When Steffen traves to Hamlin and learns of the beast terrorizing the people, he knows that he must stop it. Unfortionaly, to do that, he must work with Kat, the daughter of the mayor. They start hunting the beast and learn more than they could ever imagine, resulting in their lives being in danger.
Oh boy, so much of this book was phenomenal and I'm not quite sure where to start.
The plot was so intriguing that I could not put this book down, choosing to read it in one sitting instead. Everything about the plot and characters seemed more real than the previous books in the series. The characters struggled with forgiveness, their pasts, and what God has to say about that.
However, the writing seemed a lot more similar to Dina L. Sleiman's fairy-tale retellings as opposed to Melanie's typical book.
Overall, this was the best Dickerson book that I've read yet and I'd recommend it to anyone who appreciates a clean fairy-tale.

Rating: 5 Stars
Content: 5 Stars

*I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required. ( )

I went into this book with the wrong expectations, which I fully admit. It was pitched as a gender-swapped Pied Piper retelling and I just went ahead and downloaded it because THAT PREMISE. I didn't pay enough attention to the publisher and since the book was tagged as Teen and Romance, I was unaware that it was Christian fiction. Still, I gave it a fair try, reading until about 35% in.
It was quickly apparent that it's not exactly a Pied Piper retelling, nor is it genderswapped. The rats are a subplot, with missing children and a mysterious Beast who's presumably taking them and killing people as the main plot. The heroine is feminist and fierce, the hero is trying to reclaim his honor after aligning himself with a cause he didn't understand before going off to war. They ally pretty quickly and it's clear who the Bad Guy is equally quickly. Rather than being a mystery (though the rats remain a mystery for a while), the plot is mostly one of how to defeat said Bad Guy. The setting is rare, 1400's in the area we now call Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire.
I'm sure a lot of people will really enjoy this historical retelling/fantasy/romance mashup, but I ended up not clicking with the author's voice and as a non-Christian it didn't work for me. (I will say it's not the sort of religious story that assigns gender roles and is mostly focused on being a good person.) ( )

This was an all right read. I enjoyed the setting and the plot, but the religious preaching throughout the book brought the rating down for me. It's fine for a book to have a religious message, but not if it's been forced into it in such a way that it pulls the reader out of the story. I'm a Christian myself, but the random salvation messages seemed disjointed from the rest of the story. ( )

I enjoyed [b:The Healer's Apprentice|7826101|The Healer's Apprentice (Hagenheim, #1)|Melanie Dickerson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331421838l/7826101._SY75_.jpg|10876284] well enough, so I was excited to try another one when it showed up on my NetGalley list. Our library needs more "clean" books for our younger teens, many of whom read Christian fiction, so I had high hopes as a librarian as well.

This book was much darker than I was expecting. (I suppose I should have known better from a story based on a rat infestation and kidnapping children.) The protagonists both carry a great deal of guilt with them based on their experiences with alcohol, battle, and even assault. I'm going to have a harder time recommending this one, but I'm glad the series exists and I'm going to keep reading and recommending them.

I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

"The Piper's Pursuit" by Melanie Dickerson is the tenth book in Ms. Dickerson’s “Hagenheim” series. This is a series of fairy-tale retellings set in a non-magical medieval world. This story is a loose retelling of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.”

There are so many things to love about Ms. Dickerson’s books. I love that this quest-like story involves a mystery as well. Who is the mysterious beast and why are children disappearing from Hamlin?

Our main characters, Katerina and Steffan, work together to fight evil and figure out the mystery. I love both characters and their personalities and I think they have a great chemistry. Each grows personally throughout the story. Ms. Dickerson gives these characters some great dialogue and quips that had me smiling as I read. As in a lot of Dickerson’s novels, the characters pray when in danger. They learn about finding their worth in Christ and not by the things they do. There are some heavier subjects in this novel than in some of the past books of the series. Katerina has a stepfather who is abusive to herself and her mother. Dickerson deals with this topic with great care and sensitivity.

I love this story and can’t wait for the next book!

Content: I give this book a PG-13 rating due to the topic of abuse. Some examples of the content are: gruesome descriptions of victims of the beast; there is a controlling and emotionally and physically abusive husband and father; allusions to alcoholism in a character’s past; child slavery; a man suggests having his way with a girl.

Rating: I give this book 5 stars.

I want to thank Melanie Dickerson and Thomas Nelson for the complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255. ( )