Betsy-Tacy (Besty-Tacy #1) by Maud Hart Lovelace
5 STARS (Synopsis on StoryGraph) Kid Lit, Classic
Personal Review: We love Besty and Tacy in this house. Betsy is such a fun, creative girl who likes to make up stories which inspires my kids to do the same. And Tacy is a sweet counterpart that we all have fallen in love with. Their adventures on Big Hill make it hard to quit when read-aloud time is over!
Content Warnings: death of a baby
Kingdom’s Dawn (Kingdom #1) by Chuck Black
4 STARS (Synopsis on StoryGraph) Young Adult Christian Allegory/Fantasy
Personal Review: Leinad is a young man who has been trained by his father to be a fighter and protector, even though they’ve spent his entire life on a farm. When armies come and Leinad is forced to run, he proves that he is as courageous as he was being trained to be. This is an inspiring read and I am very much looking forward to the next book.
I reduced a star because sometimes It was hard for me to follow what was going on, but sometimes I get that way when I read books with a lot of action scenes. Teen boys will probably love this book!
Content Warnings: lots of sword-fighting and bloodshed, destruction of an entire village, murder of a parent, torture
North! Or be Eaten (The Wingfeather Saga #2) by Andrew Peterson
4 STARS (Synopsis on StoryGraph) Middle Grade/Young Adult Christian Fantasy
Personal Review: I love the writing, I love the worlds, I love the characters... But I wish more than just the ending was hopeful. There was literally no room to breathe between catastrophes they had to escape from. They would escape one scenario and dive right into the next trap or dangerous situation they had to work through. I just needed a break from all of the craziness.
The last chapter was super special, though. Probably worth the read just for that.
Content Warnings: a LOT of scary animals/Fangs/homeless community people they have to either fight with or escape from, death of beloved pet, death, child abuse at factory
An Inconvenient Beauty (Hawthorne House #4) by Kristi Ann Hunter
5 STARS (Synopsis on StoryGraph) Adult Christian Regency Romance
Personal Review: This is my favorite series ever, in any genre. This is my third reading of this book (I've also read the first in the series 3 times). Such a comfort-read and Griffith is seriously the best. I didn't like Bella as much this time, but I could see where she was coming from and there was lots of character growth.
**Spoiler**: There is a moment when they dance in the dark (you’ll find out why this is significant) which is the start of the sweetest love story you will ever read. Again, Griffith is the best.
I wish I had more romances from Hunter to read (I've read all but one of her books) because she writes the perfect romance. Every time. Love them all.
Content Warnings: mentions of war, mild emotional abuse from the uncle