Review:
I gotta be honest, I read this book in 2015, I wrote this review in maybe 2017 based on my notes about how I felt toward the book right after reading it, and I’m now finally posting it in 2019. So I don’t know how I’d feel about the book now, but this review is how I felt about the book when I read it.
As I mentioned in my review of Book 1, I don’t usually read young YA or middle grade (not sure exactly what this would be classified as), and at the time I wasn’t into high fantasy, so I was really surprised by how much I was enjoying the series! After Book 1 though, I couldn’t help but continue, and Book 2 was just as enjoyable. It was well written with a strong voice, likeable characters, and good pacing. It even had some fun all-ages humor.
This was also the book when I really started to love or get more intrigued by some of the characters. I already talked all about them in my first review, so I won’t do that again. Instead I’ll just say the way Jeatar was working so hard in this one, always trying to help everyone, running himself ragged, getting so weary that he wanted to just give up—it definitely made him realistic and interesting.
I did sometimes found myself getting lost and confused during escape missions and parts of high action though. I knew the general idea of what was happening (e.g. they were fighting soldiers), but I couldn’t figure out the layout of the building or where exactly they were or what exactly they were doing. I still got the main gist though, so it never actually made me lose track of the story.
So overall, this was another solid book in a fun high fantasy series for young readers with lovable characters and a good story!
Recommended For:
Fans of Book 1 in Janice Hardy's The Healing Wars series. Anyone who likes MG/YA high fantasy and lovable characters.
More Books in the Series:
Book Review: The Shifter (The Healing Wars Book 1) by Janice Hardy
Book Review: Blue Fire (The Healing Wars Book 2) by Janice Hardy
Book Review: Darkfall (The Healing Wars Book 3) by Janice Hardy
Sounds fun! I don’t read too many younger YA books either although there have been a few that I’ve really liked, or were surprisingly good/ had compelling characters. I love a good find like that. 🙂
Glad this one worked despite the minor layout/ location issues. I find that sometimes too depending on the author or how clearly they’re able to convey descriptions and whatnot.
Yeah, sometimes they can be quite good, even as an adult! Good characters can make such a difference in the reading experience, and I definitely enjoyed these.
I think I get confused easily sometimes lol.
I have a niece who is in that preteen into teen stage…I think this might be a good book for her, and her birthday’s coming up, thanks for the review of the book!
Maybe she’ll like this then! At least I hope she does if you get it for her!
well you review history definitely makes me feel much better about my own review habits XD
And I totally get why you made that note because we do often change the way we feel about books.
I was indeed surprise to see a YA review here! 🙂
Strong voice and good characterization is a good treat no matter the age group right? Glad you liked it 🙂
Lol I just read more books every week than I post reviews for, and then I prioritize posting review copies, so I always have a backlog 😩
Girl, idk why you’re always shocked when I review YA cuz I still read plenty of it, even if not a ton lol. But this is possibly even MG, which I really don’t usually read. But yeah this was good!
I don’t think I could remember enough to write a review if I waited that long! I really don’t read middle grade, so this series probably isn’t for me. But glad you’re enjoying it!
That’s why notes come in handy lol. Thanks!
I am so glad I am not the only one who writes reviews and then it doesn’t actually get posted until months, sometimes even years later 😛 I do write my reviews for everything I read but I don’t share all my reviews, I just select which ones I need to or want to share. I am glad when you read this one you did manage to quite enjoy it. Although it does sound like at times it got a bit hard to follow :/
I just sometimes read more books in a week than I post reviews for, so I end up with a backlog, and I end up prioritizing review copies. I’m also glad to know it isn’t just me lol. Thanks!