Book Review: Heiress by Susan May Warren

Heiress, Book 1 of Daughter of Fortune series, by Susan May Warren
ISBN: 9781609362188
Paperback, 367 pages
Publisher: summerside press
Retail: $14.99

The beautiful heiress daughters of newspaper magnate August Price have been given everything their hearts desire. But what if they want only to be loved –without an enormous price tag attached?

When one daughter pursues a desirable marriage, she secures for herself a comfortable and glamorous life. But among the duties of privilege, will she find the happily-ever-after she seeks? Her sister rejects the trappings of wealth, choosing instead to build a new life on the still-untamed frontier. Will independence bring happiness, or has she left her heart behind her in New York’s glittering society?

Set in the opulent world of the Gilded Age, each woman discovers that being an heiress just might cost her everything –including the chance for true love.

The two daughters are Esme and Jinx Price. Their father is not in the novel much but when he is, he is portrayed as needing to appear as society wishes him to be. His wife, Phoebe, who is quite the jaded lady, is extremely bent on keeping up appearances as well. This of course plays a large role in the raising of Esme and Jinx. Appearances are everything.

The book is separated into the lives of both of the girls. It starts out with both of them, then Esme’s life, followed by Jinx’s life, finally ending with both again. Their lives are drastically different and they make choices that they feel are the best at the time. Jinx does everything to make sure her comfortable life is just as it should be but her husband doesn’t love her. He borders on hating her, which is quite sad. I won’t go into details but Jinx unknowingly makes a big mistake that affects many other people. My daughter {who did not read this and I would not advise this for teenagers} said that it doesn’t sound like a book for those looking for good morals.

Esme, on the other hand, completely disowns where she came from –the money, the name, the luxuries. She even uses a different last name. But she does get what she had wanted; her own printing press and newspaper. She falls in love years after leaving home only to lose her husband shortly after their marriage. Her life is sad, like Jinx’s but in a different way.

In the beginning of the book we learn that Mr. Price was unfaithful during his marriage and one of the daughters is the result. I thought I’d figured it out early on who the daughter was but I had to change my thinking a few times before actually finding out. Also there was a part in the book, near the beginning that I thought about all the way through the rest of the book. I won’t tell what that is because it would spoil it, I think. Let’s just say, when you get that far you’ll probably say, “I knew it!” just like I did *wink*.

Did I like this book? Eh, it’s very long and drawn out. The descriptions and settings are well done. The characters are well developed. You can feel like you ‘know’ almost every one of them. I did make the comment that I wouldn’t recommend this for teenagers but there are not descriptive scenes of indiscretion – you just know that something happened. I, ahem, had to read the scene of Jinx’s indiscretion twice to make sure I understood what was going on.

I did feel emotion while reading this –very little happiness, though, even when they supposedly felt it. I felt indignation many times at the limits placed on women during the time period- which I feel were described quite well. Warren also did very well on painting the ‘opulent scene’ as well as the dress of the times. For historical fiction, I thought it was well done.

But after all that, it just felt like a very long mini-series soap opera. It ended ‘happily’, but really? And the main characters forsake God at so many turns, then say that He abandoned them. The ‘redemption’ of their plights come at a cost to others but they in the end are happy. And they both end with money. So they are close to where they started, but this time with a man to love them.

I’m torn on what I think of the book. The writing is very good; engaging. It’s just not along the lines of what I would consider a ‘good book’. I wouldn’t have chosen it at the library, I don’t think. If you would a book to take you out of your world and into someone else’s then you will enjoy this. If you want a book that will make you think, I don’t think you’ll find it in this book.

***Disclaimer: I received this copy free from Christian Bookworm Reviews in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***

Book Review: Vicious Cycle by Terri Blackstock

Vicious Cycle: An Intervention Novel by Terri Blackstock
ISBN: 978-0-310-25067-8
Publisher: Zondervan
Paperback, 324 pages
Retail: $14.99

My blog is “G” Rated. Due to the nature of this book, with it’s mature topics, I will not include an “About This Book”. You can read that at many sites; Amazon, Zondervan, and others. And I encourage you to do so if you do not already know it’s subject matter and are contemplating reading this book based on my review.

I understood this would be a tough book to read (for me anyway) because of the topic. I had agreed to read it and review it so that was what I fully intended to do. I keep my word. But this one caught me off guard right from the start.

This is the second Terri Blackstock “Intervention” book; I had not known about the first.

Blackstock doesn’t sugar coat what the problems are with the characters in this book but at the same time doesn’t portray them in a way that make them glamorous either. I appreciated that. The characters each have their own personalities- and problems. They are not cookie cutter characters.

