was still pretty interesting though to read and hear what it is like to live in Hawaii, surf, and about how important God is to her.

Personal Opinion - I thought it was a good book but it wasn't the best autobiagraphy I ever read. It talked a lot about her life in the past (what she liked to do, family and friends, and surfing) but I thought there would be a little more about the attack and her recovery after. Also, I don't think the organization of the book was done very well. There were stories but they were told in more of a general way then any specific cercomstance and I didn't really feel or identify with them much (there were a couple that were nicely told but it wasn't the norm). It was written more in a way a magazine writes a story but it was longer. She just told you about things or how she felt but, then again, she does say that is who she is; just tells it like it is. That is fine and all but it made it hard to get into the story. I liked the journal at the end about the making of the movie which was cool. It was a pretty good book and I still think her personal story is great about overcoming adversity but I didn't really learn more than what I was already told.

Awards - Has been on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Links - Learn more about this book and the author at: http://bethanyhamilton.com/ .

Special Notes - This book includes information about the making of the movie Soul Surfer. You can read my review of the movie at: http://bookwormreading.blogspot.com/2011/04/soul-surfer-movie.html

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Night of the Twisters

Night of the Twisters is a tornado of a book (pun intended). When Dan and his best friend and baby brother are left alone, they had to survive a tornado that lands in their neighborhood. But they don't even know how bad the destruction or if their families are alive until they can find a way out of Dan's basement. And how are they going to find anyone when everything is in pieces?

The book is a little dated from references of Kmart and Conoco and I could have done without the occasional swearing but the feeling of what it is like when you lose everything in only minutes is universal for anyone and I found myself feeling nervous when the tornado came to Dan's house. The book gives great examples of being brave when everything is falling apart and how much you need to appreciate the people in your life because you don't know when something might come to take them from you.
I still think it was cool that I found this book at my library for only $0.50.

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