The Wraith of Carter's Mill: The Curse of the Carter Women
by C. Evenfall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
The Wraith Of Carter's Mill: The Curse of the Carter Women is a series of four short stories in one book that tells the story of the Carter family. The first story tells of Libby and her brother Jack as young children with their mother Julia. This story introduces "the dark man" that seems to plague the Carter family. The second story follows Libby as a married woman, and her young daughter Shyanne, as she becomes the next generation to meet "the dark man". This time Libby is able to find out more information because her mother Julia has passed away. The third book follows Shyanne and her daughter Melody as the curse of the dark man becomes even worse and Shyanne finds she has the power to help end the curse. The final story goes back to the beginning and tells us how the curse of the dark man began. C. Evenfall gives us a family saga that follows the women of the Carter family.
Although The Wraith of Carter's Mill is subtitled The Curse of the Carter Women, it is actually the head of the original Carter clan, Zeb that brings about the curse. The power to end the curse flows through the Carter women, although it is not until Shyanne that someone is able to do anything about the curse. C. Evenfall mixes a ghost story, a story of revenge and betrayal all together with a family saga that sees five generations of Carter's deal with the dark man. This is a great woman's book because of the connections that the women in the story carry throughout all the stories. It is also a good read for older teens on up. It was compelling and pulled me along the whole way.
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The Queendom of Evlantis
by Juliet Y. Mark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
We've all heard the story of Adam and Eve and their fall from grace, but what if the story was changed. What would the world be like is Adam didn't give in and only Eve was tempted? If only Eve was banished from the garden? Juliet Y. Mark tackles those thoughts and ideas in the book The Queendom of Evlantis (The Unfallen Series Book 1). We find that Eve has been cast out of the garden on her own, and over the ages the story has gotten twisted just a little to where women look down on men. In fact women rule everything, men are mere slaves thought of by some women as nothing more than animals! It's not a perfect place, and there are troubles. Another young girl, a daughter of Adam, Ava is tempted a lead out of the garden. She is given the task to help the other people of the world realize the mistakes they are making, yet she is so innocent she has no idea what she is doing. Entwined in it all is love and hope, is evil and corruption and in the end, what will be the course of the world.
The Queendom of Evlantis at first reads like a great feminist novel. Women rule the world, they keep the men under their boots, but as you go along you realize that this is not the way the world was meant to be and that it is not working out well for these people. There are major problems. Although the author, Juliet Y. Mark never comes out and specifically says that this is the retelling of Adam and Eve, you get enough hints along the way to realize it and to understand the purpose and reason behind the retelling. I found the story compelling and well written. It pulled me along all throughout wanting me to know more and to find the answers, to only realize that there is still more to learn even after the book ends. It is a wonderful read for men and women alike, as well and adults and teens.
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