Disclosure: I received this book to review. Opinions shared are mine.
Enter the next great heroine, reluctant though she may be. Claire Daly is a “normal” girl who is anything but! Author Michele Brouder has a sharp, unique adventure world waiting for us in this book. There are some teenage nieces in my family who enjoy reading, but I’m often hesitant to recommend books to them because of mature content. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver was mild in terms of sexual issues and profanity. While there were a few references to sex, they were fairly tame. Considering that Claire is a 17 year old girl who is ready to enter college, this was a clean read for the older teen audience. I’d pass this on to my nieces without blinking an eye!
I also liked the fact that the paranormal references in Reluctant Soul Saver were related to Christianity. Heaven and hell, God and demons, were mentioned in context, albeit in an imaginative way. There was the whole “use your powers for good” theme going on, and that’s always something to cheer for. I don’t mind the idea of having God-given talents, or even the idea of performing miracles in God’s name, so that part didn’t bother me. I did, however, bristle a bit at the topic of past lives and reincarnation. While it played a curious, romantic part of the story, I would want to make sure that my daughter didn’t confuse that with Christian doctrine. Reluctant Soul Saver isn’t really a theological novel, though, so I doubt it would be an issue.
Claire Daly was a bit of a conundrum for me to puzzle out. She seemed to be a pretty bright girl, yet failed to connect the dots in several situations where the red flag was smacking her in the face. She wants to be a librarian, yet when she’s handed a rare, ancient manuscript, she lets it languish for days before she picks it up to read it. Then we have her strange love triangle to sort through. With Chas, I kept hearing the Taylor Swift song in my head….”You belong with me-e-e….” Claire’s romantic notions seemed perfectly fine until she met Ari, and then I was thinking, WHAT IN THE WORLD?! She seemed so oblivious to her feelings and the clear chemistry between them. I really need to read the next book to see how I feel about all of that. In fact, I just really need to read the next book. I may not sleep until then!
Follow the other bloggers on the tour to see what they thought of Claire Daly!
Note that a Kindle Countdown deal for Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver by Michele Brouder will run from Nov 12th-19th.. During those days, the book will be available for 99¢. This is a steal!
Link to Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26063111-claire-daly
Purchase Links:
BAM | Amazon | B&N | TBD
Giveaway Information: Contest ends December 4, 2015
• One (1) winner will received a $25 Amazon Gift Card, a copy of Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver, a book mark, a coffee mug, and some other stuff for ‘readers’ from the author (INT)
• Three (3) winners will receive a copy of Claire Daly: Reluctant Soul Saver by Michele Brouder (INT)
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