A clean Christian fiction, Regency-Era novel for girls.
In England, 1820, Miss Victoria Fletcher wants nothing more than to be a spy along with her two older siblings, and she knows she could do it…if she could just be given the chance. Instead, she’s stuck at home, lonely, bored, and impatient as she waits for her chance to come. When it does finally arrive, she’s tasked with finding an insurrectionist and sent to the last place she ever wanted to a finishing school. Trying to find the rebel amongst all the students and teachers proves much more difficult than she first thought, and all of the deception is starting to bother her immensely. But she needs to hurry and find the enemy…before the enemy finds her. As she realizes there’s more to spying than just scaling walls, the thrill of getting an assignment quickly fades—but Victoria finds that God can still work this disappointment into something wonderful.
Taylor Paige is an author who loves fantasy, history, and all things books. When not writing, she can be found learning and arranging new songs, playing games with her family, and listening to movie soundtracks. She loves creating clean stories that remind us of God’s presence in our lives and what He’s done for us, because He loves us.
3.5 stars, personally ⭐️ Christian Fiction - Upper Middle-Grade/Lower YA
About this book:
“In England, 1820, Miss Victoria Fletcher wants nothing more than to be a spy along with her two older siblings, and she knows she could do it…if she could just be given the chance. Instead, she’s stuck at home, lonely, bored, and impatient as she waits for her chance to come. When it does finally arrive, she’s tasked with finding an insurrectionist and sent to the last place she ever wanted to a finishing school. Trying to find the rebel amongst all the students and teachers proves much more difficult than she first thought, and all of the deception is starting to bother her immensely. But she needs to hurry and find the enemy…before the enemy finds her. As she realizes there’s more to spying than just scaling walls, the thrill of getting an assignment quickly fades—but Victoria finds that God can still work this disappointment into something wonderful.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Savantor Spies” series. Review of Book #1 Here!
Spiritual Content- Psalm 27:11 at the beginning & Ephesians 1:3 in the author’s acknowledgements; A few Scriptures are remembered, quoted, & mentioned; Prayers & Thanking God; Asking for help and forgiveness & Feeling peace; Church going & some of a sermon; A hymn is sung; Talks about God, Jesus, going to Him, & praying; Victoria wishes she had faith like her sister; Victoria feels pleased with the praise of others (noting that she knows that the Bible said pride was wrong, but couldn’t help it); After listening to a sermon about honoring Christ, Victoria wonders if there is a way to show God and bring Him honor through her art; Halfway through, Victoria feels guilt at the sudden realization that she hasn’t been praying for assistance or guidance; Victoria’s roommate talks to her about praying to God and feeling an answer from Him within her spirit; Victoria asks for God to forgive her for her lies; Mentions of God, Jesus, & the Holy Spirit; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, a rector, & sermons; Mentions of faiths & believers; A few mentions of Heaven & angels; A mention of a painting of Baby Jesus; A mention of Biblical morals and principles; *Note: The phrases “Heaven forbid” and “heavens, no” are both said once; A few mentions of a story with a magical fairy and a magic world; A couple mentions of a painting having a “fictitious unicorn” with swirls of magic around it; A mention of young boys idolizing an older brother.
Negative Content- Fighting with knives (self-defense), Holding someone at knife-point, Being tied-up, Being abducted, Being drugged, Passing out, & Pain (semi-detailed); Eye rolling & Sarcasm (one time Victoria rolls her eyes, her uncle gives her a silent rebuke about it); Some eavesdropping; Victoria and the others lie because of their spying and she feels guilt about it, disobeying orders, & trespassing/invading people’s privacy while snooping (*Spoilers* ); *Major Spoilers* ; When Victoria learns about a criminal being hanged, it doesn’t sit well with her and she prays for God to have mercy on the person’s soul; All about & many mentions of insurrection, violence, & smuggling guns; Mentions of wars, fighting, & battles (including Napoleon and his exile); Mentions of deaths (including from murder and illnesses); Mentions of kidnappings/abductions & being drugged; Mentions of stealing & stolen items; Mentions of injuries, pain, & possible torture; Mentions of Victoria’s father leaving their family; Mentions of lies, lying, & deception; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of a woman being married off to a cruel man and his verbal abuse; A few mentions of nightmares of violence; A couple mentions of possible hangings; A couple mentions of prison; A couple mentions of gambling & gamblers; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of murder being messy; *Note: Victoria struggles with changes happening with her family/siblings and feeling lonely (once she calls herself selfish because of wanting to siblings to stay near and that is one of her flaws; *Spoiler* ); Victoria gets homesick and cries herself to asleep; Victoria snorts at the idea of being how society wants to see her (elegant, poised, proper, and dainty; none which are things she thinks she is); Mentions of books, fairytales, & authors (including Pride and Prejudice & Grimm fairytales); A mention of a man having an “exotic” appearance.
Sexual Content- A couple blushes; Uncle Jared dislikes Elizabeth’s suitor because of being protective of her (Uncle Jared tells Victoria to never get older and stay with their family forever, but Aunt Mercy says to do “whatever makes you happy”); Victoria notes that romance is far from her mind (partially because she’s fine where she is and also partially because of gaining her uncle and older brother’s approval of a suitor); Victoria witnesses a roommate and teacher (who is slightly older then the girls) blushing when around each other & another roommate blushing over a young man; Mentions of couples, crushes, & being smitten; Mentions of blushes & winks.
-Victoria Fletcher, age 17 1st person P.O.V. of Victoria Set in 1820 331 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Pre Teens- Three Stars New Teens- Four Stars Early High School Teens- Four Stars Older High School Teens- Four Stars My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)
It’s been seven years since the events in the first book in this series and now we’re following feisty Victoria, who is seventeen. I would definitely make sure you’ve read the prior book as this book references to events in that book and the ending quite a bit! I think you would be pretty confused if you didn’t.
I will say that I found a few parts to be a little confusing, but I think that was because of all the new characters and keeping them straight. I made use of the search feature in my Kindle copy, which helped a lot!
Overall, I would say I enjoyed the first book of the series more personally, but I do think this would be a good option for younger girls that have a higher reading level, but you still want the content to be very squeaky clean. There is a few side romances that we see glimpses of between Victoria’s older sister Elizabeth and her fellow, and then her roommates have apparent crushes on two men (one a teacher near her age), but there is no actual romance or such feelings for Victoria.
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author. *I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
This is such a lovely series! It’s such a delightful treat to find a Regency-era YA novel since they’re a bit harder to come across. The spy element adds an exciting twist that keeps you on your toes, and I truly appreciate how clean the content is—perfect for tweens and young teens. The faith messages woven throughout are fantastic!
In this installment, Miss Victoria takes us to a new finishing school setting, introducing a host of interesting new characters. While I didn’t find it quite as captivating as the first book, it still was an engaging and enjoyable read.