Wraithwood
When timid Brinnie visits her mysterious uncle in his creepy old mansion called Wraithwood, the housekeeper, driver, and other secretive residents don’t seem to know why she’s there. They definitely don’t want her visiting certain parts of the house. Alyssa Roat’s Wraithwood starts like a Victorian gothic tale but turns more magical as Brinnie discovers supernatural forces in upstate New York. But why does everyone keep blaming her for these chaotic effects? Before long she finds herself fighting against a foe from Arthurian legend throughout the manor and a hedge maze, growing more confident in her new powers. Although confusing at times, this tale of wizards battling between our world and a parallel one conjures an enjoyable reading experience.
Best for: Fans of Harry Potter and similar tales of parallel magic worlds.
Discern: Good and bad characters all use wizard magic; and frequent violence, such as a person stabbed to death as the hero watches.
I read quite a bit of fantasy. I really appreciate the reviews but would really like it if they could include if there is any cussing or crude language in the story. I read reviews and they say the book is clean but then get into the first chapter and run into a cuss word – that’s not clean to me. Clean is no cussing and no sexual content. It would be helpful. I try to include that in all of my reviews but rarely see it in other reviews.
Thanks for your thoughts! You can learn more about Lorehaven reviews here.
Our reviews are short-form by design, focusing only on Christian-authored fantasy, science fiction, and similar published novels. We summarized content concerns in the Discern section. If a novel includes those kinds of words, the Discern section will probably mention this. As a reader, I also heed the Best For section, knowing that some readers aren’t yet ready for young-adult stories that may have not only challenging words, but challenging themes (such as sexual content), violence, or other darker portrayals that reflect the world Jesus has called us to serve.
On one hand, I would gently suggest that Christians in general could benefit from stories that show our world both for what it is, and for what it should be under Christ’s rule. (If we enjoy only clean stories, then these stories can start making us think the gospel will only work in a world pre-cleaned by someone else!) On the other hand, sometimes we need more traditionally wholesome stories to help us relax and remember God’s goodness. Personally, I enjoy stories with both approaches.