Bird is a street orphan, stealing food and avoiding soldiers. Her only friends are Twist and Piper, a mother and daughter who also beg on the streets. When little Piper gets sick, Bird asks for help from Farwender who has a secret elixir from a long-dead tree that will heal any illness. Piper is healed, but now she is marked with the residue of the elixir. The soldiers will put a terrible mark on anyone who has been touched by the elixir and cart them off to prison. Farwender takes Bird to stay with the lady Soladin, where Bird learns about the history of the tree that produces the forbidden elixir, and she learns how her own history is entangled with that of the tree.

I really liked the imaginative world-building in this book, with all the history of the tree and how the death of the tree brought about the downfall of the entire nation of Wen. We uncover the story of the past little by little as Bird learns more about her heritage. 

There is so much adventure in this story as Bird and her friends go on a quest to restore the dead tree. They travel through mountains and rivers and valleys. They uncover hidden legends and meet magical creatures. Their journey is never easy and it's never quite what you expect, since they also have to avoid being captured by the enemy soldiers.

Bird has a very complex personality. She wants to be good, but she has grown to be tough on the streets. She has no manners. She bites people. She has anger issues. She attacks her friends and plays mean pranks on them for no reason. She rebels against those who want to help her, refusing to follow the most basic rules. She is greedy and steals from her friends. She's really horrible! But through the story, she learns to control her temper. She learns to be generous, instead of greedy. She learns some basic manners and respect. By the end of her journey, she is sweet and gentle. She has a really extreme character arc. 

The best thing about this book are the reflections of faith in God found in the story. The main characters pray to God, called the "Holder" since He creates and holds the universe together. They have a tradition of gathering each evening and thanking the Holder for their blessings. When the characters are in terrible situations, they pray to the Holder to bless them and give them strength to endure. This is the source of all Bird's character development as she begins to have faith in the Holder and her heart changes for the better.

There is a lot of violence in this book. People being killed by the evil soldiers, mutilated, hanged, and beheaded. There is a soldier that gets his throat ripped out by a chimera. Pretty nasty descriptions of blood and severed heads. 
There are is also some dark imagery surrounding the villain. He is described as having powers of darkness in his eyes, like a mouth absorbing your soul if you look into his eyes too long. I did not expect a book with a kitten on the cover to be quite this dark!

To see all the sensitive content in this book, including violence and dark imagery, check it out on the Screen It First website! https://screenitfirst.com/book/the-treekeepers-813517