Review of The Eye of Zoltar, by Jasper Fforde

Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 2

eye_of_zoltar_largeThe Eye of Zoltar

by Jasper Fforde

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, 2014. 405 pages.

The Eye of Zoltar continues the adventures of Jennifer Strange, young manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management.

The first chapter catches the reader up without really spoiling anything. Here’s her summary of the way things stand:

I now manage forty-five barely sane sorcerers at Kazam, only eight of whom have a legal permit to perform magic. If you think wizards are all wise purveyors of the mystical arts and have sparkling wizidrical energy streaming from their fingertips, think again. They are for the most part undisciplined, infantile, argumentative, and infuriating; their magic only works when they really concentrate, which isn’t that often, and misspellings are common. But when it works, a well-spelled feat of magic is the most wondrous thing to behold, like your favorite book, painting, music, and movie all at the same time, with chocolate and a meaningful hug from someone you love thrown in for good measure. So despite everything, it’s a good business in which to work. Besides, there’s rarely a dull moment.

So that’s me. I have an orphaned assistant named Tiger Prawns, I am now Dragon Ambassador to the World, and I have a pet Quarkbeast at least nine times as frightening as the most frightening thing you’ve ever seen.

My name is Jennifer Strange. Welcome to my world.

The story was good for an airplane read. As usual, it’s bizarre, strange, and quirky. Despite being the third book, loose ends are not tied up — the story will continue.

In this one, Jennifer Strange travels with Perkins to the perilous Cambrian Empire to hunt for the famed Eye of Zoltar — an artifact of great power, but one that can also turn the holder into lead. She must bring along the princess of Snodd — who was transferred into the body of a servant girl to teach her a lesson.

This book is good if you’re in the mood for silly and bizarre — or if you’re simply hooked on Jasper Fforde. There is some deadly peril going on, and more actual deaths than I was comfortable with (though the reader and the participants were warned about the 50% survival rate) but there’s always something to laugh about along the way.

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Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy I got at an ALA conference.

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Review of Sweet, by Emmy Laybourne

Science Fiction, Teen Fiction Review 0

sweet_largeSweet

by Emmy Laybourne

Feiwel and Friends, New York, 2015. 272 pages.

I feel like I shouldn’t have liked this book. But I was charmed by the two main characters and their sweet romance. Laurel has been invited to go on the cruise of a lifetime by her rich friend, Vivika. Tom was a child star who is now trying to shake his image as a tubby toddler who grew up in view of the world. He’s been hired as media host for this high budget cruise.

The cruise is to celebrate the invention of a new artificial sweetener, Solu. Besides being sweet, Solu sucks away fat. During the week-long cruise, before sales of Solu are allowed to the general public, the lucky (and wealthy) 500 guests on the ship are going to lose 5% of their weight.

Laurel is there primarily to support her friend. I love the explanation of why Laurel honestly feels good about her own body:

The messed-up thing is that Viv and I weigh around the same. I think we look fine. Like normal young women with curves in more or less the right places.

But Viv hates her body. And sometimes I can tell she thinks I should hate mine, too.

Maybe the reason Viv and I feel so different about our weight can be explained by our parents — or by the shape of our parents.

Viv’s dad is built like a fireplug. Short and fat. Exudes wealth, and perhaps because of that, he could care less about his weight. Viv’s mom? Even though she counts calories with a microscope, she’s still a wee bit oversize. She’s always wearing “foundation garments” and trying to get Viv and I to wear them. I think she might even wear Spanx to bed.

My dad? Regular height. Regular-dad beer belly. And my mom? Exactly like me. We’re both 5′ 7″. Both size fourteen. Ample breasts, belly, and rear.

So genetically, both Viv and I are set up to have the bodies we have.

But here’s the thing: My Dad loves the way my mom looks.

My mom will come home from a day at the bank with her hair frizzy, her suit jacket rumpled, her bust straining the buttons on her blue button-down shirt, and my dad will take her in his arms and gaze at her like she’s the most beautiful woman on earth. he thinks she’s sexy and perfect the way she is. (I know this because he tells her. Frequently. Often in public.)

