| $@%&! level: Low (there may be a few OMGs in there) “Bedroom” level: Medium (but dealt with respectfully, honestly, and—where appropriate—with love and tenderness.) Violence level: Medium (but only for one scene) Back Cover: “Lucy Scarborough is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child's birth. How can Lucy succeed when all of her ancestors have tried and failed? But Lucy is the first girl who won't be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents beside her. And she has Zach, whose strength amazes her more each day. Do they have enough love and resolve to overcome an age-old evil?” |
Although I wasn't exactly enthralled by the story, I did enjoy it. Figuring out how to do the three (or four, depending on how you count it) impossible things was pretty entertaining, and Nancy Werlin has created a mightily interesting character for Lucy. Now there's a girl who places value on being herself at all costs!
In fact, that's probably half of what saves her. And the other half is the love story. Contrasting Lucy's story with her mother's, the biggest differences are that Lucy won't be told what to do, and that she has people who love her. Just as the song is supposed to be all about true love, the solution is all about true love as well. And it isn't just that kind of true love that shows up in far too many fantasy/sci-fi novels as the solution to everything—where just feeling the emotion is enough. This is the kind of true love that requires action, and that's something that's always worth reading.