Rating: My bookshelf (for the appropriate audience, Needs Parent Supervision for younger readers)

Reading Level: Late Elementary, Middle School, High School

A hero faces various challenges to try to save a Kingdom from his evil father and twin brother.

Possible Concerns:

  • Death. A young girl is accidentally killed trying to break up a fight. The murderer blames others for his crime.
  • Bullying. Several kids under chemical influence hold down a girl and hold a knife to her. They pretend it was a joke.
  • Intoxication. Kids stumble upon magical, intoxicating fruit. They become addicted.
  • Magic. Strange creatures, strange worlds, portholes between them.
  • Peril. The hero is hunted by his twin; several arrows nearly hit him.

Things I liked:

  • Identity. One of the biggest themes is whether the orphan boy belongs, whether he has a family, and whether he has what it takes.
  • Friendship. Forgiveness and faithfulness are themes.
  • Spiritual light; spiritual blindness. There are strong themes that mirror the spiritual reality of blindness to light, seeking power and oppression, and the darkness cannot overcome the light.

The spiritual themes are strong, so I would allow it on my bookshelf with the caveat that it is best for a mature (and not too sensitive) reader who can handle peril and bullying.