So I know it’s possible.

It’s possible to find a guy who will find me attractive. I could even find one who finds the overflowing scoopfuls of me sexy and perfect.

Viv, on the other hand, has had to watch her dad grow steadily disgusted with her mom’s body over the years.

I like the way Tom, indeed, finds Laurel curvy and attractive.

How do they meet? Laurel throws up on his shoes.

As the cruise starts, Laurel gets horribly seasick — too sick to eat anything, let alone the Solu-laced desserts. Tom is trying to get rid of his baby fat, and is under a strict regimen with his trainer and best friend, Derek. Derek doesn’t want him to eat anything but “real food,” so Tom skips the Solu, as well.

The beginning of the cruise, when they run into each other and notice each other, is simply fun.

When Laurel starts to feel better, people taking Solu are already starting to act a little strange….

And that’s where I stopped believing the story, though it’s certainly a dramatic one. Supposedly, Solu can make fat disintegrate extremely rapidly. (Where does it go? Wouldn’t people at least have an elimination problem?) As well, it turns out to be the most addictive substance ever invented. I couldn’t quite believe that, either. I mean, with most addictive substances, the effect on different people varies. Surely, some could withstand its effects?

But not on this nightmare cruise. As you can imagine, when the Solu supply starts getting low, things start getting ugly. Very ugly. Oh, another thing I didn’t believe was that Solu addicts have a heightened sense of smell and can smell trace amounts of Solu — and will do anything to get it.

So, the story is one of survival for Laurel and Tom and the other people (mostly crewmen) who have managed to stay off Solu. What’s more, at midnight on the last scheduled day of the cruise, Solu is going to go on sale to the general public. And everyone thinks it’s safe….

I felt like it was just as well I didn’t really believe this book — because the things that happened as Solu took hold were nauseatingly horrifying. On top of that, some of the exploits that happen with a severe injury (I’ll say no more than that) were quite unbelievable to me, too.

So I didn’t quite believe what was happening, or even want to think about it much — but I still couldn’t stop reading, because I wanted to know what would happen to Laurel and Tom. Because, bottom line, I cared about them, because they were simply so sweet.

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of 5 to 1, by Holly Bodger

Science Fiction, Teen Fiction Review 0

5_to_1_large5 to 1

by Holly Bodger

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2015. 246 pages.

This book takes place in the not-so-distant future in Koyanagar, a country carved out of India. For years, India had a one-child policy – with the result that baby girls were aborted so families could have sons. Now the ratio is 5 boys to 1 girl, and girls are at a premium.

Koyanagar was founded by women to make things right. But essentially, they’ve just turned the tables. Men have no rights. The best jobs and money go to women. And now Sudasa is facing the Tests – where one of the five boys competing to marry her will prove his worth.

The losers will face a life with no prospects. They will give their lives on the Wall, keeping others out (or keeping people in), unless they have sisters who can bargain for their lives.

But she has every indication that the tests are rigged.

I picked up this book because the language is enchanting. Sudasa’s thoughts are written in poetry, and it’s poetry with creative touches and interesting typography. Her thoughts are interspersed with prose from Contestant Five – who has plans of his own, and has no intention of being chosen.

I have some arguments with the book. I found it hard to believe that a society founded to right injustice would turn out so very unjust itself. Men are second-class citizens, and their lives are cheap. Giving birth to girls is now the only way to gain status. Besides that, with the poetry format, some details were unclear. There’s a Registry that’s important to the leaders of the country, and it’s not clear why it is so important or what it’s loss would actually mean. I wasn’t clear exactly how things were going to work out at the end or even exactly what the characters meant to do.

However, that said, the writing in this book is simply beautiful. It’s short (with so much written in poetry), so I didn’t at all feel cheated having given my time to reading it. Although I didn’t buy all the details, I was won over by the characters and enjoyed spending time in their company.

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Review of Fairest, by Marissa Meyer

Science Fiction, Teen Fiction Review 0

fairest_largeFairest

Levana’s Story

by Marissa Meyer

Feiwel and Friends, New York, 2015. 222 pages.

