You Are Too Small, Little Eli (Little Eli #1) by Judy Yoder
4 STARS (Synopsis on ChristianLight) Kid Lit, Historical, Amish
Personal Review: This was a sweet story with simple language. It gives great insight into an Amish family as they try to settle in the lower Midwest. Little Eli gets into many scrapes and grows up a lot throughout the book. His desire to be a cowboy is cute and adds some fun to the stories.
Content Warnings: minor injuries, death of grandparent, loss of beloved pet
Anomaly (Anomaly #1) by Krista McGee
5 STARS (Synopsis on StoryGraph) Young Adult Christian Dystopian
Personal Review: I LOVED this book. I was really in the mood for dystopian when I picked it up and it did not disappoint. I loved the basic story line, the characters, the premise of the controlling class, the escape, and the twists and turns. I also really loved the faith content!
Content Warnings: implications of and actual annihilations of young people
Counted with Stars (Out from Egypt #1) by Connilyn Cossette
2 STARS (Synopsis on StoryGraph) Adult Biblical/Historical Fiction
Personal Review: I liked the first half of the book, especially the picture of the historical setting and customs. However, once the romance started, the second half of the book was really just awful. I never particularly liked the main character Kiya - she was stubborn, selfish, and didn't stand for anything with any sort of passion (I would have even loved to see her devoted to her pagan gods, but she was always wishy-washy).
All of the men (including the one we are supposed to root for) are only attracted to her because she is beautiful. She was once described as brave and strong but I actually stopped to re-read that statement because I never picked up on that from her. I would not recommend this as the relationships are not healthy and the conversion is shallow.
Content Warnings: slavery, torture, kidnapping, murder of parent, adultery (before book begins), bloody fighting, threats of rape/concubine use
To Steal a Heart (The Bleeker Street Inquiry Agency #1) by Jen Turano
4 STARS (Synopsis on StoryGraph) Adult Regency Christian Romance
Personal Review: This is a truly clean slow burn romance between two strong characters. The witty banter is absolutely hilarious and the history of the relationship the two characters had as children just adds to the fun. I’m not much of a mystery person but I did find the mystery part of the story interesting, too.
My only complaint is that the characters talk too much. So many monologues...
Content Warnings: injuries, rough childhoods (before book began), several mentions of a brothel