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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
DNF around 40% because I felt icky about the romance. I would still try another book by this author!
romance: there is a romance between Roxana and an old friend of hers that works in the castle. She literally has an affair with him while married to the King. I know that the King is a horrible person and it’s not a love marriage, but it’s still adultery. It feels icky and wrong and unnecessary, so I won’t be adding any romantic quotes or romanticizing the relationship.
content: language (n/a). sexual (touches and kisses between the FMC and her husband (who she doesn’t want to kiss) and the love interest (who she does want to kiss lol)). other (a man checks Roxana to make sure she’s a virgin. The girls are concubines aka “sex slaves” but there are no explicit scenes. The King is perverted, and says some inappropriate things).
romance: there is a romance between Roxana and an old friend of hers that works in the castle. She literally has an affair with him while married to the King. I know that the King is a horrible person and it’s not a love marriage, but it’s still adultery. It feels icky and wrong and unnecessary, so I won’t be adding any romantic quotes or romanticizing the relationship.
content: language (n/a). sexual (touches and kisses between the FMC and her husband (who she doesn’t want to kiss) and the love interest (who she does want to kiss lol)). other (a man checks Roxana to make sure she’s a virgin. The girls are concubines aka “sex slaves” but there are no explicit scenes. The King is perverted, and says some inappropriate things).
✧*̥˚ In darkness we gain a deeper understanding of light's brilliance. And I found the courage to open my eyes, to see that I was never alone in the dark." *̥˚✧
The amount of time I've been anticipating reading this book and then the fact that it exceeded all of my long held expectations!! From the moment I heard fantasy-biblical retelling I was hooked, but it wasn't until I signed up to kindle unlimited that I was finally able to read this. I had heard a few mixed reviews about how the bible story was handled here but I loved how the author told Esther's (or in this case Roxanna's) story. What we have to remember is that no one in the bible was perfect, and because the book of Esther is so short, we can almost imagine her as not having any faults. There is no doubt about the fact that she was an incredible woman of faith, but the way the author filled in the blanks and showed more of her human aspects made me connect with this story in a way I never had before.
At the start, Roxanna's mantra of being true to herself felt very stereotypical of YA and I was afraid that the story would lose its seriousness. But watching her grow into her faith and eventually, after trying to rely on her own strength, learning to trust in God and surrender to his plan for her life was beautiful. The author didn't shy away from the dark overtones that this story has and I appreciate that as it was only in the last few years I've been able to grasp the immense injustice of Esther's situation. Ultimately I was left feeling so encouraged in my faith and on fire for Jesus after finishing this book so if that doesn't deserve five stars, I don't know what does! Happy Reading :)
The amount of time I've been anticipating reading this book and then the fact that it exceeded all of my long held expectations!! From the moment I heard fantasy-biblical retelling I was hooked, but it wasn't until I signed up to kindle unlimited that I was finally able to read this. I had heard a few mixed reviews about how the bible story was handled here but I loved how the author told Esther's (or in this case Roxanna's) story. What we have to remember is that no one in the bible was perfect, and because the book of Esther is so short, we can almost imagine her as not having any faults. There is no doubt about the fact that she was an incredible woman of faith, but the way the author filled in the blanks and showed more of her human aspects made me connect with this story in a way I never had before.
At the start, Roxanna's mantra of being true to herself felt very stereotypical of YA and I was afraid that the story would lose its seriousness. But watching her grow into her faith and eventually, after trying to rely on her own strength, learning to trust in God and surrender to his plan for her life was beautiful. The author didn't shy away from the dark overtones that this story has and I appreciate that as it was only in the last few years I've been able to grasp the immense injustice of Esther's situation. Ultimately I was left feeling so encouraged in my faith and on fire for Jesus after finishing this book so if that doesn't deserve five stars, I don't know what does! Happy Reading :)
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn’t want to put this book down! The Fantasy retelling of Esther was incredible. I loved the characters and at times they made me cry while reading. Other characters made me mad. I love when the details of a book can speak to all of your emotions like you are right there in the book. I can’t recommend this book enough! I’m very thankful I ran across the authors TikTok page!
I don't like books where I can tell pretty early on the religious beliefs of the author. It's tiring. It's a tired concept.
Make no mistake, this was a book about religion. That's all I can tell you. It had the potential to be really cool and there were parts of it that I liked but you could absolutely tell the author was overwhelmingly Christian. I'm not sure what the purpose of this book was, tbh. Was it to make the FMC stronger? Was it to reform the MMC? Was it to save the FMCs people? There doesn't seem to be an actual point. The ending with the king softening to the queen comes from nowhere? Like this guy killed people for fun, mutilated his previous wife bc she upset him, and raped young girls. Not really sure why he gets a redemption arc.
I wish I hadn't read this lol the only thing I'll say is I was impressed with the author not shrinking away from death and details. Women were raped (it's more than implied, even if you don't "see" it), people important to the story were killed and mutilated, the FMC kills people.
Make no mistake, this was a book about religion. That's all I can tell you. It had the potential to be really cool and there were parts of it that I liked but you could absolutely tell the author was overwhelmingly Christian. I'm not sure what the purpose of this book was, tbh. Was it to make the FMC stronger? Was it to reform the MMC? Was it to save the FMCs people? There doesn't seem to be an actual point. The ending with the king softening to the queen comes from nowhere? Like this guy killed people for fun, mutilated his previous wife bc she upset him, and raped young girls. Not really sure why he gets a redemption arc.
I wish I hadn't read this lol the only thing I'll say is I was impressed with the author not shrinking away from death and details. Women were raped (it's more than implied, even if you don't "see" it), people important to the story were killed and mutilated, the FMC kills people.
I never considered the book of Esther to be a love story as so many retellings suppose, so I loved seeing the way Erin Phillips approached this as a darker story. I've never truly considered the darker side of the king rounding up all the young maidens of the kingdom and what that would be like for the women themselves. This book is clean and handles the darker things tactfully, but I would still caution against it for children. I think it's more suited to older teens and up due to the darker themes. Overall though, it was a very gripping book that brought a magical air to an age old story.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated