My Thoughts: Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

This week, I'm pleased to introduce you to a wonderful new book by Lise Haines, Girl in the Arena! This tour is sponsored by Children's Book Blog Tour and will end today.

As mentioned on Monday, when I first received this book I wasn't sure about it. The cover looks great though and kept begging me to open it up and find out what was inside. I can say that this book easily is deserving of 4 stars!! I just loved the story of Lyn and her seven gladiator fathers, her mother, and her brother Thad.

The Glad life is not an easy one, marked by the fact that Lyn is now living with her 7th father. Her mother has totally absorbed the Glad life, being a true, through and through Glad wife. I mean, it's such a way of life that their are Universities dedicated to teaching young girls how to be a proper Glad wife!

Lyn's father Tommy is facing the biggest fight of his life and he is just beside himself. He tries to study all the angles and weaknesses of his opponent to have the upper hand. No matter what he does, it's his hand that is undermined (no pun intended!). Uber wins and collects a dowry, but not on purpose. Because of that, Lyn is now expected to marry Uber. Whatever is a girl to do?

Without giving much more away, I'll tell you some highlights about this book...

• I loved the tenderness of Tommy. Just loved it! Nothing like this "bad boy" Glad attitude mixed in with this special kind of love for his family, especially where Thad is concerned.
• I thought that the author did a great job of describing the scenes. I felt like I was at the fight watching from the ringside.
  
• The way of life presented in this book was intriguing. It's one that I *might* consider living in a fairy tale world.
• I found Lyn's mom to be weak, despite her standing with the Glad society. Yes, she had a lot on her plate but she rubbed me the wrong way. She always seemed to take the easy way out of things.
  
• Uber was also one that bugged me. He's UBER for goodness sakes!! Actually I did like him a lot. He was a very strong man to do what he did and to face the things he saw.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, young or more mature. Next week is Teen Read Week and this would be a great one to pick up during that time!

Be sure to stop by and see what these bloggers have to say on this wrap up day of the tour! Comments are more than appreciated!

Abby the Librarian

A Patchwork of Books

All About Children’s Books

Becky’s Book Reviews

Fireside Musings

Homeschool Book Buzz

KidzBookBuzz.com

Maw Books Blog

My Own Little Corner of the World

Reading is My Superpower

Through a Child’s Eyes

Thanks to Bloomsbury USA for generously providing me with an ARC of this book for review.