The Orphan's Wish

3.5 personal rating; would give four stars if I was the intended YA audience.

This is a great, clean book that I would hand to any teen girl without batting an eye. There are some scenes with a bit of violence, but not a bunch of gore. There is a kidnapping, so heads-up to those who might dislike that element, but otherwise there's really nothing to warn against.

It was a really quick read for me and it was nice that it wasn't too terribly predictable. Aladdin and Kirstyn are enjoyable characters and the Gerstenberg family was a pleasant one as usual.

A few modern turns of phrase in conversation got on my nerves, as well as a man being called Priest (historically, he would be Father ___, not “priest”) and a few other such things. Super stars go to Dickerson for using blonde/blond correctly, since this is an error that has really been on my nerves in a whole stack of books lately.

It was fun to see an interracial couple, since that isn't often seen in CF.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy. A favorable review was not required.