The biggest issue here is that this book’s hero is a villain… and that’s not ok. There is a reason that the stories we tell end with “happily ever after”... why we follow a hero and things don’t look good and at the last minute we find out the imperfect hero has found a way and that good conquers evil. That reason is because it is true. Things do look bad… but good wins… God wins. That is what is true. Books like this (and movies like “The Joker”) attempt to break that. They bet that people want to focus on the bad guys. That alone is enough to warrant an “Avoid”. There is no reason to put a book in front of a child that puts a spotlight on a villain.

This is made worse by the fact that this villain being put on a pedestal is a child, i.e., someone easy for a kid to want to emulate. This kid is ultra-intelligent, always right, super rich, completely in charge, has no parental supervision, etc. Sound like something that would grab a kids attention and pull on their earthly tendency towards pride and sinfulness?

That should be more than enough, but here are a few more things we will share:

Humans are held in a really negative light. While the Bible tells us and we see the impacts of our rebellious sinfulness everywhere we look, that is of course an incomplete story. We are also made in the image of God and, when as Christians we are abiding in Him, creatures capable of reflecting His infinite love and goodness. This book takes many “cheap shots” at humans from the perspective of the fairytale creatures. There are many rants about ruining the world. Humans are called barbarians and a character asks “was there no end to their depravity”. We also hear “human greed cannot be assuaged”.

There are some violent comments throughout. A few examples: “Butler could kill you a hundred different ways”, “snap a man’s backbone like a twig”, “flesh scorched off their skulls”, “gutting weapons”, “meat ripping points on its teeth”, “rupturing her heart” and “split her open”.

The family is listed as a long line of legendary criminals. At one point we hear it said that it was “time for (Artemis) to do what he did best. Dastardly acts”. Artemis’ mom is losing her sanity, which is a bit heavy.

There are a few references to evolution.

These terms appear: “damned”, “damn”, “hell” (many times, flippantly), “vampire”, “cripples”, “bimbo” “airhead” and “idiot". We also hear “don’t get your pant… or whatever in a wad”, “God’s gift to women”, “Louis the love machine”, and “devilishly attractive”.

A character smokes cigars throughout. 3 character’s drink wine, 2 are underage.

Prayer mentioned in a secular, detached from God, flippant way. Holley says she will have words with someone “if not in this life, then in the next”. We also hear “thank the gods” and “what in Heaven’s name?”. A book is referred to as the fairy creature’s “Old Testament”, but has nothing to do with the Bible.

There are many references to “swearing”. One fairytale creature is called a “swear frog”, which goes around “swearing like sailors”.