The Secret Slipper // Review + Blog Tour

Hello once again, lovelies! Today I’m coming to inform you have a beautiful thing happening … The Secret Slipper by Amanda Tero is on blog tour! *insert streamers and cheering here* I had the amazing opportunity to read an ARC and now I get to scream my thoughts in form of a review at y’all lovely people. I’m so happy that I had this amazing opportunity, and thank you all for joining me on my stop!

(look at how pretty the cover is …)

Being a cripple is only the beginning of Lia’s troubles. It seems as if Bioti’s goal in life is to make Lia as miserable as possible. If Lia’s purpose is to be a slave, then why did God make her a cripple? How can He make something beautiful out of her deformity?

Raoul never questioned the death of his daughter until someone reports her whereabouts. If Ellia is still alive, how has she survived these ten years with her deformity? When Raoul doesn’t know who to trust, can he trust God to keep Ellia safe when evidence reveals Bioti’s dangerous character?

As time brings more hindrances, will Raoul find Ellia, or will she forever be lost to the father she doesn’t even know is searching for her?

Buy on Amazon! — Add on Goodreads!

Amanda Tero is a homeschool graduate who desires to provide God-honoring, family-friendly reading material. She has enjoyed writing since before ten years old, but it has only been since 2013 that she began seriously pursuing writing again – starting with some short stories that she wrote for her sisters as a gift. Her mom encouraged her to try selling the stories she published, and since then, she has begun actively writing short stories, novellas, and novels. If something she has written draws an individual into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, it is worth it!

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

Email: amandaterobooks@gmail.com
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The Secret Slipper was one of the sweetest Christian books I’ve read this year.

It’s technically the sequel/companion to the beautiful Befriending The Beast (clickity, it leads to Goodreads) which I happened to post a review of in Penumbra’s early days here. That being said, The Secret Slipper works perfectly fine as a stand-alone. Like, I haven’t read Befriending the Best in around … 9 months and forgot most of the details but The Secret Slipper made perfect sense, save for about 5 sentences at the beginning of the book which made way more sense when I actually remembered stuff. As I’m re-reading Befriending The Beast, it does connect it beautifully.

Anyway, that being said* let’s get more into what makes up this book on the inside. (Warning: It’s mostly paper and ink if it’s the physical copy, or … if it’s a Kindle copy I’m not exactly sure. Mostly words, though.)

*Tl;dr version of the first paragraph: You can read The Secret Slipper whether you have or haven’t read Befriending The Beast. They’re both really good books though so I recommend them both. 😉

There was loads to love in this mini little novella.

• The characters were awesome. I feel like these were slightly more in depth than Befriending The Beast because I literally cannot stop comparing this to the first book in the series … They were very realistic and I seriously suffered along beside them in their pain and felt elated at their happiness.
• The duel points of view worked wonders. I’ve oftentimes come across books that have way too much character head hopping going on that serves no point. Even in books with only two character PoV’s, they oftentimes fall short or really make no sense. This one was excellent. There’s just enough tension on both sides of the story, the perfect amount shown of the thoughts of both Raoul and Lia, that the duel points of view were perfection!
• Lia’s and how she dealt with her deformity and life in general was really nice. I loved the real look into the bitter emotions behind everything, how she worked her way around it and knew she was capable and strong even with her deformity. Just … asdfjlnaerg. I said it before but I have to say it again the characters were epic. They were just so real and emotional and I’m going to go flail around on the ground for an hour because they were so lovely. I loved Lia’s entire outlook and how real it was.
• Same with Raoul his entire outlook was also cool. I’m going to try to resist squealing about the characters for a year though, so bear with me.
• The Christianity …  Ach. This was so inspiring. It was beautifully written, not coming off as preachy, but also not afraid to tell the truth. Most books these days, even books labelled “Christian” aren’t really Christian. That can’t be said about The Secret Slipper. I’m not going to go too deep into the Christian message and spoil anything for any of you guys who haven’t read this yet but let me tell you: it’s beautiful and it was inspiring and I think I really needed to hear this again.
• The fairy tale aspect is interesting and really different. I don’t think I really have to say that most fairy tale retellings are getting kind of old. They’re predictable, generic and full of cliches. This one really wasn’t. I wouldn’t say it’s an exact retelling, it’s more of … there are aspects in this book that are based off Cinderella. So if you’re not into retellings … have no fear, this one isn’t quite the same as all the others, and if you are into them … read this anyway! 😉

