Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: The words “hell” and “damn” were used a few times. Diety was referenced three times. Crude words such as “bastard” and “piss” were used a couple of times.

Violence: Two brides physically fight over a husband to be. Bare fist fighting takes place and at one point is expected to be fought to the death. In the kingdom’s history, fighting and murdering took place, including the beheading of a Chieftain. One man stabs another and the penalty if caught is hanging. Soldiers stab and murder each other. One man holds a knife on another man. A man is beaten by soldiers. A man dies from a knife wound.

Sexual Content: A few kisses take place. A fifteen-year-old boy was caught “half naked” with a milkmaid. Some of the girls and women in the story wear low cut dresses…”their breasts spilling over the top of their aprons”. One man’s “flirtations” allowed him to get some food. A father warns his son, “So don’t you go getting her with child.” A young man and a young woman slept in the same bed, but nothing happened.

Adult Themes:  Babies born with imperfections are left to die. One community bids on husbands for marriage. Men get drunk. There is a threat of war. One particular group of people were looked down upon and held with little regard. Some characters are kidnapped and held against their will. A group of people have been turned into slaves. If they do not work they are whipped and hung. The soldiers have reputations of being thugs and rapists. The King and Queen are greedy and continually raise taxes. It is insinuated that there is a same gender relationship between two characters. A woman suffers from leprosy and dies.

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Emmeline Thistle, a dirt-scratcher’s daughter, wasn’t wanted when she was born due to an imperfection. She wasn’t supposed to have lived, but through amazing circumstances she survived, thanks to some very protective cows! When her life is threatened again through the flooding of her village in the Flatlands, she is taken in by the Oaks family from Wander, who help care for her until she has recuperated. While there, with the help of the dairyman’s attentive son Owen, she discovers she has a special gift…a very sweet gift involving chocolate. Now Emmeline has gone from being unwanted to wanted by everyone in the kingdom of Anglund, including those who would use her for their own gain and greed.

Both the title and cover of this book piqued my interest. Then I read what it was about and knew that any fairytale involving a little romance and chocolate should be a fun read! Emmeline has a disability, and I find I am drawn to characters who persevere regardless of their circumstances. She has a good and forgiving heart. She experiences both having little and having it all but learns there is a price to be paid. I liked this quote from Emmeline, “You should be happy, I scolded myself. I’d been given everything I could possibly desire. Beautiful rooms, delicious food, clean clothes. And my father would be joining me soon. He’d never again have to work the field. We’d never again know poverty. But I’d never again know freedom”. Hmmm, gives you something to think about. The recommended age is 12 and up, but there are a few topics in the story that would be worth discussing with a parent.