Review of Leeva at Last, by Sara Pennypacker, read by Stephanie Willing

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

Leeva at Last

by Sara Pennypacker
read by Stephanie Willing

Balzer + Bray, 2023. 5 hours, 36 minutes.
Review written September 11, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Leeva at Last is, essentially, a modern-day version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda without the telekinesis.

In both books, we’ve got over-the-top evil and neglectful parents with a sweet and brilliant daughter who has taught herself by reading and who is completely unappreciated.

Leeva has always followed her parents’ orders, as outlined in her Employee Manual, but one day she ventures beyond the hedge to the town library and a new world opens up to her. She meets Harry, who is running the library for his aunt, a librarian who has a life goal of making every kind of cookie in the world, but who can’t navigate the broken stairs of the library.

Leeva’s parents are the mayor and the treasurer of the town, and they rule it with an iron fist. And charge extra taxes to anyone who questions them.

There are more quirky characters, especially a boy who lives his life in Hazmat suits because his parents are insurance salespeople and have taught him all about risk. He convinces Leeva to take on the care of a badger who was orphaned when excavation was done for the mayor’s giant statue. Another friend Leeva finds is Fern, who must care for her many siblings and her great-grandparents — until Leeva gets them hooked on an exercise show.

All these characters combine together in brilliant and quirky ways to teach Leeva about community and to work things out so that people get what they deserve and everyone is happy.

None of this is meant to be realistic. However, it is fun, and it will warm your heart. In all her adventures, Leeva learns that everything is better when shared with other people.

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Lives We Actually Have, by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

The Lives We Actually Have

100 Blessings for Imperfect Days

by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie

Convergent Books, 2023. 229 pages.
Review written September 8, 2023, from my own copy, purchased via Amazon.com.
Starred Review

I purchased this book because of a recommendation on Sarah Bessey’s Substack and was absolutely delighted with it. And then I discovered this is the same author who wrote the wonderful book Everything Happens For a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved). And I sat down and ordered a couple more of her books before writing this review.

What I found in this book is a perfect addition to my morning devotional time. I’d read one blessing on one spread. The next day, I’d read the previous day’s blessing over again and then move on to the next one. Lots of profound wisdom, solidarity — and blessing — was the result.

The situations in the book feel real, not sanitized. This makes sense when I realize this is the same author who wrote about getting terminal cancer at 35 years of age.

Here are some examples of some of the headings for these blessings:

“for this ordinary day”
“for when you just need to put one foot in front of the other”
“for when you are looking for love (and it’s complicated)”
“for this tired day”
“for when you’re running on fumes”
“for when you’re hanging on by a thread”
“for friends who hold us up”
“for when it’s been a great day”
“for when the unthinkable happens”
“for collective grief”
“for all the firsts without a loved one”
“for this overwhelming day”
“for when you can’t catch a break”
“for the gift of doubt”
“for this painful day (and our bodies feel like the enemy)”
“for when your family disappoints you”
“for when you can’t love yourself”
“for when you’re not getting any better”
“for this beautiful, limited day”
“for learning to delight again”
“for the life you didn’t choose”

And there’s so much more! But just listing so many situations doesn’t show you how beautifully these authors deal with them. Let me show a few examples.

Here’s the beginning of the first one: “for this ordinary day”:

Lord, here I am.

How strange it is,
that some days feel like hurricanes
and others like glassy seas
and others like nothing much at all.

Today is a cosmic shrug.

My day planner says,
rather conveniently,
that I will not need you,
cry for you, reach for you.

Ordinarily, I might not think of you at all.

Except, if you don’t mind,
let me notice you.

Show up in the small necessities
and everyday graces.

God, be bread.
Be water.
Be laundry.

This is from “for feeling it all“:

So, you beautiful creature,
here is your permission slip to feel it all.
To feel the joy and delight and excitement.
And the sorrow and fear and despair.

All the yellows and pinks, and violets and grays.

Because you are the whole damn sky.

From “for what makes us us“:

Blessed are you, the strange duck.
You with the very intense hobbies.
Or the collection of movies or mugs or sneakers.
You with the hometown or home team
that makes you very, very proud.

Not everyone will get it,
but these are the things that bring you delight,
that let you swim around in the weeds
of who you are.

Sometimes the words gave me lovely reminders, like this bit from “for this lovely day”:

Refresh me, oh God.
Remind me of the loveliness found in today.
Surprise me with the details I have lost
the eyes to see.

