The Lost Saint by Bree Despain

Summary: A family destroyed. A love threatened. An enemy returns.

Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.

Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace’s relationship with Daniel is put in danger – in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her – not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

My Thoughts: I have been waiting for this book for months – ever since I read The Dark Divine, which I LOVED enough to rate as one my 10 favorite books read in 2010! I could not wait to read The Lost Saint once it arrived. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but I felt a tiny bit let down by this book. Don’t get me wrong, it was still awesome. Just not as awesome as I expected it to be. I wasn’t fully engrossed until about the last third or even quarter of the book. I suppose it’s the curse of the second in a series – whether we’re talking books, movies, or something else, that second in the series rarely lives up to the first. And, usually, the third is much better – often even better than the first. But now I am getting ahead of myself.

Getting back on track …

I was able to piece a lot of it what was going on together in my head. There wasn’t much that surprised me. I felt like Grace was just being an idiot at times – especially given that Gabriel, her father, and even Daniel had more knowledge, wisdom, and experience when it came to werewolves. Why dismiss them so quickly? I don’t remember Grace being this pig-headed or (sorry, but I have to say it) stupid in the first book.

I loved the ending. How everything all played out. It almost swayed me to give this a 5-star review. That said, I do have questions (and no, I didn’t lower the rating because of the questions). What’s happening with Daniel? And Jude? I so cannot figure Jude out. Is there hope for Grace and her family? How many books are planned? I cannot imagine this being satisfactorily resolved merely with a third book. There’s just so much I want to know. It feels too big for just one book to settle things.

Despite whatever issues I had with the book, they were quite minor. They didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the book. The Dark Divine blew me away, and I suppose it’s only natural that I’d be mildly disappointed by this one. And I hate using the word “disappointed,” because I wasn’t really. I just wasn’t as amazed by it as I was by the first.

Long story short: The Lost Saint was awesome, but falls a bit short of my expectations. But I cannot stress enough that it was fabulous! It’s a great continuation of the story begun in The Dark Divine, and I cannot wait to see where this series goes next!

Favorite Quotes: I don’t always do this, but felt compelled to do so this time.

But even though Dad’s spiels always made me want to bang my head on my desk, I couldn’t help believing the things he was telling us about waiting for marriage. It just seemed to go with the whole package, you know? That if I believed in Jesus, and believed in all those parables he taught, and believed in forgiving people – then what the Bible had to say about sex being sacred and special had to be right, too. ~ page 186-187 (ARC)

As a mother of three, two of which are girls, I am SO HAPPY to see this in the book! Soooo very happy. I couldn’t agree more! It is so refreshing to see a statement like this in a YA book, as there are so many out there where sex isn’t seen in this light. I wish there were more books for teenagers – especially girls – that not only showed abstinence, but did so in such a positive, logical manner! Thank you, Bree Despain, for doing this!

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Source: Received through Around The World Tours for review.

Read It: Get your own copy of The Lost Saint HERE. (This is an Amazon link, and purchase through this link will result in my receiving a small commission. Your support is appreciated!)

Challenges: Counts for 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011, the 2nds Challenge (second in a series AND second book I read by Bree Despain), and iChallenges 2011.

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Sing You Home: A Novel by Jodi Picoult

Summary (from Goodreads): Zoe Baxter has spent ten years trying to get pregnant, and after multiple miscarriages and infertility issues, it looks like her dream is about to come true – she is seven months pregnant. But a terrible turn of events leads to a nightmare – one that takes away the baby she has already fallen for; and breaks apart her marriage to Max. In the aftermath, she throws herself into her career as a music therapist – using music clinically to soothe burn victims in a hospital; to help Alzheimer’s patients connect with the present; to provide solace for hospice patients. When Vanessa – a guidance counselor – asks her to work with a suicidal teen, their relationship moves from business to friendship and then, to Zoe’s surprise, blossoms into love. When Zoe allows herself to start thinking of having a family, again, she remembers that there are still frozen embryos that were never used by herself and Max.

Meanwhile, Max has found peace at the bottom of a bottle – until he is redeemed by an evangelical church, whose charismatic pastor – Clive Lincoln – has vowed to fight the “homosexual agenda” that has threatened traditional family values in America. But this mission becomes personal for Max, when Zoe and her same-sex partner say they want permission to raise his unborn child.

My Thoughts: Jodi Picoult quickly became one of my favorite authors. I can’t remember exactly which book was the first of hers I’d read, as I remember a flurry of Picoult books being read in succession when I discovered her. She is a fabulous author, and her ability to get to the heart of controversial issues is amazing. This book reminded me of why I love her writing so much. Her ability to make the reader see past the issues and see the people instead is remarkable. Believe me, that is especially true with this book.

Full disclosure: I am a born-again Christian. Grew up in an evangelical-type church. Still hold fast to most of those beliefs. My Christianity is the very heart of who I am. I cannot be separated from it. I might have times of faith crisis or questioning some of the smaller points of my beliefs, but I still believe the main bits: That God is real, that the Bible is Truth, and that Jesus came – and died – to give us life. As such, this was a hard book to read. And not because of my beliefs in regards to the issues central to this book. Rather, it was because of the portrayal of the Christians in this book. The worst part about it is knowing that it’s not an altogether wrong portrayal. There are Christians like that out there. They tend to be the most vocal, the most visible. And they make the rest of us look bad. I liked that there were a couple of Christian characters that kinda balanced it out a little. And I loved what Liddy said about love. Jesus said to love our neighbors. He didn’t say love them 90 percent of the time. He said just to love them. (This is a paraphrasing.) I do wish that Picoult had more of the compassionate Christians in the book to help balance out the ones who showed no mercy or even love.

I do feel like this helped me further sort through my own opinions on the subject of gay rights. And while I will never believe that it’s OK, I do believe that gay people should be treated the same as anyone else. Sexual orientation shouldn’t determine anything other than who one loves. Gay people are no less deserving of acceptance than African-Americans, Muslims, or any other “minority” group in the country. Especially in the eye of the law, wherein “all men are created equal.” (And, of course, extending that to all women, as well.) In short: this book really helped me see the error of my own thought patterns, and how I needed to become more accepting. Thank God for His grace, as that’s the way it’ll come to pass.

While this book was fabulous and I found myself reading this in the span of a few hours (stop-and-go, thanks to the kiddos, of course), I didn’t feel it was Picoult’s best. To me, her best are Nineteen Minutes and Vanishing Acts. This didn’t pack quite the same punch as those did. I did like the way the courtroom stuff played out and how things played out. But, I want to know a few things. Namely, I wanna know more about what happened with Lucy after the trial. I also want to know about Max’s brother. Clearly things come to light, and I want to know how he copes and where he ends up. I also want to know about his relationship with Max. In short: too many unanswered questions for me. While the court part played out in a satisfying manner, everything else did not.

Finally, this book apparently comes with a CD, which was absent with the ARC I had. (This was a tour book that is shared amongst many, so it makes sense.) I would love to get my hands on a hard copy of this book simply to get a copy of the CD. I want to hear the songs that go with the different sections of the book. Although, my purpose for telling you I didn’t have access to the music was simply so you’d know why I didn’t review that component.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Source: Received through Crazy Book Tours for review.

Read It: Sing You Home is scheduled for release on March 1, 2011. You can pre-order it HERE. (This is an Amazon link, and purchase through this link will result in my receiving a small commission. Your support is appreciated!)

Challenges: Counts for 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011.

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