There are a few main items to be aware of when weighing this one for your kiddos.
First, Christian parents have different perspectives on how much ‘magic’ related content they are comfortable with in stories for their kiddos. The nature of this story leads it to having a good bit of magical elements, but we will point out that there is a clear distinction here with right and wrong, light and darkness portrayed. One of the main points of focus are ‘enchantments’, which here means taking normal articles of clothing and ‘enchanting’ them with magic to give the wearer some type of benefit (or later, detriment).
Second, there are a few heavier aspects of this book. We find out early on that Lavender’s (the main character) mother has died of a sickness. To make it even harder, her father is not handling it well in a lot of ways and won’t even talk with her about it because it is too hard. We find the villain is also suffering from the tragic loss of a child. This plus the key storyline focus around memories leads to a few moments that may be emotionally heavy for some readers. For instance, Lavender steps into a memory where her mother is on her deathbed and doesn’t recognize her.
We should also point out that, like many modern secular books, the main character is a young lady who is not the type of example and influence we would like to hold up as an example for our daughters. Again we see an example where the author has traded away the traditional sweet and kind young lady for a very strong and direct heroine (we also read a similar comment about her mother, “Mama never did wear her hair up, even though married women were expected too”, which Lavender recalls in a very positive light). For most of the book she is very unkind to her former best friend, a boy, who she often refers to as a know-it-all. For example, early on we read her sharing, “I would rather be poked with hot irons than speak to you. Or dance naked in front of a crowd. Or maybe even have my eyelids stitched shut”. Similarly, she says she has a “nagging urge to kick him in the shins. To elbow him in the ribs. To snatch one of his precious favorite books and bury it… where he’ll never find it”. Even worse, this is all with the young boy being extremely kind to her and we find she can’t even remember why she is upset with him, but sticks with it.
Related to this, the storyline revolves around Lavender’s failing memory. This leads to her being in a position where she lies and deceives others a ton, especially to her father. This comes up a lot, but a couple instances are especially troubling. When discussing being caught her friend asks, “what will you tell your papa” she replies, “the truth I guess… plus or minus a few details”. When Lavender completely disobeys his commands to come back after catching her sneaking out, she returns to Papa having gone through her room looking for clues. He has found hidden papers, pages she stole despite knowing it was wrong. Lavender’s reply is that this is “a violation of my privacy”. When papa lays out her long list of deception and failures and why he can’t trust her, Lavender simply calls herself “spirited”.
Other content to be aware of:
When a mysterious character is introduced we are told she “looks as if she wants to yank your soul out of your body. To sew a nefarious curse to it – or drag it down to the underworld with her”.
When surprised, a character shouts “skulls and curse words”.
While there is not much overtly spiritual content here, sadly Lavender says “a silent prayer to Mother Earth”. When thinking about her deceased mother she again sadly says, “wherever she is”.
The term idiots is used.