Blessed are we, awakening from the
boredom of routine,
desiring to drink in from the beauty
around us once again,
full of the love you have given us,
the joy that is hidden among
the reeds of the ordinary.

Or this beginning of “for learning to love yourself”:

When I don’t feel worth loving,
God, help me remember
that you made me on purpose.

God, let me look through your eyes
to see the way you look at me
with pride and tenderness,
deep joy and love.

There are many that are about tough days, that are honest in turning to God in an incredibly bad time, like this from “for collective grief”:

Remind us that you, oh God,
are our home and our refuge.
When life’s unthinkable fragility
is too difficult to hold,
take my hands.

This part from “for others” resonated with me:

God, I will openly admit
that my plan was to rescue us all.
Pry this out of my hands.
Absolve my guilt.
Calm my spirit.
Let me allow you to do the impossible
and bear up the weight of the world
I am determined to carry alone.

And the section that especially spoke to me was “bless this beautiful, limited life,” including this part from “for an unfinishable day”:

In this culture of more, more, more,
make me less.

Less tidy and afraid,
less polished and buttoned up,
less prideful and judgmental.

Turn down the volume of my expectations,
and let me hear the birds sing
another lovely truth:

I am deeply and wholly loved.
I am beautiful and somehow delightful
even as I am unfinished.

That should give you the idea! In these blessings, you’ll find raw honesty. But you’ll also find comfort, beauty, encouragement, and the reminder that you’re not alone.

I think that now I’ve finished, I very well may start over at the beginning and go through this book again immediately, but at the very least, I’m going to pull it out for Advent and Lent. She’s got guides in the book and on her website for using the book in those seasons.

In whatever way you choose to use this book, I promise it will indeed bring blessings.

katebowler.com
convergentbooks.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Five Survive, by Holly Jackson

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Mystery, Starred Review, Suspense, Teen Fiction Review 0

Five Survive

by Holly Jackson
read by Emma Galvin

Listening Library, 2022. 10 hours, 33 minutes.
Review written February 28, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Okay, Holly Jackson knows how to write a thriller. When I was in the middle of this book, there was no way I was going to give this book a star, because it was all too terrifying. The situation was too horrific, and the situation was bringing out the worst in many of the characters. And the main character simply had it way too hard. But by the time I finished listening, I’m just convinced the author is brilliant.

Mind you, the situation is terrifying, so please know what you’re getting into. There are six friends traveling in an RV from Philadelphia to Spring Break in Florida. And the title is Five Survive, so you get to thinking if that is supposed to be comforting?

They get lost in an area where there’s no cellphone service and get an unexpected flat tire. They come through and change the tire, but as they turn around, all four tires go flat. It takes them some time to realize that someone shot all four tires with a rifle. The realization is helped along when they also shoot a hole in the gas tank.

We’re seeing all this from the perspective of Red Kenny. She’s got a difficult life, and it was her fault the group chose the cheaper way to travel, by RV instead of jets, because her family doesn’t have much money. Her mother, a police chief, was killed years ago, in an execution-style killing that still hasn’t been solved. Her father drowns his sorrows in alcohol. But her friend Maddy always looks out for Red. Maddy’s 21-year-old brother came along as chaperone, and their mother, an assistant D.A., is about to take down a leader in the mob with a secret star witness.

The attack on their RV has clearly been planned, and they’re told someone among them has a secret. If they reveal the secret, the rest will be released. So maybe the mob is involved? It’s all a set-up for a terrible night.

And we don’t find out which one doesn’t survive until the very end of the book. Pick up this book if you want some incredible tension.

listeninglibrary.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Stranded! A MOSTLY True Story from Iceland, by Ævar Pór Benediktsson, art by Anne Wilson

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Stranded!

A MOSTLY True Story from Iceland

by Ævar Pór Benediktsson
art by Anne Wilson

Barefoot Books, 2023. 36 pages.
Review written September 12, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book is so much fun! It’s a story that’s true in all essential ways, told in picture book format. Since it’s true, kids will need to go looking for it in the nonfiction section, and they’ll be richly rewarded if they do. Teachers, this would make a great story to read to a class.

The author sets up the reader with a note on the title page:

Everything in this story is true,
except for one little thing.
See if you can spot it!
I will tell you what it is at the end.

With that note, he highlights the many extraordinary parts of the story. You think, surely he’s fibbing! But no, he then tells you that part is true. (And, spoiler, the one falsehood ends up not being essential to the story.)

