Book Reviews

                                         








                                      The Tutor's Daughter: By Julie Klassen


                                      
 
 

 The reason I like the Tutor's Daughter:

I love the Tutor's Daughter. It is the first book I've read out of Julie Klassen's books, and I have to say, bring them on. :)
 
 You love Emma from the start, even though she is a neat-freak. She grabs your heart and doesn't let go.
 You want to figure out who's leaving freaky drawings, love letters, and hands prints in her room. Mrs. Klassen does a good job of making plot twists as soon as you think you have it all figured out. Is it Henry? Lizzy? Phillip? Or someone else? And you skip around throughout the book saying "Well, maybe he left this, and she left that." or maybe "She left that, and he drew that." You just never know till the very end!

 Things I didn't like about The Tutor's Daughter:

I couldn't figure the mystery out!! Now really that just bugged me, it isn't something bad, in fact it's what made it good. But I like it when I have the brains to figure it out before all is exposed. : / But that's just me, and I never do.

 Other than that, I liked it. There was not one part that I remember not liking. Good for you Mrs. Klassen!!

I hope you like it too!!


 


From Booklist
If Emma Smallwood doesn’t do something quickly, the Smallwood Academy will have to shut its doors permanently. So when the last student enrolled graduates, Emma persuades her father to write to Sir Giles Weston to see if he will consider sending his two youngest sons, Rowan and Julius, for tutoring. After all, John Smallwood had done an excellent job preparing Henry and Phillip Weston for university. Fortunately, Sir Giles is very receptive to the idea, but he wants Emma’s father to come to Ebbington Manor and teach the boys there. However, from the minute Emma and her father arrive at the Weston family home in Cornwall, someone, or something, seems determined to drive them away. In her latest captivating inspirational romance, Christy Award–winning Klassen effectively channels the gothic spirit of Austen’s Northanger Abbey, Du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn, and the classic novels of Holt by making effective use of her atmospheric Cornish setting and creating a plot packed with secrets and intrigue. --John Charles

From the Back Cover
Emma Smallwood, determined to help her widowed father when his boarding school fails, accompanies him to the cliff-top manor of a baronet and his four sons. But soon after they arrive and begin teaching the two younger boys, mysterious things begin to happen. Who does Emma hear playing the pianoforte at night, only to find the music room empty? And who begins sneaking into her bedchamber, leaving behind strange mementoes?

The baronet's older sons, Phillip and Henry Weston, wrestle with problems--and secrets--of their own. They both remember the studious Miss Smallwood from their days at her father's academy. But now one of them finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her...

When suspicious acts escalate, can Emma figure out which brother to blame and which to trust with her heart?

Filled with page-turning suspense, The Tutor's Daughter takes readers to the windswept Cornwall coast--a place infamous for shipwrecks and superstitions--where danger lurks, faith is tested, and romance awaits.

                       




Friday, April 18 2014


Book review/Captives

5stars *****


I have never cared much for Dystopian, but when I picked up this book, I could not set it down.

Mrs. Williamson brings you into 2088 after the world's water source has been poisoned. The only clean water left is in Colorado, where the Safelands and a few small villages are, including Glenrock, the home of brothers Levi, Mason, and Omar, our MCs.
But the Safelands water has contracted a decease, thin skin, where the skin thins and starts to flake, that is passed down through the blood. So the Safelands captures our MCs and their tribe because they are clean from the decease and can produce more children for the Safelanders.

What I liked:

The characters where very easy to see, and care for. The scenes where clear. And the story didn't seem rushed.

What I didn't like:
I couldn't help thinking every once in a while that in the story I was old enough to be the MCs, who are at the moment older than me, great grandmother. Especially when they are described as handsome, that just really felt weird. But that was my own fault for thinking that way, and I did not find anything else that I didn't like.

:)

Backcover
One choice could destroy them all.

When eighteen-year-old Levi returned from Denver City with his latest scavenged finds, he never imagined he’d find his village of Glenrock decimated, loved ones killed, and many—including his fiancée, Jem—taken captive. Now alone, Levi is determined to rescue what remains of his people, even if it means entering the Safe Lands, a walled city that seems anything but safe.

Omar knows he betrayed his brother by sending him away, but helping the enforcers was necessary. Living off the land and clinging to an outdated religion holds his village back. The Safe Lands has protected people since the plague decimated the world generations ago … and its rulers have promised power and wealth beyond Omar’s dreams.

Meanwhile, their brother Mason has been granted a position inside the Safe Lands, and may be able to use his captivity to save not only the people of his village, but also possibly find a cure for the virus that threatens everyone within the Safe Lands’ walls. Will Mason uncover the truth hidden behind the Safe Lands’ façade before it’s too late?

Brookie


May, 25 2014

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Mrs. White does a wonderful job with this book. I read it a few months ago, but it was one that I will remember for a long time to come.

From the beginning you love Lark. And at first you just can't help but think 'Man, Emerson is an idiot.' but the more that you read, the more you see that Lark isn't perfect and Emerson isn't all bad. About half way through I was cheering for them to work things out.

I loved how this showed a bit of an everyday life, romance, and a little adventure.

The characters where believable, the sub-plots not distracting, but strong enough for the story not to evolve completely around Lark and Emerson.

Mrs. White used some of the best description I have ever read in historical works. She gave you glimpses of the 18th century world, without making you ram into the objects, slowing the story enough so your not reading a Disney where everything is worked out in a day.

What I liked:

Everything. ;)

What I didn't like:

Nothing, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Back cover:

In 1784 peace has been declared, but war still rages in the heart of Lark Benton. Never did Lark think she'd want to escape Emerson Fielding, the man she's loved all her life, but then he betrays her with her cousin. She flees to Annapolis, Maryland, the country's capital, and throws herself into a new circle of friends who force her to examine all she believes. Emerson follows, determined to reclaim his bride. Surprised when she refuses to return with him, he realizes that in this new country he has come to call his own, duty is no longer enough. He must learn to open his heart and soul to something greater... before he loses all he should have been fighting to hold.

Brookie

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