Original Sinv (Personal Demons #2) by, Lisa Desrochers

Publishing House: Tor Teen

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Rating: PG-13 (Minimum)

Summary: Luc Cain was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Frannie Cavanaugh and the unique power she never realized she had. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences, and suddenly Frannie and Luc find themselves targeted by the same demons who used to be Luc’s allies.

Left with few options, Frannie and Luc accept the protection of Heaven and one of its most powerful angels, Gabe. Unfortunately, Luc isn’t the only one affected by Frannie, and it isn’t long before Gabe realizes that being around her is too…tempting. Rather than risk losing his wings, he leaves Frannie and Luc under the protection of her recently-acquired guardian angel.

Which would be fine, but Gabe is barely out the door before an assortment of demons appears—and they’re not leaving without dragging Luc back to Hell with them. Hell won’t give up and Heaven won’t give in. Frannie’s guardian exercises all the power he has to keep them away, but the demons are willing to hurt anyone close to Frannie in order to get what they want. It will take everything she has and then some to stay out of Hell’s grasp.

And not everyone will get out of it alive.

Reasons:

This book was very difficult to rate because I could not decide if it should be PG-13 or R. I settled on PG-13 because it gave plenty of description but it was no more than what you would see in a PG-13 movie.

There was plenty of cussing in this book pretty much every word there is to use and there was also several sex scenes all of which had some description. In one scene it is described as him ‘on top of her’.

But the one that made me very skeptical about what rating to give this book was a scene where they walk in on Taylor having sex with a pretty nasty guy and they describe her facial expression and where they are. When they notice the group there it says that he zips up his pants and she pulls down her skirt and it is so far the most risky scene in the book.

The story line of these books are still very addicting but I strongly recommend that if you are trying to find a book for your children this is not the series. I would only recommend these books if you are mature enough to handle the nature of the books and are willing to skip a few scenes if they bother you.

I did.

The Master’s Match by, Tamela Hancock Murray

Publishing House: Barbour Publishing

Genre: Historical Romance, Christian Fiction

Rating: G

Summary: Nash is beyond Becca’s wildest dreams.

Never in a million years would Becca have imagined herself wed to someone like trading company tycoon Nash Abercrombie. Yet on the very day he hires her to be his scullery maid, he asks her to become his wife.

Nash is running from a very persistent—and unpleasant—woman who is determined to marry him and run his life. Surely marriage to the sweet and humble Becca would be better than that of the harridan Hazel!

Can true love ever blossom from a union like this?

Reason:

I picked this book up at a writer’s conference years ago and read the entire book in less than a day (and not just because it is a short book). To date this is still one of my favorite books.

The story is about Becca, a poor girl who lives with her mother, father, and many siblings. When she was young and selling matches on the street she met a boy around her age who took pity on her and bought all her matches so she could go home.

Years Later she is out looking for a job as a nanny and stumbles upon the house of the boy that bought all her matches and gets a job there as a scullery maid. Nash (The boy who bought her matches) has a girl who thinks that they are engaged but Nash wants nothing to do with her. So he asks Becca, who he recognizes, to pretend to be engaged to get the girl off his back.

Because this book is a Christian book it is very clean and there is nothing in it that would be bad.

Like I said this is my all time favorite book. 

Personal Demons (Personal Demons #1) by Lisa Desrochers

Publishing House: Tor Teen
Genre: Supernatural Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance—-even her closest friends—-and it seems as if her senior year is going to be more of the same . . . until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can’t seem to stay away from him. 

What she doesn’t know is that Luc is on a mission. He’s been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie’s soul. It should be easy—-all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance. But he has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can’t be far behind. And sure enough, it’s not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for. It isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie’s soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay . . . for all of them.

Reason:
I have had this book on my self for over a year now and I have been putting off reading because every time I tried to read it I could never get past the first chapter. However I decided it was time to read it and get it over with and when I finished the 4^th chapter I had to go and buy the next two books.

Any way the story follows Frannie and Luc through Luc’s process of trying to seal her soul and ‘tag’ her for Hell before Gabe can ‘tag’ her soul for Heaven. Though the book they use the a, s, d, and f words but the f word in only used a few times in highly dramatic moments (not that it makes it okay).

There are also a few provocative scenes but nothing ever actually happens beyond taking off shirts.

I really love this book and I like the conflict of knowing who you should want to win the fight I who you really do like. It’s really an amazing book but as always it is up to you.