Fairest is a short prequel to the other books in The Lunar Chronicles, filling in the back story of Levana, the Queen of Luna.

All the books in The Lunar Chronicles parallel fairy tales, and as the title indicates, Levana takes the place of the wicked queen in Snow White. In Fairest we learn how Levana acquires a stepdaughter, named Winter.

This is not a nice story, and Levana is not a nice person. But readers understand her better after reading this book. She wants to be a good queen for her people. She was cruelly disfigured as a child, which is why her glamour is so important to her. And she made an attempt at love, but the power she had to manipulate minds short-circuited that quest. People think she’s controlling? Well, she takes ruling more seriously than her sister did. It’s all for the good of Luna. She will do whatever is needed for her people.

At the end of the book there is a preview for Winter, the final book in the series, coming out in Fall 2015. We don’t have long to wait!

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Review of Black Dove, White Raven, by Elizabeth Wein

Historical, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

black_dove_white_raven_largeBlack Dove, White Raven

by Elizabeth Wein

Hyperion, Los Angeles, 2015. 357 pages.
Starred Review

Wow. Once again Elizabeth Wein illuminates a historical situation I knew nothing about. In some ways, this combines themes from her two different series. We’re back in Aksum of Ethiopia – but this is not ancient Aksum. Instead, Aksum is combined with female pilots of World War II – okay, just before World War II, when Italy invaded Ethiopia. (Did you know about that? I sure didn’t.)

At the start of the book, Black Dove and White Raven are the airshow names for the mothers of Emilia Menotti and Teodros Dupré. Black Dove is Teo’s mother, Delia Dupré; and White Raven is Em’s Momma, Rhoda Menotti. They travel around doing airshows together in 1930s America, doing aerobatics and wing-walking. They met in France after World War I. They dream of moving to Ethiopia, where Teo’s father was from, where people won’t be shocked by a black woman and a white woman living and working together.

But then there’s an accident, and Delia is killed. However, the family still makes it to Ethiopia, and Teo and Em work on becoming the new Black Dove and White Raven.

Teo and Em grow up in Ethiopia, and Momma teaches them to fly – just in time to come of age when Italy invades Ethiopia in 1936.

This book is filled with historical details I knew nothing about, but mostly it’s the compelling story of two children with strong family ties, living in another culture, learning to find their place in the world and deal with all manner of people – and coming of age in wartime — wartime that involved mustard gas against spearmen, and the need to protect ancient treasures, including the Ark of the Covenant.

As always, Elizabeth Wein’s writing is powerful and evocative. I’ll admit that this is slower, atmospheric reading most of the way through, but these are distinctive characters you will remember long afterward.

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of Belzhar, by Meg Wolitzer

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

belzhar_largeBelzhar

by Meg Wolitzer
read by Jorjeana Marie

Listening Library, 2014. 8 hours on 7 compact discs.
Starred Review

Jam Gallahue has been sent to The Wooden Barn, a boarding school in Vermont for “highly intelligent but emotionally fragile” teens. After she lost her boyfriend, Reeve, she’s withdrawn from everything and everyone.

On her first day of classes, her roommate is jealous when they discover that Jam’s been put into Special Topics in English. No one knows why everyone claims the class is life-changing. There are only four other students, and a teacher who will retire at the end of the term. They will be studying Sylvia Plath. The teacher, Mrs. Quinnell, gives them each a red leather journal and tells them to write in it twice a week. She’ll be collecting them at the end of the term.

When Jam writes in the journal, she’s transported to another place, a place outside time, and she is together with Reeve again. She can’t do anything new with him in that place, but she can actually feel him and see him and talk with him. When she comes back, five more pages of her journal are filled in with her own handwriting.

The other members of Special Topics in English have their own traumas to deal with. Before long, the class members all figure out that each one is being transported to another place, where things are right again, every time they write in their journals.

But the journals will be completely full by the end of the term.