Honestly there weren’t that many things that I disliked, but just to mention …

• I wished it was longer. The story wasn’t exactly lacking anything, and no one part was rushed, but it was so. short. As an aspiring author I can completely understand this, but the reader part in my head was longing for more. 😉
• The names … were confusing … I mean, I didn’t dislike them but my poor little brain that’s realllly bad at remembering names was hurting. We have Raoul, two servant type guys, Lia, Lia’s two friends, Lia’s two step-sisters, Lia’s “step-mum” and others who don’t pop up this much. Like … how am I supposed to keep track of Lia’s friends and which one of the Raoul’s buddies is which as ahhhh … Albeit, this is kind of my fault for having a weird brain but … y’know. 😉
• And … honestly that’s all that comes to mind right now?

 

My overall rating for this book turned out to be 4.5/5 stars.

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But wait, there’s more!

The blog tour will last five more days until June 4th, and if you missed any, there’s plenty of posts to check on out assorted blogs

Also Touring with “The Secret Slipper”

May 25, 2017

Amanda @ With a Joyful Noise | Release Day, Giveaway
Leila @ Leila Tualla’s Bookshelf | Spotlight
Faith @ Writings, Ramblings, and Reflections | Review, Giveaway
Leona @ Great Books for God’s Girls | Review, Interview

May 26

Emily @ Zerina Blossom’s Books | Interview
Kendra @ Knitted By God’s Plan (Spotlight) and O’Scarlett Reviews (Review) | Spotlight, Review
Alicia @ A Brighter Destiny | Review, Giveaway

May 27

Anika @ This Journey Called Life | Spotlight, Review, Giveaway
Katie @ His Princess Warrior | Review, Giveaway
Sarah @ The Destiny of One | Spotlight
Heather @ Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen | Spotlight, Interview, Giveaway

May 29

Kate @ Once Upon an Ordinary | Review, Interview
Sarah @ Penumbra Reviews | Review
Dary @ Peculiar Miss Darcy | Character Interview
Julia @ My Joyful Journey with Jesus | Interview

May 30

Kenzi @ Honey Rock Hills | Review, Giveaway
Anita @ Christian Author: A.M. Heath  | Review
Judith @ JudithWNicholson  | Interview

May 31

Jesseca @ Whimsical Writings for His glory  | Spotlight, Review
Raechel @ God’s Peculiar Treasure Rae  | Spotlight, Review
Esther @ Purposeful Learning | Review, Interview, Giveaway

June 1

Kellyn @ Reveries Reviews  | Review
Victoria @ Victoria Minks Blog  | Spotlight, Review
Kelsey @ Kelsey’s Notebook | Spotlight

June 2

Hanne @ RockandMinerals4Him | Spotlight, Review, Giveaway
Erica @ Roxbury Books Blog | Spotlight
Janell @ Views from the Window Friend  | Review
Crystal @ Crystal’s Adventures for Christ  | Spotlight, Review, Interview

June 3

Alexa @ Verbosity Reviews  | Spotlight
Faith @ Chosen Vessels  | Review
Melissa @ Clothed with Scarlet | Review, Interview, Giveaway

 

See, lots of blogs to go check out. 😉

And last but definitely not least … the giveaway!

Giveaways, I must admit, are always my favorite part of anything. I’m not sure if it’s just that I really like stuff, or that I’m bizarrely competitive about them … Anyway, I’m sure you also enjoy giveaways or maybe you aren’t crazy like me … in which case click below to head over there …

Enter the giveaway! (Click here, darlings)

(or for a more direct link to the US Giveaway … click hhheere)

(and for a more direct link to the International Giveaway … click here!)

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And … I think that’s about everything! I hope you enjoyed this review, are enjoying the blog tour, and will enjoy the Secret Slipper if you ever read it (you should. It’s good 😉 )

Until later, my lovelies, stay awesome and enjoy the blog tour!