Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unraveled by Shannon Messenger Review

 

Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unraveled by Shannon Messenger was highly anticipated by both myself and my daughter. I was a bit frustrated when I learned that we were getting another .5 book (especially knowing that my librarian doesn't think .5 books are important to include in the library's collection) instead of book 10, especially with the way the author left us at the end of Stellarlune. 

(If you haven't read Stellarlune, you might not want to read this review as I will be mentioning some things that would be spoilerish for that book.)

I really do feel like she is dragging this series out more than she needs to. And I didn't start reading until right before Flashback was published. 

That said, I did love being able to discover what Keefe was up to in "Humanland" during the time that took place in Stellarlune. The book did seem a bit repetitive at first as he was trying to deal with being separated from everything he has ever known, and dealing with the new abilities his mother forced upon him. In Stellarlune, when we finally see him again, he has a lot better control, so it was cool to see how he went about that. 

I loved seeing his reaction to all the different human things. I will say the book became a lot more interesting when we discover the identity of the "friend" he mentions when Sophie and friends find him in Stellarlune. 

I've seen some reviews that make it sound like this book isn't as important as the author has made us think it is. I have to disagree with those reviews. I think we definitely discovered some important information and I can see why she didn't feel like she could work it in to book 10. I can see why it was important to have this in Keefe's point of view, especially because there are things we learn he still won't be able to share with Sophie. 

I will say, I did miss Ro and all the hilarious dialogue and interactions between the two of them. And it was definitely different having Keefe all sulky, but very understandable. 

Now if the author hadn't decided to include those mentions of controversial relationships. I admit, I've been wondering for a while, with all the issues with the elves' matchmaking rules, if she was working up to including said relationships, even though she has said in the past they wouldn't be in this series because it didn't fit in with her world. But seeing as there was a certain conversation beween Keefe and his "friend," and the mention of those relationships being "cool," I do feel she is planning to bring that into her world. Which really frustrates and saddens me, because I have been recommending this series in Christian groups for ages, but now I will no longer be able to do so. 

Will I read the rest of the series? Of course. I am invested, and I love this series. And that is one of the things that bugs me the most. The author let us get invested and then threw it in where it really wasn't even needed. 

Friday Fun - December 20, 2024

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have two books to share with you.

I read Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unraveled by Shannon Messenger.

I just startied A Very Messy Christmas by Dineen Miller.

        Book Beginnings on Friday     

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join C arrie for First Line Friday.)

Here are my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selections:

  Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unraveled by Shannon Messenger:

"'This is a bad idea.'"

Well, it's Keefe, so yeah, not surprised.

A Very Messy Christmas by Dineen Miller:

"'Yes, Mrs. Sanderson, we have you down as arriving on the fifteeth and that you're staying through New Year's Day.'"

Seems like a normal day at an inn.

Now for:

The Friday 56

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unraveled by Shannon Messenger:

 

 "So was the next one.
And the one after that.
The art improved from book to book, so clearly the practice was paying off. But Cass had spent a lot of time drawing the same place--which felt like a strange decision, since humans only lived about eighty years."

A Very Messy Christmas by Dineen Miller:

"'I'll see what I can do.' I'm finding her desire to make even her guest's fur babies happy unexpectedly endearing, which intensifies my urge to ask Madi out. But if I don't plan to stay in Sarabella, wouldn't that be unfair to her? I'm one hundred and ten percent positive that if things turned serious, she'd refuse to sell her inn, which I'd never ask her to do. And I must be out of my mind to even have thought like that. We only just met yesterday."

Reviews:

Last week I shared two books in my Friday Fun post. Here are the links to my reviews:

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker Review

 

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker was quite the intriguing romantic suspense/mystery. I really enjoyed these authors first book together, What We Hide, and was greatly anticipating this book. I've been a fan of Colleen Coble for a few years; however, I have yet to read any of Rick Acker's books. But reading these two books written by both of them together has really made me want to try some of his. They've done a wonderful job so far. 

I was quite intrigued with the premise of this book way back when I first heard about it. Katrina's husband died in what was believed by everyone to be a car accident. However, the reader knows better because the prologue begins with her husband, Jason, being pursued for a possession he has discovered. A very rare and valuable possession. The reader KNOWS how he died, though we do not know who the culprit is that caused his death. 

When the first chapter starts it is a year later and Katrina is having a really bad time both in her professional life and personal life. The CEO of the company where she works as legal counsel has been indicted and the FBI is questioning her. Her grandmother is near death and she is dealing with the chaos at work. This all just adds more on to her grief she has been dealing with for the past year.

She's been clinging on to the memories of her husband through an AI Chatbot that she had access to because of her job. This Chatbot is just like chatting with her husband. Then one day, she asks a question that has her husband/the Chatbot answering that he thinks he was murdered. 

Due to different circumstances Katrina ends up back in her home town. She reconnects with a friend from the past, and they, along with her friend from work, end up working together to solve the mystery of her husband's now-suspicious death along with the missing valuable object. 

There is danger from unknown individuals which adds to the suspense. Though the suspense wasn't all that intense most of the time, there were instances of peril and tension. As they follow clues to find the needed information related to the object that got Jason killed, it feels a bit like a high stakes treasure hunt. There are twists, though I did sort of start to suspect the identity of the one culprit. 

I enjoyed the second chance romance, a relationship that has a chance to develop while Katrina and Seb work together. Though I wasn't a huge fan of the sudden love triangle that developed between Katrina's friend and two other characters. Lots of secrets being withheld. 

There was a LOT going on in this story, some of which did get a tad confusing at times. Especially trying to keep some of the side characters names and relationships to the main characters straight. 

I did enjoy the parts about the two different restaurants, and getting to learn about different Norwegian dishes. 

All in all, it was an enjoyable story and I felt that everything was tied up nicely at the end, even with everything going on. 