Some of the scene descriptions in this book are done so well you can almost feel and smell the surroundings. *Shudder* For instance when two of the main characters, Emily and Lance, go to a rather decrepit and disgusting place, the words used make the reader (at least this reader) understand how gross and nasty it is. It isn’t a nice place. I felt this added to the atmosphere that the writer is trying to affix to the problems the characters face in the story.

In the end, everything isn’t all roses and there are still issues that must be dealt with (like real life, right?) but I had a sense of “Things are going to be okay.”

And this is a Christian book. When I started the book I kept thinking of Philippines 4:8; does this book match up with that scripture? Not exactly because of the issues that are presented in the book. I reasoned (not compromised) that life is not all puppy dogs and rainbows. If, starting from where we are already, we only focus on the great things, and neglect to realize the other side of the coin (and consequently, those who are living the ‘dark’ lives), what help will we be?

Just because people suffer addictions doesn’t mean they are not or cannot be Christians. It just means they need help. We cannot ignore those people; condemn the addiction, not the person. God is bigger than any problem. In this book, I felt that the possible ways God can use situations and people was well presented.

***Disclaimer: I received this advanced reader copy free from Christian Bookworm Reviews in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***

Book Review: The Land of Darkness by C. S. Lakin

The Land of Darkness (The Gates of Heaven Series) by C. S. Lakin
ISBN: 978-0899578910
Paperback, 272 pages
Publisher: Living Ink Books
Retail: $14.99
What is the book about:

“It is not the land that is dangerous, Callen. The danger lies in your heart. Others have lost their lives searching for the bridge. Are you certain you are prepared to pay that price?”
    Jadiel is twelve and things couldn’t get much worse—or could they?  Not long after her mother is killed in a tragic accident, her father, Ka’rel, marries a vile and abusive woman named Huldah, but Jadiel sees how he simmers under Huldah’s intoxicating enchantment. Jadiel’s wicked stepmother means to get rid of Jadiel, and sends her off with a threat and an impossible task: bring back the leaves from the Eternal Tree by the next full moon or her father will die. Heartsick and hopeless, Jadiel sets out alone and afraid.
    Callen, a woodworking apprentice for Jadiel’s uncle in Wolcreek Vale, discovers some weathered drawings of an exquisitely detailed bridge made entirely of wood and embellished with mysterious symbols that appear to be ancient script. Obsessed with finding this bridge, he sets off seeking clues to its possible existence, unknowingly beginning a perilous and mystifying undertaking. On his journey, he rescues Jadiel from brigands and learns their quests are linked—as the elusive bridge Callen seeks is crafted from the rare tree Jadiel must find. The trail of clues leads them to the forbidden Land of Darkness, where they must face the greatest dangers of all—what lies in their hearts. (from amazon.com)

It sounds like an intriguing book and the cover is beautiful- pearlescent. But I just couldn't really get into this one. It is the 3rd or 4th book in the series and so I may have missed quite a bit from the first few (I really don't know- it felt like it was a stand alone with just a hint here and there that there might have been 'more to the story').

It is labeled as a Christian book but has so much magic in it that I just felt annoyed. Yes, annoyed. There is a difference, to me, between God's wonderful creations and the 'magic' that He holds as compared to potions, spells and magic mirrors. To try to incorporate one into the other, or make the first visible through use of the second just taints peoples view of the power that God holds (as if His power is comparable to anything else!). Just my opinion- of course.

Also, there are five deaths (albeit, not terribly violent or gruesome- except perhaps for the when ‘she lifted her shoe and saw bits of hoptoad sticking to her boot.’) and one of the characters is down-right vicious. Huldah beats Jadiel on a regular basis and abuses her emotionally. Just not a swell thing. But of course life isn’t all roses and sunshine. My kids (ages almost 13 and 15) both seem to think the book is just fine- they are enjoying reading it. My ds (almost 13) is about halfway through and says he likes it.

I give the book only 2 stars because it says "it was okay" and that is exactly what I thought when I finished it. The books starts in the Prologue with flowery language but drops it often throughout the book. Some scenes revert to the elevated vocabulary then the next is much more simple. I felt like it was inconsistent and just difficult to get into.

EDITED: 3/6/12

I have thought more about this book since writing this review (actually quite a bit). Although I *still* do not like the magic in it- the magic mirror, the spells and potions that Huldah uses to perpetuate her evil- I have changed my view of the book. Some. I started reading the Bible book of Isaiah after posting my review and was surprised to find that many of the visions presented in Isaiah are found in Lakin’s book. The wording is different than I’d encountered when I’d read some of Isaiah before but since then I’ve been using a study Bible and the I understand a little more of what is going on in Lakin’s book.

I just wanted to point out that if you are well versed in the books of prophesy in the Bible, or even just better versed than I, you may understand and appreciate Lakin’s book more than I did when I first read it.

I still don’t like the magic.

***Disclaimer: I received this book free from Christian Bookworm Reviews in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***