Overview
Item Reviewed: The Warrior Maiden
Length:  320pgs
Release Date: February 5th,2019
Author: Melanie Dickerson
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

Quick Synopsis

Melanie Dickerson brings us another great reimagining of the classic tale. This time it’s the story of Mulan. Mulan knows that she should marry, cook, and have children rather than wage war. Can she surpass these insurmountable odds, stay alive, save her mother, and keep the secret from the handsome son of a duke?

Review

We here at Geek Devotions were given access to this book through BookLookBloggers.com. We are very thankful to them, and Mrs.Dickerson for allowing us the chance to read this in advance and share our thoughts.

The story is one that has been told several times in many different ways. Girl needs to become the hero of her story to protect the people that she loves. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this tale while following the story we all know and love, was a take on it that I had not seen before.

The Cover Art

I am a person who is attracted to visually pleasing things. A good anime is made that much better by beautiful art, and just like that a good book looks so much more appealing when the cover makes you stop and say ” Now what is this about?”. The Warrior Maiden did just that for me. The cover art is striking, tells you a bit about the story without giving too much away. The title itself also lends to drawing you in with a promise that perhaps it will not be just like every other historical romantic fiction.

The Explanation

This story is set in Lithuania and Poland, with a brief scene in Germany. Mulan is Asian, and the explanation of that makes sense, as to why she is Asian, and she is in Lithuania. In the story, Mulan is the illegitimate child of her father, who brought her home to his wife when her mother passed away. He was a soldier, a knight and not the most shining example of fatherhood as we later learn. This relationship brings quite a bit of depth to the storyline. The concept of how our earthly father’s act can be interpreted as how Father God acts, how other men will act is not a light subject. The story handles these things with such grace that while you are left thinking about them at the time, it does not bog your mind down. Other topics such as forgiveness of oneself and others are there as well. We see two characters deal with a tragedy that had not been appropriately handled as children and the different ways these two characters react. The topics of war, the biblical views on war, and the fact that war is not a fun time for most people, as well as the fact that soldiers have to deal with what is required of them during war emotionally.

The Warrior Maiden is the 8th installment into a series that Melanie Dickerson has written, but I will say this. I was unaware of this fact till about 20% of the way through and while there were references to the other stories I was able to enjoy the book, the story, and the characters even without any previous knowledge of the overarching storyline of the series. The storyline drew me in, the characters that were supposed to be likable were very much so, and the characters that were supposed to be disliked did a fantastic job of making you dislike them. I will recommend this book to anyone who asks what I think and probably a few others as well.

I look forward to tracking down the rest of the books in this series as Mrs.Dickerson has a writing style that is easy and enjoyable to read as well as a knack for storytelling.  We here at Geek Devotions encourage you to go grab a copy here in a few weeks when the book is released or better yet go pre-order it where ever you purchase your books.

Our final rating is a solid 4 out of 5!

You can pick up your copy on Mrs. Dickerson’s website, Thomas Nelson’s, or on Amazon.

Content Guide

Positive Content: Throughout the story we see God referenced many times, as being our provider, characters praying, and characters giving glory to God for the good things that are happening for them. The story is very hopeful in itself, which is a refreshing contrast with the negative stuff that the knights are doing. A beautiful balance between the two takes place in this story.

Violence: There is a discussion of war, killing, and people wanting to take vengeance. All of this is relatively mild but should be taken into account for younger audiences.

Sexual Content: There is a reference to a lewd discussion, nothing is spelled out. The two characters kiss and reference that they should stop before things are allowed to go too far. There is a scene where Mulan is in the room with a man bathing, but nothing is described, and it is stated that she was looking at the ground, or her eyes were closed. All of this while everyone was under the impression that she was in fact male.

Drug/Alcohol Use: A few times it is referenced to the characters drinking wine or other drink, one person is referenced as getting drunk, but it is not put in a good light that he has done so.

Spiritual Content: There are strong references to God, Christianity, and the Bible. The antagonist of the book is a person who is what is called a Tetonic Knight, and in the series, they are backed by the Catholic church which is accurate for the timeframe. One woman is accused of being a witch, but she does not perform witchcraft.

Language/Crude Humor: None.

Other Negative Content: In this story, we see a glimpse of the negative side of the way the church was running. Anyone could be accused of witchcraft, and potentially be burned at the stake. While it is historically accurate, it is somewhat negative.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”