There are very few overtly concerning elements like you will typically find in books aimed at older audiences, but there are a few things in this title that make it more appropriate for a bit more mature, teen audience. We set the concerning content level as a “Medium” here mainly because it is important that Christian parents take the time to read through this. We will outline everything here to help you gauge whether it is a good choice for your reader.

Also, our review is based on only reading this book, so please make sure to read through the Lorehaven review linked below as it has a much larger context to provide (although it is less focused on identifying potential concerns for Christian parents, as we are here).

One of the core aspects of this futuristic plot comes in the form of families having certain children outside of the selected heirs “to seek honorable ends to their lives”. In this culture it is seen as what you do and, even more importantly, what “the powers” (their vague state religious deity, somewhat similar to worshiping nature). Much of the early dialogue revolves around Firebird basically sacrificing her life. For example, Firebird is instructed to take poison if she is captured in battle (adding that her aunt and grandma had done this). When she is taken she attempts to do this and has to be revived (a character specifically calls this a “suicide attempt”). There is a bit of other, somewhat similar content that comes up. We hear of a bad government that “humanely put down” babies with deformities. A man is found guilty of kidnapping and is executed by authorities. In a couple of flashback moments we hear of people who had been punished through death by firing squad and a baby who had died mysteriously (mentions they were “smothered”, implying a wicked sister may have had something to do with it).

Another important area to be aware of in this same “a bit more mature teen or young adult” line of thought comes as Firebird and the main male character Brennan start to fall for each other. We find out Brennen is a “sentinel”, a person who has gained telepathic and other mentally focused abilities. When a woman, who is also a sentinel, grows jealous she begins to try and sabotage the budding relationship. A bit of content appears here that many parents will be a bit wary of. She says things that the author means to indicate an extremely strong bond that forms between a sentinel and the person they love (because of the elevated mental abilities). The potential concern comes because many will see parallels to physical/romantic connection in the wording. We read things like, “I’m warning you… a man with sentinel training will have found ways to please a woman without ever touching her… ways that will leave her changed, unable to forget or go back”. This line of content all eventually gets pointed to eventual marriage, and it is not intended to be erotic, but you will obviously need to determine if it is right for your reader.

And that brings us to another interesting aspect to wrestle with. At least in this first title we review here, Christianity is not explicitly mentioned. Neither is Jesus by name. But this is a Christian author and there are some very clear parallels drawn (see the next section), to the point where we wouldn’t be surprised if we discover in future titles that the author gets much more overt and direct. The issue comes up in the fact that Brennan is a follower of this at least very Christian-like religion falls hard for Firebird, who is questioning, but still following “the Powers” of her state religion for the majority of the book. The author tries to alleviate this (Brennan says “I can’t put you above my God” and even says that the holy books they found after exile never forbid a non-sentinel marriage) and Firebird eventually turns to this one true God. At a minimum it is a good chance to have a discussion on how critical it is that we are only pursuing dating and marriage with those who are not only saved, but walking a faithful Chrst-centered life. This is a lesson we cannot take lightly with our kids, no matter their age..

A few other things to be aware of:

When we first meet Firebird she has snuck away from school and is crawling through a secret passage to listen in on an important government meeting.

Wine is mentioned at a graduation event.

We hear an unfortunate flippant comment that “there is an advantage to dying young. People will remember you as pretty”.

We read Firebird admires “the sentinel’s ability to lie so smoothly”

At a point where Brennan is (understandably) immensely frustrated at being betrayed he says, “I could have choked her”.