Here’s how the story begins:

This is a story about my grandfather:
how he got stranded on a volcanic island,
was almost turned into barbecue
and found the most important moment in the world.

He continues with a jovial tone, speaking directly to the reader. He starts out by introducing Iceland and a favorite Icelandic story that every day has one moment filled with magic, and if you can find that magical moment and make a wish, it will come true.

Then he tells about a volcanic eruption off the coast of Iceland that caused a brand-new island to be formed.

For most people, this news was met with the following thought: Oh, how interesting. I will observe this new development from a safe distance, because, as everybody knows, volcanoes are very dangerous.

For my grandfather, however, this news meant only one thing:

“I must go there!”

So his grandfather and a friend got a ride from a fisherman and went to this newly-formed island. Their main rule for exploring the island was this:

If the bottom of your boots started melting,
you probably should be standing somewhere else!

(Which is, when I think about it, a good rule for life in general, not just when you’re visiting an island that is more or less an active volcano.)

They have an amazing time exploring, and it’s portrayed with glorious bright pictures. But after exploring all through the night, in the morning, the fisherman doesn’t come back for them.

They don’t have much food or drink and it gets cold at night. So they slept next to the volcano to keep warm, planning to take turns watching for lava. But they both fell asleep — and in the morning the grandfather’s glasses in his pocket had been melted into two pieces of glass and a twisted string of plastic.

So — they have more adventures and their eventual escape from the island — extraordinary and true — is attributed to the magical wishing moment.

Five pages of back matter tell about Iceland, volcanoes, the island of Surtsey, and Norse gods. All along, we’ve got bright and beautiful pictures highlighting flowing lava and northern lights.

It all adds up to a marvelous tale that will rivet young elementary school students – and teach them, too.

AevarWritesBooks.com
anne-wilson.co.uk
barefootbooks.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Tom Lake

by Ann Patchett
performed by Meryl Streep

HarperAudio, 2023. 11 hours, 23 minutes.
Review written September 5, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Ann Patchett writes immersive, meditative literary novels, and this newest one has a lovely dose of joy. With Meryl Streep narrating the audiobook, listening was a complete delight.

The first thing I wondered about the book: Is Tom Lake a person or a place? The answer is that it’s a place – a lake in northern Michigan where summer stock theater would happen.

The setting of the book is Spring of 2020. The world is shutdown. Lara and her husband have no workers to bring in the harvest on their cherry farm, but their three daughters, all in their 20s, have come home, and they’re doing the picking. While they work, they demand their mother tell them, at last, about her relationship with the famous movie star Peter Duke. She dated him before she met their father, when she was playing Emily in Our Town during that long-ago summer at Tom Lake.

That maybe doesn’t sound too exciting? In practice, it ended up being mesmerizing and engaging and I ended up dreaming about it when I stopped in the middle to sleep.

Lara reflects on her life choices, on Duke’s magnetic personality, on the pivotal events that turned her life to the path she ended up taking.

Something I love about the book is that it’s told by a happy middle-aged woman. She’s feeling a little guilty how happy she is in the middle of a pandemic because she got to be surrounded by her daughters and the husband she’s loved so long. (I remember feeling a little guilty how much I loved that my kids started playing online games with me once a week during the pandemic.) Yes, she went through some things when she was young. She didn’t end up making it as an actress and Duke didn’t stay with her and went on to be wildly successful. But she’s fundamentally happy about where life has taken her, and that gives the whole book a feeling of peaceful joy.

There are some surprises in the story — things her girls didn’t know at all and the reader doesn’t expect. The sense of place is strong and makes me want to go visit a cherry orchard in Michigan, or maybe find a summer stock theater show by a lake. Completely delightful.

annpatchett.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Finding Papa, by Angela Pham Krans, illustrated by Thi Bui

Historical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Finding Papa

by Angela Pham Krans
illustrated by Thi Bui

Harper, 2023. 36 pages.
Review written March 15, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

Finding Papa is a picture book based on the author’s experiences as a small child when her Papa went ahead of them from Vietnam to America, and she and her mother traveled to join him in 1983.

Something I love about the book is that it authentically takes an older toddler or young preschooler’s perspective. The pictures also portray her perfectly as that age, and it’s all presented with as much as a small child can grasp. Here’s the beginning:

Mai’s favorite game to play with Papa was the crocodile chomp. When Papa went “Chomp! Chomp!” Mai would giggle and squeal. Crocodiles were scary, but Papa was not.