This story could have been trite and problem novel-ish. But the author has crafted the story well, revealing information a little bit at a time. Each student in the class has a compelling story, and we also learn more and more about what Jam went through, and how she interacts with her fellow-students.

There’s a fine overarching message about dealing with trauma and being able to get on with life. But the book is good because the story is told in a compelling way.

It’s also a tribute to the healing power of words – both written yourself and written by others.

This book has some healing power of its own.

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Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of Prairie Fire, by E. K. Johnston

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

prairie_fire_largePrairie Fire

by E. K. Johnston

Carolrhoda LAB, Minneapolis, March 2015. 297 pages.
Starred Review

After finishing Prairie Fire, my love for The Story of Owen has only grown. I didn’t read the books quickly — they are thoughtful, intriguing, world-building stories rather than page-turners. In fact, I may have lingered longer for not wanting it to end.

The sequel caps the Story of Owen. It’s essentially one story, told in two parts, so you will want to read the first book before this one.

Again, summing up is easy: Modern-day Canada. With dragons.

In this book, Owen and his girlfriend Sadie, and his bard Siobhan (who tells the story) all enlist in the Oil Watch. The Oil Watch is their world’s version of an international military force defending oil fields and people against dragons. Work in the Oil Watch is mandatory for dragon slayers, but Siobhan also signs on, as part of Owen’s crew.

Every dragon slayer has a dedicated support crew. This book tells about their team in the new challenges of the military. And new types of dragons they must fight. Here’s the explanation of Owen’s team:

Every support squad had eight firefighters; a pair of engineers — one sapper and one smith — two medics, one of whom could double as a cook if you were on patrol; and in Owen’s case alone, one bard. All of them were older than Owen and I were. The Combat Engineer, Courtney Speed, was twenty-four and had a master’s in engineering from the Royal Military College. This was unusual, as most people in the Oil Watch, including our smith, Aarons, had at most only an undergraduate degree. The firefighters had all completed a two year college program, and the medics had bachelor degrees in addition to their year-long medic training course. Davis, the medic who was also the cook, planned to go to medical school when his tour was up. In those first days I despaired of ever learning their names, let alone coming up with ways to write them into Owen’s songs. I was more than a little bit intimidated, and I didn’t even have to be in charge. Owen was supposed to be in command and would eventually be given the highest rank It was really important that everyone got along.

That’s the style — lots of details, but so intriguing. And we see more ways their world is dramatically different from the one we live in — because of dragon. There’s a huge tunnel through the Rocky Mountains, for example. And totem poles are to keep giant dragons from landing.

I love the way Siobhan sees everyone as represented by an instrument. Or perhaps I should say hears everyone as represented by an instrument. When she meets a drill sergeant at basic training, for example, she says, “He was every inch cornet: compact but lacking the hard edge of a trumpet.” Later, she refers to him as the cornet-sergeant.

I also love the way Siobhan’s friendship with Owen grows and deepens. And yet never gets romantic. They have a fantastic working relationship. And when is that ever portrayed in books without romance? Owen’s girlfriend is also Siobhan’s friend, though she gets assigned to a different part of the world. And Siobhan meets some men who are interested in her. And she’s not portrayed as gay, but she doesn’t fall in love in this book. And somehow I find that wonderfully refreshing — a book where the characters become adults and pursue their callings and build lasting friendships — without making the whole point of it to be falling in love.

I should warn readers that the ending is a tear-jerker. This is not something that will leave you smiling — but it will leave you thinking, and will linger in your heart for a long time to come.

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Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy I got at ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Story of Owen, by E. K. Johnston

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

story_of_owen_largeThe Story of Owen

Dragon Slayer of Trondheim

by E. K. Johnston

Carolrhoda LAB, Minneapolis, 2014. 302 pages.
Starred Review
2015 Morris Award Finalist

It’s easy to explain what this book is about: Modern-day Canada with dragons and dragon slayers!

The carrying out of that idea is much more intricate than you might think. There are insights about politics, publicity, environment, ethics, calling, and community. And, of course, plenty of danger and drama.

