I have another book birthday to shout out! Now, if there was only cake each time this happened, too.
Today's read is the third in a series, and nope, I haven't read the first two...so that should be interesting. It seems to circle the combined world of Olympus gods and the realm of the fae. Which will be an interesting mix. It's been doing well, and I haven't hit this type of fantasy for awhile. So, I'm excited to dive in.
THE UNSEEN KING
The Cartographer's War, Book Three
by Allison Anderson
Oliver Heber Books
YA Fantasy
380 pages
Prince Aiden is gone. Taken. Kidnapped by the fae and portalled to only the Goddess knows where. And Penny Barclay is determined to find him.
With a pack on her back and Aiden’s trusty dog at her side, Penny rushes headfirst into Faerie—the world she’d always dreamed of but never thought she’d see. At first, the magical kingdom is mystical and fantastic, but as Penny journeys deeper into the seasonal Courts, she discovers that some magic is not to be trifled with and her childhood fantasies were just that, fantasies. It will take all of Penny’s strength and ingenuity to find Aiden and bring him back to Olympia.
When Aiden wakes in a new world, all he can think of is getting back to Penelope and his family in Olympia. After the death of the High Queen at the hands of the rebellion, Aiden finds himself trapped by magic he doesn’t understand in a kingdom of fae that would rather fight one another than face the approaching enemy. Becoming High King of a folk he’d never even met may be the Goddess’s worst idea yet. But when he meets a family of fae that have insights to his past and his magic, he has to decide whether to embrace this new life or return to Penelope to find the life they promised each other.
Separated by enemies and friends alike, Penny and Aiden must adapt to this new kingdom and help the fae fight off the rebels or find themselves trapped in a land on the brink of destruction.
With a pack on her back and Aiden’s trusty dog at her side, Penny rushes headfirst into Faerie—the world she’d always dreamed of but never thought she’d see. At first, the magical kingdom is mystical and fantastic, but as Penny journeys deeper into the seasonal Courts, she discovers that some magic is not to be trifled with and her childhood fantasies were just that, fantasies. It will take all of Penny’s strength and ingenuity to find Aiden and bring him back to Olympia.
When Aiden wakes in a new world, all he can think of is getting back to Penelope and his family in Olympia. After the death of the High Queen at the hands of the rebellion, Aiden finds himself trapped by magic he doesn’t understand in a kingdom of fae that would rather fight one another than face the approaching enemy. Becoming High King of a folk he’d never even met may be the Goddess’s worst idea yet. But when he meets a family of fae that have insights to his past and his magic, he has to decide whether to embrace this new life or return to Penelope to find the life they promised each other.
Separated by enemies and friends alike, Penny and Aiden must adapt to this new kingdom and help the fae fight off the rebels or find themselves trapped in a land on the brink of destruction.
MY TIDBITS
Rich characters and a well-thought-out world make this a novel to get lost in and leave with the wish that book four was already ready to snatch up and dive into too.
I did not read the first two books in the series, and yet, it wasn't too hard to get lost in this story. While there is obvious backstory missing, it's not too hard to fill in the pieces as the story follows Aiden and Penny in the realm of the fae as they each struggle with their own journey. Both characters are easy to connect with and root for, and the world is a treat to experience. I'm going to try to review this without giving any spoilers for anyone wanting to start this series from the beginning.
The book is told from two points of view (I think completely...hmmm...). Anyway, Aiden is separate from Penny, and while they think of each other a lot, each one has their hands full with their very own path. Usually, I find one character more interesting than the other, and end up flipping through one of the sides faster when their chapter comes up. This time, both were equally grabbing. Aiden gets a bit more story time as he's facing the biggest life-flip and needs to get his entire foundation of life clear. Penny, on the other hand, is battling her way through, discovering new friends, defeating evil creatures, and coming up against harsh issues on the action end. It creates a nice balance between character depth and fast-paced scenes to make the entire story fly by and hard to put down.
My biggest disappointment was the end. It's a cliff-hanger with a huge to-be-continued. While I'm not a huge fan of that (especially when it hits book three), I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I am curious to see what will happen next.
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