Liz Flanagan

In a Nutshell: The perfect book for little lovers of adventure and dragons. Loads of thrills, amazing animals and great values. Perfect for tweens.

Story Synopsis:

When there’s new of war coming to her city, Rowan, a curious and gutsy little girl, and her mother go to live with her maternal grandfather, who lives on the outskirts of the Dark Forest, which was quite stranger as Rowan didn’t even know until then that she had a grandfather. However, she soon realises that her grandfather’s

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existence was not the only secret kept from her. Thus begins an adventure filled with dragons and witches and hunters and brave children.

Think of everything good that can be present in a children’s adventure story, and most of those ingredients are present in this book. You have a charming protagonist who speaks her mind and isn’t afraid to trust her instinct or to do what’s right. You have some amazing little dragons. (Dragons are always so much fun!) You have a lot of emotional scenes and a couple of worrisome ones. You have plenty of action and adventure and thrilling chases and close escapes. You have fast-paced writing and amazing descriptions. And you have more than enough of magical embellishments. The book is almost perfect!

I don’t believe that every children’s book MUST come with a moral/message. Some books can be just entertaining and that’s more than enough. However, this book delivers on both counts. Through the delightful plot, the book touches upon the need for conservation, animal welfare, and the importance of nature. I didn’t want this to become a war story, and thankfully, the war is not present except in the background.

The only point which might have worked better for me were the illustrations. To be honest, after a point, I stopped looking at the illustrations because they were too tiny on my Kindle screen and I didn’t stop to enlarge each image as the story was captivating enough to keep me happy. This won’t be a problem in the paperback. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that the illustrations were in B&W.

This is the first of a planned Wildsmith series. The first book is complete in itself, though there are some tracks left unresolved. These might be tackled in the upcoming books. Time will tell.
(You might be wondering what ‘Wildsmith’ indicates. Is it a place? A person? An occupation? Read the book to find out! My lips are sealed.)

All in all, this is an MG fantasy that is an enjoyable read, delivering on every promise it makes through that striking cover. Absolutely and wholeheartedly recommended. You bet I am gonna sign myself up for every possible sequel in the series!

4.5 stars.

My thanks to UCLan Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Wildsmith: Into the Dark Forest”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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The story of Jowen Thornsen, from a privileged dragon riding family on the island of Arcosi, who desperately wants a dragon of his own to bond with him...

This book is fast paced and easy to read, and would suit readers in early secondary school. Jowen starts as a spoiled rich kid, who reacts very angrily to disappointment when he is not selected by the dragons. But he grows as a character, and learns how to use his anger more wisely without being controlled by it. Of course, this is helped show more by him discovering his own super-special Shadow Dragon, so the moral is less 'don't be disappointed when life doesn't act like you're the chosen one', and more 'don't be disappointed, you'll probably end up being an even-more-chosen one in the end.' But he works hard, openly asks for forgiveness, and manages to remember the humanity even of his enemies.

The plot with the Norlander Brotherhood is interesting. The book runs with quite a straight anti-fascist 'it is wrong of them to want to kick other people off their island, our strength is in our diversity, and we should unite people by celebrating our differences together.' But actually, as far as I could glean (I should read the first book in the series) it was historically their island, and then the immigrants with dragons came with vastly superior technology (dragons!) and took all the positions of power, and made lots of their industries and their men redundant. It was interesting to have sympathetic bad guys.

Winter is clearly the most interesting character - her dragon died in a plague when she was about 12, and since then she has been lurking in tunnels lost in her grief, but risks coming back to humanity to save Jowen and rebond with a shadow dragon of her own.

Also, dragons and volcanos are cool. show less

Adventure, suspense, and tons of fantasy mix into an exciting tale, which is very suited for the younger end of the middle grade audience.

Rowan is hiding with her father and Mouse, a Pegasus, far from home. As a wordsmith who can communicate with animals, she's being hunted to join the enemy forces. Mouse is also being hunted due to his magical abilities, so both need to hide. When witch friends arrive with the news that they've found Mouse's family, Rowan convinces her father to let her fly show more with him back to his herd to make sure he safely arrives. All goes well until her ship home is intercepted by an enemy vessel. Now, she needs to escape and help some new friends along the way.

This is the third in a series, and while it would be beneficial to read these in order, it's not overly difficult to sink right in, either. But the novels do build on each other. Rowan wins over right away with her kind heart and desire to do whatever she can to help. Yet, she doesn't take unnecessary risks, either. There's a few emotional moments thanks to reunions in the beginning and at the end, which add a nice touch of warmth. The rest is adventure and tension pure as she finds herself in one sticky situation after the next. She doesn't solve these alone but works together with others to make it through. It creates characters to cheer for and moments to fever right along with the characters. Plus, there's a nice dose of friendship goodness as well. It was also enjoyable to see selkies and other mystical figures woven in.

There are illustrations sprinkled in every few pages, which help to visualize certain moments and characters. The author doesn't slide into too much depth but keeps this tale mostly action driven. This works very well for the intended reading level. It snuggles up right at the lower end of the middle grade group, a little longer than most chapter books but still not overly heavy like many middle grade reads. The chapters are kept short at 5-6 or so pages, and the font and spacing are on the larger side for reading ease. The adventure moves along quickly and with quite a bit of tension to make it a grabbing read even for slightly older readers, who just enjoy 'easier' books.

This one wraps up with just enough opening to lead into another adventure, so I'm looking forward to see what Rowan will face next. show less

After the plague claims several members of their family, Jane and Isabel find themselves maintaining a wary sibling relationship. When the Civil War begins they find themselves on different sides and this will effect their lives and their relationship further. Kit's brother is killed just as he is about to enlist so Kit takes his place, finding friendship but hiding a huge secret.
I really liked the setting of this book in the upper reaches of the Calder Valley as it is an area I know well show more and is one rich in history. The story itself is OK but the way that loyalties play on the women is the real focus and this is handled really well. Both sisters have three-dimensional personalities and the minor characters are drawn carefully. Overall it's a solid enough historical novel with some really good features. show less