Here’s how the book begins:

Before the Thorskards came to Trondheim, we didn’t have a permanent dragon slayer. When a dragon attacked, you had to petition town hall (assuming it wasn’t on fire), and they would send to Toronto (assuming the phone lines weren’t on fire), and Queen’s Park would send out one of the government dragon slayers (assuming nothing in Toronto was on fire). By the time the dragon slayer arrived, anything not already lit on fire in the original attack would be, and whether the dragon was eventually slayed or not, we’d be stuck with reconstruction. Again.

Needless to say, when it was announced that Lottie Thorskard was moving to town permanently, it was like freaking Mardi Gras.

Lottie Thorskard is a famous dragon slayer who was recently seriously injured in the line of duty, so let out of her corporate contract. But with her to Trondheim comes her brother Aodhan, another dragon slayer, and his son Owen, who is being trained in the family business.

Siobhan meets Owen when they are both late to class on his first day at the high school. She is the one telling the story. She is a musician, and the Thorskards ask her to become Owen’s bard, to tell his story for the public. In this alternate world where dragons exist, bards were once very important for dragon slayers, but now the practice is more rare.

I don’t need to tell too much more about the story. Dragons in modern-day Canada. Siobhan posts her songs about Owen on YouTube. I will say that E. K. Johnston does a magnificent job of world-building, showing us why and how dragons make the world totally different.

When I first read the book, I was a little annoyed that there was no romance between Owen and Siobhan. After reading the second book, Prairie Fire I’m actually happy about that. Because between the two books, I’m not sure I’ve ever read such a good portrayal of a close and sustaining male-female friendship. I’ll say more in my review of Prairie Fire.

Also, with no romance, there are no sexy situations in this book. Just intriguing situations that get you thinking about the ethical and political implications while enjoying a good yarn.

Now, there is an interesting addition, which I liked: When Siobhan is first invited to the Thorskards’ house, she’s excited to meet the most famous married couple in Canada — Lottie Thorskard and her wife, Hannah. That relationship, both called “Aunt” by Owen, is portrayed as a loving and warm one, and Hannah especially, not a dragon slayer, but a smith, takes Siobhan under her wing when dragons come to town.

My love for this book only got bigger when I read the sequel. I’ll be coming back to these two books. The Story of Owen, as told by Siobhan, sticks with you.

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Shadow Scale, by Rachel Hartman

Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

shadow_scale_largeShadow Scale

by Rachel Hartman

Random House, New York, March 2015. 599 pages.

This sequel to Seraphina brings us back to the rich and detailed fantasy world where dragons take up human form. In the first book, Seraphina dealt with her heritage as a half-dragon, and in this book, she seeks to find the other half-dragons.

Much of the book happens in Seraphina’s mind, which at first is a little confusing, but eventually has you wrapped up in the details. My biggest complaint is that in the big final conflict scene, I’m not entirely sure what exactly happened. But I do think I got enough of it.

This is a good book for those who like their fantasy complex. There was a rather neat solution to the love triangle (though I personally am not entirely happy with it. But it did work).

There’s war going on, and Seraphina has a role to play. But there’s another half-dragon able to enter the minds of the others and then manipulate them to her own purposes.

We’ve got intrigue and strategy combined with a virtual tour of several countries of that world. This is a wonderful follow-up fulfilling all the promise of the award-winning first book.

And why did I again think there’d be a trilogy? I’m happier with this misunderstanding than I am when I mistake a quartet for a trilogy. This book did complete the story and tie up loose ends. And though it is based on Seraphina, I didn’t remember all the plot details of the first book, but everything I needed to know was filled in. And the plot threads were all wrapped up at the end.

An intricate and satisfying tale.

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Review of Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, by Shannon Hale

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

forgotten_sisters_largePrincess Academy

The Forgotten Sisters

by Shannon Hale

Bloomsbury, February 24, 2015. 324 pages.
Starred Review

Look at that! The Forgotten Sisters has been released earlier than the date printed on the Advance Reader Copy. So I need to post my review!