Mortal (Book of Mortals #2) by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

Mortal

By, Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

Publishing House: Hachette

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Centuries have passed since civilization's brush with apocalypse. The world's greatest threats have all been silenced. There is no anger, no hatred, no war. There is only perfect peace...and fear. A terrible secret was closely guarded for centuries: every single soul walking the earth, though in appearance totally normal, is actually dead, long ago genetically stripped of true humanity.

Nine years have gone by since an unlikely hero named Rom Sebastian first discovered a secret and consumed an ancient potion of blood to bring himself back to life in Forbidden. Surviving against impossible odds, Rom has gathered a secret faction of followers who have also taken the blood-the first Mortals in a world that is dead.

But The Order has raised an elite army to hunt and crush the living. Division and betrayal threaten to destroy the Mortals from within. The final surviving hope for humanity teeters on the brink of annihilation and no one knows the path to survival.

Reasons:

So like I said last time I am bias about this book because of the fact that Ted Dekker is one of the authors and he is (one of) my favorite author.

Anyway, I rated this book the way I did for simple reasons reason, violence and gore.

If you want a run down on basically what the story is about go look at my last post about the book before it.

Anyway this book as a lot of gore to it, there is a lot of fighting and death as well as blood. Lots and lots of blood. It is all fairly descriptive but nothing that an older audience couldn’t handle.

The book was very good and sucked me into it in so many ways so much so that I found myself yelling at it in public. At one point I threw the book at the wall and then went and got it two seconds later because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. One of my favorites by far.

Forbidden (Book of Mortals #1) By, Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

Publishing House: Hachette

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Fleeing pursuit, with only moments to live, a young man named Rom stumbles into possession of a vial of blood and a piece of cryptic writing. When consumed, the blood will bring him back to life. When decoded, the message will lead him on a perilous journey that will require him to abandon everything he has ever known and awaken humanity to the transforming power of true life and love. But the blood will also resurrect hatred, ambition, and greed at terrible risk.

Reason:

Now before we start this review you should know that I am a little bias about this book (as well as it’s sequel that will be the review for next week). I am bias because of the fact that Ted Dekker is one of the authors.

Anyway, I rated this book the way I did for one reason, violence.

The book is set in the future where we have reverted back to using swards and things like it. The story is about Rom Sebastian and several of his friends as they try to find a boy who is not supposed to exist. Long the way there is a lot of fighting and death.

The book is a good story and one that I really enjoyed (even though parts made me angry but I get evolved in books more so than other people), but as always it is all up to you.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

Publishing House: Graphia
Genre: Supernatural
Rating: R
Summary: In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen—terrified, but intrigued—is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

After benignly haunting a series of people for 130 years, Helen meets a teenage boy who can see her and together they unlock the mysteries of their pasts.

Reason:

“A Certain Slant of Light” is about a ghost named Helen. She haunts people and try’s to be helpful to them and then one day she is seen. This is weird because in 130 years she has never been seen. When she investigates a little father she finds that the boy who can see her is really another ghost who has taken over a ‘dead’ body.

Now this isn’t the reason that I have given this book an R rating. I gave this book an R rating because the boy, James, and Helen fall in love. James teaches her how to choose a body and how to take it (The people they take are suicidal). But once she has the body the first thing they do is have sex.

The first time they do have sex it is a little bit descriptive, enough so that I skipped the entire section. After that everything is just suggestive.

The other reason I rated this move that way I did is because there is an extensive amount of cussing in certain sections of the book. Mostly this happens when they are at James’s house, which is not a happy place to be.

All in all this book is very interesting and one that the story drew me in. However, this book is very clearly meant for a more adult audience. The choice is now yours. 

Demons of the Ocean (Vampirates #1) by Justin Somper

Publishing House: Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: PG
Summary: Twins, Connor and Grace, never dreamed that there was any truth to the Vampirate shanty their father sang to them before he died, but that was before the two were shipwrecked and separated from each other. For Connor, who is taken aboard a pirate ship, there's the chance to learn to swordfight, but for Grace, aboard a mysterious ship of vampire pirates, the danger is great. What will it take for them to find each other?

Reason: I completely love this book and this series. I read it long ago but decided that I was going to write about it.

The reason I gave this book a PG rating because of one fact. It’s a book about vampires and magic. These are real vampires not the mush-y glittery vampires that don’t hurt anyone these are real vampires who feed on humans. But it is a good book and is geared a little bit more teen or jr. high audiences.

They are good books but you have to decide if you wish to read them or if you want your kids to read them. That’s all that there is to it.

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Publishing House: Little Brown
Genre: Fairy Tale Retelling
Rating: PG
Summary: The forest invites you in . . . but will never let you go.

As a child, Gretchen's twin sister was taken by a witch in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch's forest threatening to make them disappear too.

