The Beholder is a fun, absorbing read, but it’s not of particularly high quality. It has flaws in terms of plot, characters, worldbuilding, and overall believability, but I whipped through it in a couple of days simply because I was enjoying it and quickly got invested. The main character, Selah, is basically a pseudo-princess. She is the heir to the steward of her small island, which involves working the fields and taking care of public interests. She isn’t regal, powerful, or even brave, but her stepmother sends her off to find a royal husband from Europe nonetheless. The plot was engaging enough, although somewhat oddly structured; I expected more things to happen in this book, but it ended up being more of a romance than a travelling adventure. The prose was good, but the world-building was confusing, with the story set in a fantastical alternate timeline of 1800s Europe. The Beholder, while not a retelling, does give a couple of nods to some well-known fairy tales. At the end of the day, this is a romance, and the romance aspect was well done. While I ended up rooting for all the wrong people, seeing the relationships play out was entertaining. Overall, The Beholder was fun and interesting but required some suspension of disbelief. It will be enjoyable for younger readers willing to overlook some inconsistencies for the sake of a good story.

Content Analysis

Profanity/Language: 1 derogatory name.

Violence/Gore: Story of a woman who ate children; character has a dream involving blood, brief description; a character threatens another with a knife; a character hits another; report of a boy dying in an accident.

Sex/Nudity: A character proposes to another character, mentions that this character had a long-term crush on the other; characters discuss arranging a marriage, suggest that a character should set a good example for others by having children when she is young; a few instances where characters touch another’s hands, face, back, etc.; a few instances where characters flirt; three instances where a character kisses another’s hand or cheek; 9 instances where characters kiss; a character has a crush on another; a male character is mentioned to spend the night with a new woman every week; a character frequently thinks that another character is attractive; characters partially undress to swim, one jokingly catcalls another; two instances where characters hug; reference to animals mating; a male and a female character are found alone together, falsely accused of sullying the female character’s honor; reference to making babies.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death of a child; arranged marriage; chronic disease of parent; family conflict.

Drugs/Alcohol Usage:

Characters drink alcohol on a few occasions; a character gets drunk.