This book is the Advance Reader Copy I was most excited about getting at ALA Midwinter Meeting – and the first one I read, immediately after the conference. This is the third book after Princess Academy and Palace of Stone. I believe readers will enjoy it more who have read the earlier books – and reading those books will be a treat, if you haven’t yet.

Princess Academy is a simple story about Miri and the other girls from her mountain village learning to negotiate and make their way in the world, while one of them will be chosen to be the princess. In Palace of Stone Miri and the other academy graduates go to the capital city in the lowlands – and learn about politics and rumblings of revolution.

In The Forgotten Sisters, the outlook gets yet broader as war comes to Danland.

But the beginning of the book simply has Miri excited about going home, back to Mount Eskel. Then she is summoned by the king moments before the traders who were going to take her home must leave. In the royal breakfast chamber, the king and queen, all thirty-two delegates and three priests of the creator god are assembled.

“Early this morning, traders sailed from the commonwealth of Eris with news,” said the chief delegate. “The kingdom of Stora has invaded Eris. The battle lasted only three days. Eris surrendered.”

Steffan leaned forward to grip a chair back. Britta reached out for Miri’s hand. Stora was the largest kingdom on the continent. Miri imagined its vast army pouring into tiny Eris like all the sands of a beach trying to fill a single jar. And Eris bordered Danland.

“Danland can no longer take for granted our longstanding peace with Stora,” the chief delegate continued. “We must secure an unbreakable alliance. Stora’s King Fader is a widower. The delegation has decided to offer King Fader a royal daughter of Danland as a bride.”. . .

“The highest ranking royal girls are His Majesty’s cousins,” said the chief delegate. “They live in a territory known as Lesser Alva. Three girls. King Fader of Stora will have his pick of them for a bride, if he agrees to our offer.” . . .

“Living in Lesser Alva, I suspect the girls are not very, shall we say, refined,” said the chief delegate. “The priests of the creator god have called for a princess academy to prepare them, and the delegation approved it. We require this girl to go be their tutor.” He gestured toward Miri without looking at her.

Miri doesn’t want to go; she wants to go home to Mount Eskel. But she works out a deal that if she does go, and if she is successful and King Fader marries one of the girls, then the people of Mount Eskel will be given the land where they live (which the king was thinking of selling) and the quarry where they make their livelihood.

However, when Miri arrives in the swamp that is Lesser Alva, she finds things not at all as she expected. The three girls do live in a white house made of linder. But the house is empty, the girls’ mother is dead, and they are destitute. They haven’t seen anything of the allowance supposedly sent to them every month by the king. They don’t have time to learn about being princesses, because they need to go out in the swamp and hunt for food.

We do come to enjoy the three sisters, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus. Here is a scene shortly after Miri has met them.

”Just so you know,” said Felissa, her smile a little timid now, “in Lesser Alva one never, ever enters someone else’s house without being invited.”

“Never,” Sus said, unblinking.

“Never ever,” said Felissa, nodding.

“In fact, we could have killed you on the spot and cut you up for meat,” Astrid said, casually cleaning out her fingernails.

“No one’s ever really done that,” said Sus.

“As far as we know,” said Astrid. “But we could be the first and no one would stop us.”

So first, Miri must win the girls’ trust. But she also needs to learn the ways of the swamp and help in the hunt for food. But it’s also urgent to find out where the girls’ allowance is disappearing – because the same corrupt people are not letting Miri’s letters get out of Lesser Alva.

However, that’s only the beginning. War from Stora does come to the swamp. Miri needs to get the girls to the capital city and King Fader in hopes of sealing that alliance. But none of that is simple, and many things turn out to be different than they seem at first.

I like all the complexities and diplomacy and cleverness that Shannon Hale builds into these books. In each of the books, somebody gets outsmarted. Miri again shows her worth – and this time the Forgotten Sisters get to contribute as well.

And I won’t give anything away, but the Epilogue puts a nice cap on the entire trilogy.

Shannon Hale has done it again! She’s written an absorbing further tale of a simple girl from Mount Eskel who makes things right, and changes the world while doing so.

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