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A review by bookandcoffeeaddict
Understanding Self Worth: Building Confidence and Self-Acceptance by Karen C. Eddington
5.0
I received a free copy of the this book to review.
Serena has grown up in a world where women are possessions and male warlocks use hexes, spells, and the threat of being tarnished to keep them under their thumbs. Over the course of her story, Serena realizes women are people too and deserving of freedom and respect. Her journey to realization is like that of a blossoming rose, slowly and gently unfurling into the sun. A fitting comparison, since in Chardonia women are not even considered worthy of light and are often left in the dark – both literally and figuratively.
This book is categorized as YA, which I think is inaccurate. Most of the main characters are in their upper teens, however, in this world and in this time, I don’t believe that age holds true to their level of maturity. Serena is seventeen, yes, but she is a grown woman in this society, engaged to be married and living in the home of her fiancé. The fiancé himself is nineteen, but he is master of an estate and head of his household. In fact, if we hadn’t been told their ages, we never would have guessed since they don’t read “teen” at all.
While this is a Fantasy, there’s a bit of everything in this book: romance, a little action, friendship, family, and even some espionage. The world building is done very well, fitting into the story organically and really allowing the reader to become subtly emerged into the setting. The characters are interesting and engaging, although some of the male warlocks come off so vile as to become almost caricatures (possibly a deliberate choice). While this book has romantic elements, they are all very tame, none going farther than a few sweet kisses here and there.
I really liked this book and would recommend it not only to lovers of fantasy, but to lovers of historical romance as well since it has a bit of a historical romance feel to it (manors, servants, proper dinners, fancy dresses, ball gowns, and a certain formal way of speaking). The writer has a lovely writing style I very much enjoyed reading and I will absolutely be on the lookout for more books in this series as well as more works by the same author.
Serena has grown up in a world where women are possessions and male warlocks use hexes, spells, and the threat of being tarnished to keep them under their thumbs. Over the course of her story, Serena realizes women are people too and deserving of freedom and respect. Her journey to realization is like that of a blossoming rose, slowly and gently unfurling into the sun. A fitting comparison, since in Chardonia women are not even considered worthy of light and are often left in the dark – both literally and figuratively.
This book is categorized as YA, which I think is inaccurate. Most of the main characters are in their upper teens, however, in this world and in this time, I don’t believe that age holds true to their level of maturity. Serena is seventeen, yes, but she is a grown woman in this society, engaged to be married and living in the home of her fiancé. The fiancé himself is nineteen, but he is master of an estate and head of his household. In fact, if we hadn’t been told their ages, we never would have guessed since they don’t read “teen” at all.
While this is a Fantasy, there’s a bit of everything in this book: romance, a little action, friendship, family, and even some espionage. The world building is done very well, fitting into the story organically and really allowing the reader to become subtly emerged into the setting. The characters are interesting and engaging, although some of the male warlocks come off so vile as to become almost caricatures (possibly a deliberate choice). While this book has romantic elements, they are all very tame, none going farther than a few sweet kisses here and there.
I really liked this book and would recommend it not only to lovers of fantasy, but to lovers of historical romance as well since it has a bit of a historical romance feel to it (manors, servants, proper dinners, fancy dresses, ball gowns, and a certain formal way of speaking). The writer has a lovely writing style I very much enjoyed reading and I will absolutely be on the lookout for more books in this series as well as more works by the same author.