Years later, when their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out, they find themselves in sleepy Live Oak, South Carolina. They're invited to stay with Sophia Kelly, a beautiful candy maker who molds sugary magic: coveted treats that create confidence, bravery, and passion.

Life seems idyllic, and Gretchen and Ansel gradually forget their haunted past — until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel. He tells her the witch isn't gone — it's lurking in the forest, preying on girls after Live Oak's infamous chocolate festival each year, and looking to make Gretchen its next victim. Gretchen is determined to stop running and start fighting back. Yet, the further she investigates the mystery of what the witch is and how it chooses its victims, the more she wonders who the real monster is.

Gretchen is certain of only one thing: a monster is coming, and it will never go away hungry.

Reason:
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce is a good and funny book. Throughout the story there is a lot of talk about killing werewolves and witches (who are werewolves). So that is a little off. It is a good story because of the fact that you never see the ending coming.

I rated the story PG because of the slightly more mature theme of the book. Which does involve killing and if I remember correctly a small amount of language. But it really is a good book.

Now it is up to you (Sorry about the short post. Haven’t read this in a long time.)

Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver

Publishing House: HarperCollins
Genre: Romantic/Drama/Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Summary: I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and ?ame.
Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Reason:

This book is very similar to the first in terms of reasons for why it is rated. I did love this book more than I can say. It made me want to know what was going to happen and practically lived for the next page. Which is so much like what the first book did for me as well.

This book gets it rating because there is some cussing but like Delirium it is not a lot at all.

Throughout the book Lena is trying to a just to her new life in the ‘wilds’. This includes her getting used to the people around her not being ashamed of their nudity. (she sometimes will walk in on guys changing or someone bathing in the river.)

This book also has a lot of violence but that comes with the territory of the theme and genre.

All in all this book is very good. So now it is up to you to choose to read it. But I would recommend reading Delirium first.

The Healer’s Apprentice By, Melanie Dickerson

Publishing House: Zondervan
Genre: Historic/Romance/Mystry
Rating: G
Summary: Two Hearts. One Hope.
Rose has been appointed as a healer's apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter's daughter like her. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging bachelor her mother has chosen for her---a bloated, disgusting merchant who makes Rose feel ill.
When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she's never felt before and wonders if he feels the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. As Rose's life spins toward confusion, she must take the first steps on a journey to discover her own destiny.

Reason for Rating:
This is my first G rated book! Now when I say it’s G rated it just means that it is family friendly. There is one part where she says she is seeing demons but she was poisoned right before that so it was an affect of the poison.

I really loved this story and all the twists and turns it took. Granted I did see the big one coming but that is because I read books like this a lot. You can also find this book in several Christian book stores, which I didn’t know until after I had read the book.

I would highly recommend this book.

Across The Universe (Across The Universe #1) By Beth Revis

Publishing House: razor bill
Genre: Science fiction/Mystery
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the spaceship Godspeed. She has left her boyfriend, friends, and planet behind to join her parents as a member of Project Ark Ship.

--

Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed’s scheduled landing, cryo chamber 42 is mysteriously unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.
Someone tried to murder her
Now, Amy is caught inside a tiny world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed’s 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader. And Elder, Eldest’s rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead.
Amy desperately want s to trust Elder. But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside the ship’s cold metal walls? All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets before whoever woke her tried to kill again.

Reason for Rating:
Across the Universe has been sitting on my bookshelf for a long time now and I did read it as soon as I got it but I haven’t gotten around to writing a review for it.

First off with this book, I really did love it. It is the type of Science fiction book that I enjoy. It has the mystery, the science, and a little romance too. I rated this book as PG-13 because of 3 simple facts.

1. It is your typical murder mystery
2. The people who are being frozen are described as being completely naked and
3. There is an attempted rape scene

The first count is not exactly a bad thing, but it does up the rating from G to PG just on the account of violence. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good mystery but they are not something I would read to an elementary kid.

The second count is pretty self explanatory. The worst of this it happens when Elder first fines the frozen and sees Amy slid out of her chamber. And he sort of describes her and says something about her private areas only being covered by a fogged glass.

And as for the 3rd part. You see there comes a point on the ship that everyone starts acting like dogs in heat and can’t seem to keep themselves under control. At this point Amy tells someone no and when they keep trying she runs. He and a few others chase her and pin her down and try to rip her cloths but Elder ends up saving her before anything happens.

This book was very good but really does need the PG-13 rating I have given it. This book is full of suspense and mystery. The plot is good and I really do love the story. But the final choice is of course up to you.