We see a happy toddler laughing as her Papa makes a crocodile mouth with his hands. This is repeated through the book, with Mai remembering Papa by making her hands go “Chomp! Chomp!”

At first, she’s waiting for Papa, who doesn’t come back after an extra-long hug goodbye. Then Mai and her Mama travel to go find Papa. They travel far to get to a boat, crowded with many people. Mai was still remembering Papa, wishing he were there. There was a storm, but after some time, the boat was rescued by a large ship and Mai and her mother climbed up a net to get into the ship. At a refugee camp, letters from Papa helped them find their way to America.

In America, Mai sees a man with a mustache she doesn’t recognize. When he makes his hands do “Chomp! Chomp!” Mai remembers that crocodiles are scary, but Papa is not.

This is a very sweet story that authentically shows a very young child’s experience as a refugee. It completely warmed my heart.

angelakrans.com
thibui.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Nearer My Freedom, by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge

Biography, History, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Nearer My Freedom

The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself

by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge

Zest Books, 2023. 216 pages.
Review written August 30, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

From the note at the back:

This book is a novel-length series of found-verse poems crafted from Olaudah Equiano’s original autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, published in March 1789.

What this means is that they took Olaudah Equiano’s written words and cut out passages — leaving behind a novel in verse.

The style for books written in 1789 was far more verbose than books written today, so the method they used renders a dense and difficult autobiography into a gripping and accessible verse novel.

Olaudah Equiano was born in Africa and kidnapped into slavery. He ended up working on British ships and eventually was able to purchase his own freedom. He continued to work on ships, but was still in danger of being enslaved again. He became an abolitionist and wrote the story of his life to further the cause.

The book begins in Africa. He and his sister were both captured at the same time. Then he traveled all over the world, both when he was enslaved and when he was free. He even went on an expedition into the Arctic hoping to find a passage to India that way. The ship was almost destroyed by ice, and they concluded the idea wouldn’t work out.

Here’s an example from when he was kidnapped:

One day when none of the grown people were nigh
two men and a woman got over our walls,
seized my dear sister and me.
No time to cry out, or make resistance.

They stopped our mouths,
and ran off with us into the woods.
They tied our hands and carried us
as far as they could, till night came.

The authors used his words, but pared it down into a modern verse novel. There are several sidebars explaining historical context. The result is a riveting and quick-reading account of what life was like as a British seafaring enslaved person in the eighteenth century.

lernerbooks.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Too Small Tola Gets Tough, by Atinuke, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Too Small Tola Gets Tough

by Atinuke
illustrated by Onyinye Iwu

Candlewick Press, 2023. Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2022. 89 pages.
Review written May 3, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

When I reviewed the second book about Too Small Tola, a small girl who lives in Lagos, Nigeria, I was a little critical that it made me sad that Tola’s fifteen-year-old brother had to work to keep the family from starving. But the author does make it clear that this brother hated going to school and loves being a mechanic.

This book, too, is sad. But I’ve decided that it’s a gentle way to help kids understand poverty and have compassion for people in tough situations.

In this book, the coronavirus hits. When a lockdown threatens, brother Dapo goes to stay and sleep at the garage, and sister Moji goes to stay and sleep at her principal’s home so she can continue her studies. So Tola and Grandmommy are the only ones home. Dapo plans to continue to send them money — only work at the garage slows down during the pandemic. Tola gets hungry.

A neighbor finds Tola a place where she can work as a house girl. So she can eat. (This is the sad part, to me.) Though there’s a happy ending — Tola uses math to help the wealthy owner discover he’s being cheated — and she gets to go home back to Grandmommy, with reward money.

Yes, it’s a very tough situation. But yes, Tola gets tough.

It’s all in a beginning chapter book package with three chapters and plenty of pictures. And American beginning chapter book readers can learn about an ordinary but clever girl living on the other side of the world with people who love her.

atinuke.co.uk
onyinyeiwu.com
candlewick.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of I Swear, by Katie Porter

Biography, Current Issues, Nonfiction Review, True Stories 0

I Swear

Politics Is Messier Than My Minivan

by Katie Porter

Crown, 2023. 284 pages.
Review written August 8, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

Okay, reading Katie Porter’s book made me a Katie Porter fan, similar to the way reading Elizabeth Warren’s book years ago made me an Elizabeth Warren fan. What both women have in common? They have both studied bankruptcy and fully understand that financial trouble does not imply moral failing.

