"Castle of Refuge" by Melanie Dickerson

[reviewsbyerin]

Audrey longs for a chance to make a shining difference in the world. Just when it appears that might be happening, her cruel sister causes an injury which disfigures Audrey and tears down her hopes and dreams for the future.

Edwin knows a thing or two about disfigurement. In Court of Swans, the first book in this series, he lost his arm trying to save himself and his brothers from execution after being falsely accused of murder. Adjusting to life with one arm, when before he had been an able-bodied knight, has proved a challenge. 

When Audrey runs away from home to save herself from an unwanted marriage, she collapses, sick and weary, on Edwin's property. The two of them see a spark of familiar pain in the eyes of the other, and together seek to protect themselves and those they love from the machinations of Audrey's evil sister Maris.

I really enjoyed the first half this book. Audrey was a bright light, even with all that she'd gone through. I noted down a few quotes from the book, including this one from Chapter 8: "God must have a reason for allowing her scars." I think many of us, whether our scars are external or internal, can relate to wondering how God can choose to work through the pain we've gone through and the scars we've collected. In the second half of this book, the emotions got a little overwrought for my taste, with a lot of crying as dangerous events unfolded. Overall, I do think this is a valuable book for a young adult audience, as it teaches that our woundings and limitations do not define who we are, and that God still has a wonderful plan for our lives even when we might think we've lost our chance for it.

I received my copy of the book from JustReads Publicity. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Comments

[cilydav]

This is not my genre at all, but I loved this book! You can read my review here, if interested: https://cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com/2021/06/castle-of-refuge.html

[reviewsbyerin]

Thanks for sharing! I'm glad you enjoyed Castle of Refuge, and I hope you'll go back and read some of Melanie's older books too. Some of my favorites are The Golden Braid, which is a Rapunzel retelling, and The Princess Spy, which I believe is a retelling of The Frog Prince, but I don't know that fairy tale so it was just an all-around good story for me. 🙂

[cilydav]

I plan to read more by her, I even have one checked out of the library, but not sure if I will be able to get to it before it is due. Thanks for the recommendations :)