I received an e-copy of this book through NetGalley and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers Review

 

Wow, this book was intense. I did not want to put it down. Honestly, I've heard about Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers for a while. Especially when I saw people talking about the movie a few years ago. It appeared to be quite controversial in my Christian groups because of the detail the author goes into and I guess the movie does as well. I really wasn't sure if it was a book I wanted to read. I just have to say, I'm really glad I decided to pick it up to fulfill a couple of my reading challenges. 

Yes, this book was quite intense. I mean, it is about a young lady who was sadly sold into prostitution at a very young age. During the quite lengthy prologue, as the reader I was already emotionally attached to this story and invested in wanting to know what was going to happen to Sarah who became known as Angel for the majority of the book. The poor girl was dealing with so much rejection and being used. 

Then we jump ahead 15 years and discover Angel is now living her life as a prostitute, hardened and full of hate. And Michael Hosea enters her life insisting he is going to marry her, as the Lord has prompted him to do. This story follows the pattern found in the book of Hosea in the Bible. So, if you know that story, you know they do marry and there are going to be times when she leaves her husband and returns to prostitution and he goes after her. 

Even though I figured I knew how it was going to play out, there was so much in this story that kept me riveted to it and kept me turning the pages. So much biblical truth playing out in the story. Seeing the way Michael loved Angel self-sacrificially. Trying to show her God's love, which she wanted nothing to do with. Seeing Angel learning to open up and then fighting against it. Seeing her struggling so much during the book. And seeing how Michael struggled with what God was asking him to do.

And then there was the hypocrisy of seeing how certain men treated Angel, even though by using her they are sinning as well. That really got to me. Knowing how the woman is the one who is looked upon with distain, even while the men will come and go with maybe just a guilty feeling, if that. 

I love that we get to see God's unconditional love for us. We see God's forgiveness. It's a story of redemption and seeing how God offers grace and mercy. 

Yes, there is quite a bit of detail that some will find (and have found) disagreeable or even unacceptable in a Christian book. But I would say the detail that IS in the story isn't as detailed as some made it out to be and the author didn't really get disgustingly graphic. Would I allow my teenagers to read the book. Probably not. But I really think this book is worth the read. Quite emotional. Some intriguing twists. And just such a powerful story of redemption.

Once Upon a Christmas by Penny Zeller Review

 

I've come to really enjoy Penny Zeller's Wyoming Sunrise series. We are first introduced to Ambrose in Dreams of the Heart where he is a young child with a pet pig named Grumbles. It is his dream to become a lawman some day, to fight the bad guys and bring them to justice and keep the people safe. I love that we get to see him all grown up in Once Upon a Christmas. All grown up and in love, but so unsure of himself and trying to figure out if Wren loves him back. 

Do I wish the story was longer. Well sort of. I would have loved for Ambrose to have had a full length book and really gotten to see his and Wren's relationship develop. But this was a sweet novelette, a quick Christmas read. And I'm glad we at least got this update focusing on Ambrose who was such a sweet, cute kid in the earlier books. 

As it is so short, I'm not really going to give any details as they'd spoil the story. But if you have read the Wyoming Sunrise series, I highly recommend reading this novelette. If you haven't read the series yet, I would really suggest reading it before reading this. The book will mean a lot more if you get to know Ambrose first.

I received an e-copy of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts. 

Friday Fun - December 13, 2024

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have two books to share with you.

I read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.

I just startied I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker.

        Book Beginnings on Friday     

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join C arrie for First Line Friday.)

Here are my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selections:

  Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers:

"Alex Stafford was just like Mama said."

Curious who Alex was and if this was a good thing or a bad thing that he was just like Mama said.

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker:

"In 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto laid an egg."

Um, um, I wasn't quite sure what to think of this. What kind of egg are we talking about here. 

In case you want a bit more, here is the second line:

"Jason Foster had found it two weeks ago, and he'd been running for his life ever since."

Now I was really intrigued. Sure did capture my attention.

Now for:

The Friday 56

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers:

 

   "On his way out of town, Michael drove by the brothel. It was big and fancy. The place was overflowing with men--mostly young, some bewhiskered and some smooth-cheeked--nearly all drunk or well on their way to being so. Someone was fiddling, and men were making up bawdy verses to the tune, each cruder than the last.

    "And she lives there, he thought. Up in one of those rooms with a bed and little else. He flicked the reins over his horses and kept on going, frowning heavily.

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker:

"'I found him unconscious, and the ambulance brought him here to the surgical center in Eureka. He apparently fell-he's got a fractured skull and hematoma. They just took him back for surgery to relieve the pressure on the brain. They have to stop the bleeding or-or. . . .' His voice cracked."

Reviews:

Last week I shared three books in my Friday Fun post. Here are the links to the two I finished.

Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower

Once Upon a Christmas by Penny Zeller

And here is the link to the review of a book I shared a few weeks ago on Friday Fun:

Malice in Wonderland by Tabitha M. Corvin

Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower Review

 

Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower is another great cozy mystery set in the small town of Harvest, Ohio. This time the setting is during am Amish candy contest. Bailey is taking the place of her recently deceased Amish grandfather, representing Swissman Sweets. It is quite the controversy that she, a non Amish, us being allowed to compete. Suddenly the person who loudly protested her participation is found dead, by Bailey herself and a young Amish lady. It seems evidence is leading to either this young lady or Bailey herself, and she once again gets involved trying to discover what happened. At the same time, she, and the community, is trying to find another community member's beloved pet pig.

I really enjoyed this book and getting to read more about Bailey and this community, though not really Christian fiction, it is clean and faith is brought into the story when it comes to the church being an important building in the plot, and talk of God and Amish beliefs.
I cant wait to read the 3rd book.