One of her early stories is of studying mortgage law — and learning that banks were breaking laws, to the detriment of consumers, when they foreclosed, time and time again.

As a mortgage holder, you do what the banks tell you. You assume they’re following the law. Well, Katie Porter checked. And they weren’t. She began to get attention on that as a professor.

While I had started to change minds and get people in power to see that mortgage companies made mistakes and misbehaved, I did not want to be right. I wanted things to be right. Banks used the law to try to collect every penny; we should expect them to follow every rule.

And she decided to run for office to try to make things right.

This book has plenty about running for office and the challenges of being a single mom in Congress and commuting to the other side of the country. (She and her kids tried living in Virginia, but it didn’t work out.) It tells about her background growing up on a farm and the difficult end of her marriage. But my favorite part was where she describes her work in Congress.

As I see it, the real work of Congress is civic education. Democracy only functions if voters know what’s going on in their government and elected representatives know what’s going on in their communities. As a congressmember, that means teaching and learning, respectively.

The American people set the nation’s agenda every two years with House elections, and every four years with presidential elections. They cannot decide if they support a government policy without first knowing what the government is doing (or not doing). Representatives should be teachers, with constituents as our students.

At the same time, we should also be students, learning from our constituents. Without knowing the challenges and ideas of the people we represent, congressmembers can only substitute their own views for voters’ views. While that may happen, it is not how representative democracy is supposed to work. Getting the facts, doing the research, and gaining experience are moments of learning that help me make the best votes for my community.

Teaching and learning are the exact work I did as a law professor, before I ran for Congress. I loved that, and so not surprisingly, I love Congress work.

And yes, using a white board is a fundamental approach to teaching. Visual aids always help!

This concern for people — trying to make government better for actual people — can’t be faked. May Katie Porter continue to serve in this way for many years to come.

Oh and Hooray! When I checked her Twitter account (@katieporteroc), I see that she’s running for Senate in 2024. And she’s got a tagline on her profile: “I did not go to Washington to learn how to play by the rules. I went to Washington to rewrite them.” This book goes into the reasons why she cares about people and wants to make lives better by making government better.

katieporter.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Sorcery of Thorns, by Margaret Rogerson

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Sorcery of Thorns

by Margaret Rogerson
read by Emily Ellet

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2019. 14 hours, 21 minutes.
Review written February 10, 2023, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

Last year, my Cybils panel chose Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson as our 2021 winner for the Cybils Award in Young Adult Speculative Fiction. And after reading for the 2022 Cybils awards, I finally made time to listen to an earlier book by Margaret Rogerson.

Sorcery of Thorns is fun because it features an apprentice librarian. But she doesn’t work in any ordinary library. Elisabeth Scrivener was a foundling who grew up in one of the Great Libraries of Austermeer — a library packed with grimoires, full of ancient magic.

But one terrible night, Elisabeth is the only one awake and she finds the director of the library dead, killed by a grimoire that got loose and turned into a malefict — a giant sentient monster. But with the director’s sword, Demonslayer, Elisabeth is able to defeat the malefict.

That gets Elisabeth the attention of all the wrong people. A young sorcerer, Magister Nathaniel Thorn, comes to escort Elisabeth to the chancellor for questioning at the magisterium, along with his demonic servant. Elisabeth knows not to trust sorcerers, but he’s surprisingly kind, and helps Elisabeth when they’re attacked by a horde of fiends. He’s compelled to take her into the protection of his own home.

But when the chancellor takes Elisabeth into custody, she begins to realize something is wrong. Little by little, Elisabeth — and eventually Nathaniel as well — start to unravel clues about a monstrous plot that could destroy the world.

I thoroughly enjoy Margaret Rogerson’s writing, and the romance in this book was delightful. Elisabeth is a wonderfully resourceful heroine who’s more likely to rescue the guy than be rescued, though some of both happens.

I do have a lot of quibbles with the magic. I never have patience for sentient objects feeling emotion. In this case, it was books, but if you look at those details too hard, it just doesn’t work. And the relationship between sorcerers and their demons has some problems as well, if you look too closely. But I enjoy Margaret Rogerson’s writing so much, I was able to set aside all those quibbles and thoroughly enjoy the story.

In fact, I finally got this audiobook listened to because I heard about a new volume coming out, Mysteries of Thorn Manor. I’m now disappointed that it’s only a novella, but happy to get to read a little more about Elisabeth and Nathaniel.

MargaretRogerson.com
simonandschuster.com/teen

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